Deadline: 14-Sep-20
VAHA (meaning “oasis” in Turkish) is a two-year programme made with and for the empowered voices of independent arts and culture spaces, advocating for public discussion and dialogue in cities across Turkey, Europe, and their neighbouring countries.
Bringing together the diversity of hybrid spaces and contextual responses to the crises of democracy the regions are currently facing, VAHA explores the power of learning from local practices to develop tailor-made support for platforms of free expression and cultural programming. Exchange on alternative approaches and transformative economies, as well as international solidarity and outreach are at the core of VAHA’s activities. With this approach, VAHA hopes to provide a framework that allows local venues to form a socially prominent ecosystem of interconnected oases, growing as fertile landscapes for open dialogue.
Creative players in and around the spaces above-mentioned are invited to join the process to gain insights into systemic practices and connect their endeavours, helping them thrive in greater resilience.
VAHA will connect and enable up to 50 independent arts and culture spaces and organisations for public programming to shape 16 local hubs interconnected within an international solidarity network. Each hub partnership convenes up to three existing spaces, established in one of the selected cities across Turkey (Ankara, Diyarbakir, Eskisehir, Istanbul, Antalya, Mersin), or set in another area of Europe and its neighbouring countries.
- A pilot activation funding of 5,000 EUR to experiment with new formats of collaboration.
- Methods and tools to map local ecosystem resources and plan perspectives of sustainability.
- Learning mobility grants of 1,000 EUR to foster knowledge and practice exchange among participants.
- Regional/international collaboration grants varying between 10,000 to 25,000 EUR to scale-up pilot actions within more large-scale geography through collaborations with other hubs.
- Peer mentoring to support the development of local hubs along the project lifetime.
- Thematic peer-learning workshops through 4 online/offline small group meetings to gain specific insights for professional and organizational development and networking.
- Access to international synergy building moments through 2 meetings, gathering all participants from diverse cultural contexts.
- Opportunities to harvest, disseminate, and advocate at the local, regional, and international levels.
- Participation in a solidarity network, building a resilient future for an ecosystem of independent spaces on public dialogue and cultural programming in Turkey, Europe, and neighbouring countries.
- All types of organisations that are operating within the arts and cultural sphere are welcome to apply. However, at least one of the partners should have their own physical space for public cultural programming such as literature houses, social venues, cultural houses, multi-functional cafes, etc. In your local hub formation, you can partner with an NGO, public institutions (municipalities, universities, etc.) and even private sector. They strongly encourage cross-sectoral and multidisciplinary partnerships.
- For Turkey, the call for application is by-invitation only in this pilot round of VAHA. The pre-selected organisations through city visits (Ankara, Antalya, Diyarbakir, Eskisehir, Istanbul, and Mersin) and meetings of the implementing team are welcome to apply.
- For countries outside Turkey, the call for applications is announced to the international networks of programme partners. Tandem Network constitutes the majority of this network. Applications are open to all ‘alumni’ who have completed one of the different rounds of the Tandem and other programmes and also the alumni can also reference another organisation from their country to apply. The Network countries eligible to apply include 47 member countries of Council of Europe, Belarus, Kosovo and countries from the Middle East and North Africa/ MENA region: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
For more information, visit https://www.tandemforculture.org/stories/vaha-call-for-applications/