Experimental experiences

My company Konzept Arts & Ideas is a young artist management company with an international focus. We are interested in finding long-term opportunities for UK artists to develop and present their work both in the UK and abroad, particularly in Europe. Just over two years ago, we relocated to Berlin which has given us some new insights into how the UK performing arts market compares to the arguably more experimental German arts scene. The initial reasons for relocating were both financial and strategic. We wanted to be in a European city renowned for its artistic scene and free-thinking atmosphere, a place where the arts sector seems less hung up on genre and welcomes ‘performance’ in the widest sense of the word.

Touring live dance and performance internationally has its particular challenges. It takes years to build up the reputation and relationships required, and we are still on that journey, working hard to build links with presenters, festivals, local producers and funders. The logistics alone – delivering highly crafted work with more than four or five people on the road (with minimum staffing resources) – create plenty of work, from constantly liaising with presenters about visas, travel plans, accommodation and complex technical considerations, to organising photography and video materials, marketing campaigns, publicity, press and so on.

We wanted to be in a European city renowned for its artistic scene and free-thinking atmosphere

To successfully stage more radical work, there are proven benefits from partnerships with larger organisations. We have produced two complex performance installations with young artists’ collective Living Structures, in collaboration with the former Old Vic Tunnels. In 2010 the company premiered Cart Macabre, its adventurous ghost-train of a show, in the railway tunnels under Waterloo station. It involved moving structures (eight wooden carts) around the site in total darkness to briefly lit cameos and installations.

The relationship with the Old Vic Tunnels developed when Kevin Spacey and the Old Vic invited Living Structures to recreate the show for the Niemeyer Centre in Asturias in Spain in spring 2011, alongside its own Richard III. Working to a strict budget, we trucked over the entire show with a trailer by land and ferry. We performed for a week with a company of 16 young local artists. The venue was fully behind us and we felt enabled to share this unusual show with new audiences in a very different cultural context. The venue was brave, possibly more so than one of comparable stature and location in the UK. They supported the company with tasks like translating promotional copy, designing and printing programmes and organising accommodation for the entire production team. They even ensured the whole company was fed and watered every day as we had such a short time to get in, fit up and rehearse the piece before opening.

Being based in Berlin has revealed that, while the arts sector and local government in Germany fund their big state-run organisations very well, the open access funding from our arts councils in the UK makes it easier to secure financial investment independently than it is for German arts organisations. Here in Germany, each city runs specific programmes for funding that you can apply for to support and develop artistic projects, but it seems that this is most likely to happen if you affiliate your artists or your company to a larger, more established theatre, festival or cultural organisation which can co-develop the project with you. Those opportunities are much fewer and therefore tougher to get. However, this may change in Berlin as there is a growing ‘Freie Szene’ of independent artists and producers coordinated by LAFT, an arts membership organisation, which is working hard to bring the sector together with networking, funding initiatives and resources.

Audiences are another interesting area of comparison. In the UK, it feels quite polarised. There are tribes who seek out experimental work because they are more adventurous by nature and willing to take a risk on something. But many people wait to see a good critical response before committing hard-earned cash, so a bad review from a critic can have serious consequences on a company’s financial outcomes. Here in Berlin the pool of people who attend the performing arts feels broader. They seem more willing to go and see artists and shows they have never heard of, accepting that risk is part and parcel of seeing new ideas come to life.

Looking ahead, we will look to partner with more established and connected producers and organisations based in the city who best suit each company’s needs and artistic practice. We know it might take a few years, but we feel the benefits of growing a cultural business in an exciting and innovative city like Berlin are long term and worth the time investment.

Natalie Richardson is a producer and runs Berlin and London-based artist management company Konzept Arts & Ideas.
konzept.co.uk