R2E - First National Training Activity in Brussels

The topics addressed through the training sessions were about clarifying one’s professional project, key information on contract, transnational mobility, fundamentals of project management, crowdfunding, tools to promote one’s artistic project, networking, copyrights and a general information about SMart’s tools. In order to ensure participation of the largest possible number it was suggested to split the whole curriculum over separate sessions, most of which consisted of one-day modules.

23 emerging artists (gender balanced) participated in this training activity :13 people attended the entire seminar and 10 people participated in some training modules. The artistic disciplines represented were Performing Arts, Visual Arts and Audiovisual& Multimedia. Out of the 23 participants, 1 was between 20-24 years old; 11 between 25-29; 8 over 29 years. The main characteristics of this group were: homogeneous group, high level of involvement, already experienced, asking themselves the same question “How can I possibly make a living out of my artistic activity”, many wanted to defend societal values through their project.

According to the evaluation forms, participants were very satisfied. Some elements to improve (according to participants suggestions) included: more time to work on their own project with each trainer; exchanges with experienced invited artists, more about how to find sources of funding, how to make a market study, how to work in the social sector, more on time management. Among the strong points, the following elements were underlined: concrete tools to clarify, formulate and manage your project, seminar that encourages responsibility (to ask yourself relevant questions), useful exchanges with other participants and networking during the training sessions (future collaborations maybe !).