IETM Spring Plenary Meeting

14-17 April 2016
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam Leidseplein 27

Organisers: IETM - international network for contemporary performing arts, National Dutch Theatre Festival, Amsterdam Fringe Festival
Speakers: Sally-Jane Norman (University of Sussex), Joris Weijdom (MAPLAB), Julie Ward (Member of the European Parliament) and more.

Live Arts in Digital Times will be the main theme of IETM's next Plenary Meeting in Amsterdam, 14-17 April 2016.

More than 600 performing arts professionals from all over the world will exchange ideas in an informal way, build closer relations with international partners and engage in a collective reflection on the crucial topics affecting the sector today. The programme will offer more than 30 sessions: keynote speeches, panel discussions, roundtable debates, interactive working groups, practical trainings, networking and mentor sessions.

The artistic evening programme will be presented as a festival 21fortheroad, offering a various range of performances and shows from young to established theatre makers. This programme has been curated by an independent artistic committee and is also open for public.

More about IETMAmsterdam: ietm.org/en/Amsterdam
Meeting programme: ietm.org/en/ietm-amsterdam-plenary-meeting-2016/amsterdam-sessions 
Artistic programme: ietm.org/node/5638/21

Live arts in Digital times

Digital revolution is a fait accompli. Having entered the art world, it is dispersing into its reality and changing it beyond recognition. Telepresence, virtuality, digital mobility and online tools become inherent to the professional life of the arts community, increasingly engaged with re-discussing the body and analysing the notion of presence on stage.

Are we on the threshold of a total upheaval? Or is it just about yet another “trend”? Giving rise to new art forms, does technology irreversibly transform the very notion of art?

The meeting will not only serve as a platform for mutual learning, showcasing best practices and exchanging know-how, but will also inspire a structured reflection on how technology affects our perceptions of space and presence, our identity, feelings and social relationships. IETM Amsterdam will offer a space for performing arts professionals and digital developers to investigate together how the digital technologies can lead to new ways of entrepreneurship, producing and performing art, adapting the concepts of trans-media, creative commons or sharing economy to fit the arts field.

Alongside with the “digital” topics, we will tackle the variety of subjects that are of importance to the performing arts sector today: cultural diversity and inclusion, Fortress Europe, fair practice label, ethics in the arts, advocating for the arts and more.

Speakers: Sally-Jane Norman (University of Sussex), Joris Weijdom (MAPLAB), Evert Hoogendoorn (IJsFontein “Serious Games”, Utrecht School of the Arts), Sander Veenhof (SNDRV), Ine Poppe (Dutch artist, journalist and writer), Julie Ward (European Parliament), Ruth McKenzie (Holland Festival) Eric Joris (CREW), Floris Kaayk, Tim Murck (Spektor Playground), Marina Toeters (By-wire.net), Vijay Mathew & Jamie Gahlon (Howlround, US), Sara Rodriguez Marin (OuiShare) and more.

Contact
IETM Secretariat
ietm@ietm.org
+32 2 201 09 15
19 Square Sainctelette
1000 Brussels - Belgium

IETM is a network of over 500 performing arts organisations and individual members (contemporary theatre, dance, circus, interdisciplinary forms, new media). It holds two plenary meetings a year in different European cities, and smaller meetings all over the world. Besides, IETM commissions publications and research projects, facilitates communication and distribution of information, and advocates for the value of performing arts.
www.ietm.org
 
IETM Plenary Meetings
A plenary meeting is the main IETM network meeting organized twice a year (spring and autumn) in different cities, bringing together +/500 professionals to exchange ideas in an informal way and build closer relations with various partners/members. The IETM Plenary Meeting includes around 25 working sessions and a full performance platform of work from the host country or city.
www.ietm.org/en/events/about

National Dutch Theatre Festival
During its eleven-day run the National Dutch Theatre Festival will be presenting the best theatre shows of the season, handing out numerous awards including those for the best actors in the Netherlands, showcasing the latest successful developments in the performing arts, taking the lead in the debate on the role the theatre plays in our society, and blurring the boundaries between the different stage disciplines. In short: visiting TF is more than just catching a show!
http://tf.nl/en/

Amsterdam Fringe Festival
The Amsterdam Fringe Festival takes place in the fringes of the Dutch Theatre Festival, highlighting Amsterdam’s avant-garde drama productions. The Amsterdam Fringe Festival is based on the famous and successful Fringe Festival as they exist in, for example Edinburgh, Adelaide, New York and Grahamstown (SA). During those 11 Fringe days you can see works from over 80 theatre groups, of unorthodox, national and international theatre directors and artists, at more then 40 different locations spread throughout the city.
http://amsterdamfringefestival.nl/en/over-fringe/