WHAT IS LIVE|ARTS|LAB?
Live|Arts|Lab is a series of workshops, each designed to leverage the wisdom and experience of the attendees to define and refine strategies and initiatives that encourage fairness and equity across the global cultural ecosystem.
Each L|A|L brings together 32 fellows whose work and experience represent diverse perspectives, regions, and experiences. Fellows are selected to include the voices and perspectives of policy makers, funders, leaders from both the nonprofit and commercial ends of the culture industry.*
Each L|A|L is organized in cooperation with a major international cultural convening in the live arts (music, dance, theater, etc.), and frames the discussion accordingly. And each edition focuses on one of the eight principles outlined in the Fair Culture Charter of the German Commission for UNESCO:
Decent working conditions and fair remuneration
Access to diverse cultural expressions and resources
Non-discrimination and gender equality
Local development
Market access
Digital equity and ethics
Respect for the environment
Public and consumer awareness
Each L|A|L builds on the results of prior labs—synthesizing knowledge, ideas, and plans across disparate disciplines and across the global cultural industry. And each L|A|L produces recommendations that guide research undertaken by Culture Hub Poland’s research institute. The finding of Culture Hub Poland’s research, in turn, informs the curriculum of future Labs.
In this way, L|A|L is generating and refining fairer models of law, policy, and business aimed at a fairer global cultural ecosystem. And equally importantly, we are building a network of L|A|L alumni—a global community of culture leaders who share a common language and are united by the mission to nudge into existence a fairer cultural industry and a more equitable world.
*Note that we use the term "culture industry” to describe all the parts of society that create and disseminate art; we do not presume a distinction between the non-profit or subsidized “sector” and the commercial "entertainment industry.”
WHY DID WE CREATE LIVE|ARTS|LAB?
Live|Arts|Lab was created to address two problems that we believe are getting in the way of progress toward a fairer and more equitable global cultural ecosystem in the live arts:
First, we believe there is a problem with how cultural policy is developed. UNESCO, cultural ministries, and academics are working to envision, inspire, and mandate a more equitable culture industry, but their work has been hindered by a the difficulties of maintaining a broad and sustained dialogue with culture industry practitioners around the globe; this is unfortunate because the culture industry has a long history of initiatives aimed at becoming more equitable, and has much to offer the policy-making process.
Second, we believe there is a problem with the culture industry’s efforts to become more equitable. It has been hampered because it lacks the tools, discourse, and a cohesive conceptual and legal frame to guide its efforts; this is unfortunate because these tools, discourses, and frames have been well developed by scholars and policy professionals, and in some cases they have even become law.*
L|A|L aims to fix this.
*Broadly we are talking here about work related to UNESCO’s 1980 Recommendation Concerning the Status of the Artist, and UNESCO’s 2005 Convention on Diversity of Cultural Expressions—and all the research, policy, and law that surrounds these instruments.
WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF LIVE|ARTS|LAB?
Live|Arts|Lab has four goals:
Facilitate Relationships: L|A|L is a place where thought leaders meet. Our hope is that connections made here will lead to innovations years from now—innovations that none of us can envision today.
Build a common language: Over the last 50 years, scholars, researchers, policy makers, artists, and arts workers have done revolutionary work envisioning a more fair global culture. Unfortunately, much of that work has stalled at implementation, often at the intersection of cultural policy and cultural practice. Overcoming the barriers to fairness requires building a common language and learning about other peoples’ definitions, contexts, and assumptions.
Drive cultural research: During L|A|L, we will identify many problems and produce some solutions, but we will probably also discover some questions we can’t answer. To answer those questions, L|A|L partners with Culture Hub Poland’s institute for cultural research. The results of each L|A|L provide direction for the research it undertakes, and the findings of this research inform subsequent L|A|Ls.
Propose Action: L|A|L is a chance for people from different corners of the global culture ecosystem to work together, apply the research and ideas from prior L|A|Ls, and evolve concrete strategies and plans.
ORIGINS OF LIVE|ARTS|LAB
Live|Arts|Lab was created by Matthew Covey (Tamizdat) and Marie Fol. It builds on the the work they did in collaboration with the cultural mobility information network On the Move, to create the Cultural and Artist Mobility Advocacy Summit (CAMAS) which was hosted by WOMEX in October 2023.
CAMAS brought together 45 policy and industry leaders for a rich discussion and debate. We thank Christine Semba, Luca Jacob, Tove Waldemarsson, Jordi Baltà, and especially Marie Le Sourd for their support and expertise in making that project a reality. Read more about CAMAS here.
WHO ARE WE?
MARIE FOL (Co-Initiator) - France / Belgium
Marie Fol is an advocate for international cultural collaboration, and is active as independent advisor, researcher and cultural manager. Based on her past experience with artist residencies (TransArtists, Res Artis) and the music industry (Keychange, One Voice for European Music), as well as expertise on cultural mobility (On the Move), Fol is now developing a body of research on residencies for musicians. Fol has extensive experience coordinating European projects and has served as evaluator and expert for public and private cultural organisations. She is a frequent public speaker on fair practices in the arts and has presented sessions on gender equity, music and artist mobility at numerous international conferences.
TAMIZDAT (CO-INITIATOR) - USA
Tamizdat is a nonprofit organization that facilitates and advocates for international cultural mobility and exchange. Tamizdat seeks through its program activities to assist the international performing arts community in addressing problems presented by international borders.
In Live|Arts|Lab, Tamizdat is represented by Matthew Covey who works directly with Marie Fol on the conceptualisation of each lab, the partnerships, and the overall vision for this initiative.
Matthew Covey is an arts worker, attorney, and activist who has spent his career helping artists build bridges between international communities. He is a founding board member of Tamizdat, a Brooklyn-based NGO committed to legal research, education, and advocacy regarding US-bound artist mobility and visa issues. He is the founding partner of CoveyLaw, a Brooklyn-based law firm that addresses the legal needs of the international cultural community. Covey speaks internationally on immigration, equity, and law at legal and cultural convenings. He is also a member of the board of directors of On The Move, the Brussels-based Artist Mobility network, and Howard Zinn’s Voices of a People’s History.
Mars Dietz, General Manager at Tamizdat, is also involved in the realisation of specific labs.