Edinburgh-based arts organisation Imaginate has beaten off stiff competition from over 400 organisations across Europe to receive funding for its new project, PUSH, which will offer artists high quality, international opportunities to explore three important topics and initiate new artistic ideas.
Imaginate is a unique organisation in Scotland, promoting, developing and celebrating the performing arts for children and young people. Competition for the Creative European Programme was fierce with only 12% receiving the coveted funding, and only two being funded in Scotland.
With Imaginate as Lead Partner, this 2-year project will be delivered in collaboration with 4 other partners from Belgium, Ireland, Norway and Denmark and will focus on the following three topics:
- Identity – Using performance to explore gender and sexuality with children… and questioning whether the subject should be explored at all.
- Borders – Asking how we can talk about migration and asylum with audiences, including minority voices, in a sector that is not yet diverse and a context that is highly political.
- ‘Safety Zones’ – Investigating how we can protect children without restricting their childhood, balancing risk and protection, wildness and safety and taking shows outside theatre spaces.
Fiona Ferguson, Creative Development Director of Imaginate said: “How amazing to have been awarded Creative Europe funding for PUSH with four partners who are equally committed to ‘pushing’ collective thinking around gender, migration and risk-taking.
“PUSH has been created as a response to an ongoing conversation within the young audiences’ sector about creating work that is excellent and relevant, reflecting who we are in all our diversity. It’s exciting to be able to bring together our most brilliant artists from all five partner countries to explore new ideas with young people, artistic leaders, non-arts professionals and the public. We want to see bold work for this most important of audiences.”
Janet Archer, Chief Executive of Creative Scotland said: “We are delighted that Imaginate have been successful with their application to Creative Europe as a lead partner for their transnational collaborative project, PUSH.
“Imaginate will work with partners in Belgium, Ireland, Norway and Denmark for the next two years to explore identity, borders and ‘safety zones’ in theatre and dance for young audiences. Creative Europe Desk UK – Scotland, which is based at Creative Scotland, continues to help organisations across Scotland, like Imaginate, to internationalise their work and access funding from Creative Europe.”
This year’s Imaginate Festival takes place from 28 May – 5 June.
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