Trans Cultural Dialogues: Mobility Research

Policy Issue: Crossing Borders

Title: Mobility restrictions and its effects on the slower development of Mediterranean cultural
collaboration, network and artistic exchanges
Keywords: mobility, restrictions, Mediterranean
Introduction
The research has intention on developing a deeper field and theoretical dimension to a mobility
issue, with which the team of the cultural network of the project Trans Cultural Dialogues faced
with during the last year. Having this as a starting point, the analysis will comprise of sharing
different experiences between the core team of the project, with restrictions on cultural and
educational mobility and its effects. Furthermore, the research will be using the bigger network
of contributors in the shield of the Cultural Innovators Network (Goethe Institute Programme),
with a final target group including NGOs, institutions, foundations, artists, cultural professionals
in relation to the network. The main analysis will focus on the four different cultural relations on
the Mediterranean and the specifics of each origin and destination restriction (South-North,
North-South, South-South, North-North). Finally, the research will develop a summary of best
practices for overcoming or lessening the mobility restrictions and directions for future steps in
relation to necessary reactions to policy measures that are identified as key issues negatively
effecting mobility in the Mediterranean.
Cultural Mobility - General Indications
In the first part of the research we will briefly elaborate on the strategies that the European
Union is using in terms of ensuring mobility, while furthermore examine if this example can be
used and adapted to a more local level on the Mediterranean region.
In a study made by the ERICarts Institute, named Mobility Matters: Programmes and Schemes
to Support the Mobility of Artists and Cultural Professionals in Europe, the concept of mobility is
viewed as a long term process which the artist is using in order to gain intercultural experience
and further develop his professional career. Namely, the recommendations are focusing on the
necessity on involving more funding opportunities for artistic and cultural mobility, as well as its
repetition among the practitioners, as a continuous practice aiming at professional development
and intellectual growth.
The ERICarts study recognises mobility not simply as occasional movements across national borders that
may be useful to gain professional experience required for career advancement, as well as advance artistic
endeavour, but more as an integral part of the regular work life of artists and other cultural professionals.
The study recommends maintaining the plurality of actors and funding sources for cultural mobility. It also
calls for the adoption of a developmental approach that recognises mobility not simply as an adhoc activity
or as a one-off experience but as a longer term investment in a process leading to specific outcomes (not
outputs) over a period of time, e.g.in the course of a career.
1
1
ERICarts Institute; Mobility Matters: Programmes and Schemes to Support the Mobility of Artists and Cultural Professionals in
Europe; October 2008
On the other side, regarding the obstacles to mobility, another study made in 2010 from the 4
Arts Mobility Pilot Projects, Recommendation on Cultural Mobility, focuses on priorities and
recommendations in relation to specific measures that can be done in order to ensure reducing
administration, borders crossing and evaluation of the currently set rules. One of the important
issues that they are tackling on in the study is that there is an ongoing need to train national
administrations and the stuff working directly with issuing visas, residence and working permits,
as well as social benefits, to work closely with the cultural sector, which is in fact considered to
be very mobile. The initiatives on which they recommend working is adaptation to the specific
circumstances with which the artists and cultural professionals are facing with. On one side,
concerning mobility they are facing with late notices on engagement, workshop, residency; in
terms of guaranties they are rarely beneficiaries of indefinite work contract, on top of irregular
working engagements which cannot be shown as a permanent financial income; all in all putting
them in negative starting position when eligibility for a certain visa is concerned. On the other
side, when residence and working permits in a certain country are concerned, the starting
conditions such as, status of self-employed or freelancer, short-term contract and one-time
projects which generally are not generous in terms of income, leave them in the poll of ineligible
to gain a longer term residence. In cases like these, hosting and sending cultural organizations
have these limitations in mind and ensure to limit the time periods to the ones easier to
administrate (ex. less than three months; volunteering agreements and so on). Concretely the
priorities of the action plan that the Arts Mobility Pilot Projects are proposing refers to the
following:
- The EU, Member States and their administrations must provide clear, accurate information about all
applicable rules and procedures to mobile culture professionals.
- EU Member States must ensure that applicable regulations are applied uniformly at the national and local
levels.
- The EU and Member States, in close cooperation with the sector, must carefully monitor and evaluate
currently applicable rules (EU and national) with the goal of further adapting them to the specificities of the
cultural sector where necessary. The sector has the responsibility to more efficiently report shortcomings in
current rules and in their application.
- The EU and Member States must commit to implementing specific targeted measures such as training and
capacity building for national administrations dealing with visas, taxation, customs and social security
coordination for very mobile sectors, such as the culture sector. National administrations and their staff need
to better understand the specific difficulties and needs of the mobile culture sector (complex labour
situations characterized by a diversity of nationalities and employment status, short-term contracts, last-
minute artistic changes, etc). This needs to be done in close cooperation with professional organisations in
the culture sector.
2
Focus on the Mediterranean
Another point which is important for this study is to focus it on the Mediterranean countries and
question if the best practices and lessons learned from the EU examples are adaptable to the
local level in the countries which are considered to be south of the Mediterranean, as well as
European but non-EU countries, and bordering the Mediterranean. In this relation an important
study is made on the subject of Exploring Mobility around the Mediterranean, as part of the
Istikshaf Symposium in 2011. In comparison to the recommendations described beforehand, we
can see a similar path in the ones referring to the region of the Mediterranean too. The funding
of mobility is a major issue, and what is promising is the underlining of an increase of demand
for mobility grants, meaning that the artists and cultural professionals are seeing more and more
2
From the 4 Arts Mobility Pilot Projects; Recommendation on Cultural Mobility; March 2010
the positive effects of mobility. In terms of the Arab countries, what is noted in the study is that
there are several directions of mobility that need encouragement, not only the South-North
mobility, but the South-South as well, since there are not enough cultural exchanges even
between neighboring countries. Another recommendation refers to the level of transparency of
the grant funds and officers, which is an issue, when it comes to funding from Arab, as well as
European-Arab mobility lines. The level of transparency affects the reputation of the grant
givers, and enriches or downgrades the quality and the versatility of the chosen artists. The
open system of evaluation, as well as well determined criteria for awarding mobility grants is
one of the key aspects that ensures a positive outreach of the cultural programme.
- There is a need to radically augment and increase funding of mobility in the light of an increasing demand
which is met by less than 25%.
- As for the Arab world, (Arab- Arab) mobility funds are of special importance as an independent venue for
non-main stream artists to gain further exposure and learning opportunities and to regenerate the growth of
local culture in the region.
- There is a need to standardize the process of administrating mobility: that is the selection criteria,
committee selection and spelling out the expected long term impact, in order to establish transparent
systems.
3
Furthermore, concerning the Mediterranean Region, even in a preparatory document promoted
by the European Commission in 2009, which aims at creating a Strategy for Culture for the
Mediterranean Region, there is a strong focus on encouraging mobility, which involves countries
within the region as well as neighboring ones. The regional aspect of creating cultural networks,
is a strong point, that has intention to further encourage projects which have become successful
beyond borders and promote them as success stories, creating cultural impact with rewarding
outreach which can be used to disseminate the best practices among neighboring regions still in
a lower phase of cultural development.
-Encourage initiatives involving partners from different countries, including Eastern European and Balkan
countries and those beyond the Union for the Mediterranean, especially from the Gulf countries and sub-
Saharan Africa.
-The Mediterranean festival programme: support the inclusion of a special Mediterranean section in the
programmes of existing festivals in the Mediterranean region.
-Identify successful projects and programmes that can have regional relevance and support extending their
reach at the regional level. This could be coined as promoting Mediterranean Artistic Centres of
Excellence.
4
Beyond the policy documents and the recommendations by the official institutions working on
cultural mobility, the reality in the recent years shows a conflicting trajectory of mobility
constraints effecting especially the movements of African artists towards Europe. On this issue,
the author Francois Bouda, in his article The Mobility of African Artists: a politically-oriented
issue, even elaborates on certain inhuman and humiliating treatments when African artists apply
for a visa, related to a cultural mobility visit in European countries. Bouda notes that related to
the flows of illegal immigration, artists very often are paying the price with an equal treatment,
explaining examples of artists being obliged to play instruments or dance on the actual borders
in order to prove that they are indeed on a cultural mobility visit, and not misusing reasons for
travel with intention of illegal immigration.
Despite the measures noted above, which exemplify a clear political intent to permit goods and people to
travel easily, the practices at work, mainly in the artistic and cultural domain, constrict the mobility of African
3
Exploring Mobility around the Mediterranean; Istikshaf Symposium; June 2011
4
Towards A Strategy for Culture in the Mediterranean Region; EC Preparatory document; November 2009
artists to a tight airlock. With the increase in power of migratory flows on the part of Africans who toy with the
idea of making their fortune in the Western El Dorado, African artists are frequently treated as presumed
illegal immigrants. This can be seen, for example, in French consulates where people asking for visas are
reserved inhuman and humiliating treatments. While visa appointments considerably take time, visa
requests are sometimes refused with no motivated reason and the experience has revealed many African
artists who were forced to play their instruments or to dance before passing the border.
5
Finally, he is referring to a grassroots attempt of the network Zone Franche, to act upon the
mistreatment of artists when applying for visa related to cultural mobility, with setting up a
committee with the name Visas Artistes, and with the aim to help artists fulfill their intention of
artistic exchange, through advices in documents preparations, procedures following, but also
through direct pushes to the official institutions in order to enforce evaluated decisions.
Precisely Bouda notes on the committee actions as: gives advice to professionals of performing
arts as of their visa applications and lays pressure over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in case of
freezing.
The role of mobility promoters across the Mediterranean
Having in mind that in every study regarding cultural mobility, funding is mentioned as a major
issue, in this part of the research we will analyze specifically the travel grants which are
available for travel across the Mediterranean, aimed at lessening one of the key restrictions for
mobility.
The price of the tickets can be viewed as one of the central factors which constrains many
cultural organizations in creating long term partnerships beyond borders, in providing
continuous training and intercultural exchange for its members, and in gaining regional or
international impact of activities. This factor is very concrete, and therefore easily researched.
Based on previous experience gained as part of the organization of the team of the project
Trans-Cultural Dialogues, the organization of on-the-field meetings engaging several
international members, is a major cost. The price range of tickets for travelling from North of the
Mediterranean to the South, as well as vice versa, are usually twice the price if the journey is
organized only between European countries. What is interesting in this research is that
sometimes travelling between neighboring or close distance countries in the South, can be more
expensive than the same if the journey starts in the North. This is, in some cases due to no
direct airplane lines existing between the southern neighboring countries, meaning that an
airplane journey from Beirut or Rabat to Algiers, might take you on a transit on another
continent, namely cities as Paris or Rome.
Therefore, in order to broader our research into practical measures in lessening cultural
mobility, we will compare and research the travel grants aimed at covering the Mediterranean
region. In this relation we are underlining 5 different travel grants lines, coming from
foundations as: Roberto Cimetta, European Cultural Foundation, Prince Claus Fund, Safar Fund
and Mawa3eed. Namely a general characteristic is that all these foundations have all-year
round ticket grants schemes, with a different procedure on revision, quarterly or monthly.
Considering disciplines, the mobility grants are aimed at artists and cultural professionals, and
regarding age limit, the usual minimum and maximum ranges from 15 to 35 years, but can also
be extended to the first 10 years in the professional career. Other than these characteristics,
which can be generalized for the foundations mentioned, there is an important difference
regarding regional coverage. Namely, the Roberto Cimetta Fund supports artistic mobility in the
5
Bouda, Francois; The Mobility of African Artists: a politically-oriented issue
Euro-Mediterranean zone; the European Cultural Foundation focuses on travel between EU and
countries bordering the EU; the Prince Claus Fund supports travel in between developing
countries, specifically the regions of Latin America, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, non-EU Balkans
and non-EU Eastern Europe; the Safar Fund aims at providing grants for the Arab countries
only, as well as the Mawa3eed. The mentioned regional restrictions combined with limited
repetition of travel support grants, translates to very few options for international teams
operating in the region of the Mediterranean.
The issue of visa restrictions is identified as the second biggest obstacle to cultural mobility
across the Mediterranean. Here we will briefly analyze the visa restrictions in terms of four
mobility directions related to the Mediterranean: North North, South North, North South and
South South, with a special focus on non-recognized countries and therefore official travel
documents.
The North North direction ensures the most liberal travelling characteristics as a result of the
establishment of the Schengen Area which unites the countries from the European Union
(excluding Ireland and the United Kingdom, but including Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, and
Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia as candidate states) and gives them right of free movement. On
the other side, the same Area that gives the countries in the North free movement, restricts the
countries from the South to conduct mobility, with the obligation of Schengen visa. The only
liberalization in these terms relates to the countries of the Western Balkans (Macedonia,
Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina), which since 2010 have the right of
free movement for three months in this Area. Considering the North South mobility direction
there are several different trends. Namely, there are countries with a very restrictive visa policy,
as Algeria for which nearly all countries are required to apply for a visa. Meanwhile, Lebanon,
Egypt and Tunisia, are known to have very liberal visa system regarding Western European
countries, either not requiring visas, either issuing them at the borders centers. Finally, the
South South mobility direction mainly is considered to be liberal regarding visa issues for Arab
countries. Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, again are liberal or dont require visas, while Algeria doesnt
require visas only for Moroccan and Tunisian nationals. Here, there are several issues that
needs to be mentioned. The issue with the Israeli stamp, which in countries as Lebanon, Syria,
Algeria, is a legitimate reason for your visa application to be rejected. Another issue, concerning
Lebanon is also refusal of admission to holders of passports issued by both Israel and
Palestine. On the contrary, Lebanons liberal visa policy allows application for a specific artistic
visa.
6
What needs to be underlined, regarding cultural mobility is the special case of not recognized
countries, meaning not recognized travel documents, in terms of the Mediterranean speaking,
Palestine and Kosovo. Since these countries are not recognized by all countries in the region of
the Mediterranean they are not eligible of entering certain countries with which they dont have
established diplomatic relations. This can be translated in necessity to apply for a visa in a long
and complicated process, or a simple disability to even apply for visa. Namely, last year,
Palestine ranked as the 90
th
least favored country of origin for its passport holders in referral to
visa granting, while Kosovo 87
th
, based on a research made by The Henley and Partners firm,
on Visa Restrictions Index 2013
7
. The ranking means that the holders of these countries
passport are granted visa free or visa on arrival access to only 36/39 countries in the world,
respectively.
6
General Directorate of General Security, Lebanese Republic, website as consulted on 28
th
of February 2014, http://www.general-
security.gov.lb/Entry_visa/sube18.aspx
7
The Henley and Partners firm, Visa Restrictions Index 2013, website as consulted on 28
th
of February 2014,
https://www.henleyglobal.com/about-the-firm/
Cultural Mobility Research Results
As part of the Trans Cultural Dialogues project our short term aim is making a research on the
current state of mobility issues effecting the Mediterranean countries, including South
Mediterranean countries nationals travelling to North Mediterranean, South to South, as well as
North European nationals travelling to South Mediterranean. The research itself aims in
identifying the most common issues of restricted mobility and creating a strategy on acting upon
them. Long term aim is to indirectly affect the policy makers and in this case, group and
individual decision makers in the respective embassies and consulates on both sides of the
Mediterranean in taking considerate decisions when granting and refusing artists and cultural
professionals access in a country, for the reasons of mobility residencies, short term
conferences and workshops. A second long term aim is to suggest an introducing of
Artistic/Cultural Passport which provides artists and cultural professionals with beneficial
treatment when applying for temporary visas and residence permits as part of the future
potential development of the policies of the European Neighborhood and Partnership
Instrument.
The respective Action Plan is determined as follows:
1st phase: gathering stories, experiences, interviews from the core team of Trans Cultural
Dialogues
2nd phase: gathering stories, experiences, interviews from the members of the Cultural
Innovators Network
3rd phase: contacting extensive network of artists (friends, colleagues), NGOs, organizations
for gaining additional data, ex. GI in different countries, Amnesty International
4th phase: analysis of the research and including theoretical comparison with other researches;
differences between a conference/business visa and a cultural visa; best practices for
overcoming obstacles
At the moment of publishing this article, the action plan considering the Cultural Mobility
Research is in between phase 2 and 3, aiming in an additional physical distribution of the
questionnaire on meetings taking place in the forthcoming months. The public receiving the
questionnaire, within this timeline, is identified among the Trans-Cultural Dialogues core team,
as well as the broader network of the members of the Cultural Innovators Network. The
methodology used is an open online questionnaire, distributed to the two specific groups of
analysis, comprising of anonymous answers analyzed in the form of case studies. The
distributed questionnaire is available for review as Annex 1.
Some of the results received refer to the following conclusions:
- Algeria can be referred to as a country with very strict and complex procedure regarding
granting visas to participants coming from European countries. One interviewee
explains: From my experience, it was just Algeria as an example of problematic
procedures when it comes to Mediterranean, concerning trips organized within my work
and by network of civil/NGO initiatives Im cooperating with. The several interviews with
the police proved that the NGO/civil mobility is hard and insecure, as well as very under
observation in Algeria. My coming to Algiers was late for 4 days due to visa delay,
regardless of submitted plan of travel. Another interviewee faced similar issues: As
European I have a privileged status for cultural mobility and stay. Travelling in Europe I
never faced obstacles. The only countries that I visited outside the European Community
are Tunisia and Lebanon, where I did not face any problem neither concerning
documents. The only difficulty I found was when I was supposed to go to Algeria. The
Algerian embassy requires a lot of documents from different institutes/offices and they
are also very expensive. I also needed to show a bank account check with at least 4
thousands euros. From the organizational part of the conference, a local confirms:
Actually, pretty all occidental citizens are required to have a visa to enter Algeria, and
the process is pretty difficult, and even ends up with a refuse.
- Palestinian nationals face problems even when travelling to Arab countries. Namely one
respondent describes: Well its known that going to EU countries is quite difficult, but I
faced a problem going to Tunisia. All my papers were right, and I applied for the visa 35
days before the event, and I had to wait more until the cultural event started. My visa
was not refused but they asked for more details about the visit and the event, so this
thing postponed the issue of the visa for more 10 days.
- Concerning support provided for administration issues in the cultural sector, the view is
that it is seriously missing. As a participant in the research explains: In my opinion,
theres a lack of engagement by the representatives of each country when cultural
activities are developed in a country. Not from an economical point of view, but in
helping in administrative duties, as visa or other issues.
- Regarding the developments in concern with cultural mobility in previous years of
professional career compared to now a survey participant notes: Thinking in my first
projects in the Euro-Mediterranean space, in 2005-2006, these issues were present
since the beginning. Thinking in the Shengen zone, they are always strict with the south
citizens, and more and more there are countries in the south applying the reciprocity to
European citizens when traveling to the south.
- On the ways cultural professionals are dealing with the strict conditions for residence
permits, another interviewee explains: These restrictions are not affecting that much our
activities, as long as we are shaping our activities to the situation. For example, the
period of a Residency (BCN>TNS) wont be longer than three months, in order to avoid
administrative processes.
Different other issues are mentioned in the survey as negatively effecting cultural mobility in the
Mediterranean:
- There is a regional focus on promoting cultural mobility in the EU, rather than the
Mediterranean
- The restricted mobility is viewed by artists as causing negative energy and depression,
while decreasing motivation for work
- Even with all documents presented, including hosting organization invitation letter, visa
for Switzerland can be refused three times (without a feasible reason)
- There are additional costs and efforts made for travel to the capital for applying for visa
in the respective Embassy/Consulate
- Schengen visa is granted with limitation to only the dates of the conference, without
giving opportunity to explore the respective city
- Not understanding by managers on the work position of the importance of cultural
mobility for professional development and growth
Important Lessons learned for best practices to be used in the future include:
- visa procedure should start at least 2 months in advance, or more
- having institutions (sponsored by the state) for invitation letters
- prepare everything in advance
- be annoying - make the embassy people do their job, if they havent posted the procedure
online
- research about the procedure online and in-person
- be prepared for the process to take time
These important findings will be further used to structure the research and develop it during the
implementation of the next two phases.
Conclusion
Referring to the problematic we are researching: Whether the mobility restrictions are affecting
the slower development of Mediterranean cultural collaboration, network and artistic exchanges,
we can use the research study conducted as a confirmation of the stated. Namely, trans-cultural
collaborations and creating long term partnerships in the region are limited to virtual
cooperation, and meetings conducting with risk of several participants not participating due to
visa issues. The funding opportunities are few, considering that Mediterranean region is
comprised of more than 466 million in population, having opportunities to apply for cultural
mobility grants in only five very active funding lines.
The general recommendations towards the future development, insisted on by policy makers as
well as cultural practitioners relate to close engagement of the respective institutions, towards
the concrete decision makers, granting or refusing applications with accountable reasons.
Furthermore, what is very important is to translate the encouraging policy on to the actual
borders and to enforce restrictions on humiliating treatment towards artists requesting a basic
right, as cultural mobility to another country, for the purposes of learning and personal
development.
References
1. ERICarts Institute; Mobility Matters: Programmes and Schemes to Support the Mobility
of Artists and Cultural Professionals in Europe; October 2008
2. From the 4 Arts Mobility Pilot Projects; Recommendation on Cultural Mobility; March
2010
3. Exploring Mobility around the Mediterranean; Istikshaf Symposium; June 2011
4. Towards A Strategy for Culture in the Mediterranean Region; EC Preparatory document;
November 2009
5. Bouda, Francois; The Mobility of African Artists: a politically-oriented issue
6. General Directorate of General Security, Lebanese Republic, website as consulted on
28
th
of February 2014, http://www.general-security.gov.lb/Entry_visa/sube18.aspx
7. The Henley and Partners firm, Visa Restrictions Index 2013, website as consulted on
28
th
of February 2014, https://www.henleyglobal.com/about-the-firm/
Annex 1
Questionnaire: Cultural Mobility Research
Intro: The following questionnaire is distributed for the purposes of conducting a research aimed to
disclose reoccurring obstacles related to cultural and artistic mobility in the Mediterranean region.
PLEASE NOTE: The results of the study will be used for publishing a research and presented on
conferences and academic symposiums. However, private details and contact information, will not be
shared or mentioned publicly.
Statistical information
1. Country of origin (if dual, as on Passport used for travel):
2. Age:
3. Gender:
4. Profession: Cultural professional/artist/researcher/student
Qualitative questions (Please provide details, and explanatory story beside the short answer)
1. Having the Mediterranean in mind please indicate your direction of travel in which you faced with
the biggest or most reoccurring obstacles?
South-North
North-South
South-South
North-North
2. In your career as a cultural professional, can you provide us with details on a relation (country)
that has the most difficult process of acquiring travel documents for the purpose of cultural stay?
3. Please provide us with details regarding visa issues (of the specific country):
- Does the country require entry visa?
- How many days prior your travel did you apply for visa?
- What type of visa were you applying for (tourist, cultural / short term, long term / one entry,
multiple entries)
- Did you have an invitation letter, travel and accommodation settled when applying?
- Did the Consular section ask you for a financial guaranty? And if so, what was the amount (in
Euros). In relation to the duration of your stay, is the amount required according?
- How many days after applying for visa did you receive an answer?
- If negative, did the Embassy/Consulate provide you with information on the refusal to grant
you visa?
4. Have you ever been denied entry on the actual borders of the country you are travelling to?
(Specifically, countries issuing visa upon arrival on the passport control) If so, were you explained
the reasons. Please briefly explain the concrete situation.
5. Please provide us with a brief personal story of the most difficult mobility experience you have
had that prevented you to attend a workshop, conference, residency, etc.
General questions
6. Can you briefly share with us, best practices, dos and donts you developed during your career in
order to prevent mobility obstacles?
7. In your opinion, during your professional career, are the mobility restrictions lessened compared
to previous years, or have become stricter? Please indicate the period.
8. Besides the abovementioned administrative and borders obstacles, which other factors do you
see as obstacles to your cultural mobility?
9. When you experience restrictions in your mobility, how does that translate to your work?