About UsWelcome to the website of the European Network of Cultural Centres (ENCC)!
ENCC is an international network of arts and cultural centres, founded in Turnhout-Belgium in June 1994.
Europe is a beautiful mosaic of cultures; arts products and arts education can teach us, perhaps more than history itself, about daily life and global culture of a region. Europe becomes smaller as mobility increases and new technologies will lower barriers to co-operate with each other. This, and closer networking, will allow staff members of local cultural institutes to become strong intermediaries between the arts, the artists and the public, not only on a local level but also on a European level.
One of the primary conditions for a better co-operation and an intense cultural exchange is a better knowledge of each other and of the way we operate. Not only national cultural institutes have a mission to fulfil in Europe's future. Also local actors in the cultural field do need a platform where they can meet, talk about their experiences, dream about projects in co-operation with partners all over Europe.
Multi-disciplinary cultural centres have their own way of acting, their own problems and fields of interest. The ENCC wants to be their platform: networking on a global level for acting stronger in the local community.
Shortcut Europe 2011. Warsaw, Poland
The ENCC Shortcut Europe conference 2011 took place between 16th – 18th of November in Warsaw, Poland
Main topic :
The congress consisted of 7 panels dedicated to the following questions:
1. The institutions and culture centres towards the system
2. Educational „orientate yourself!” In search of lost participant
3. Culture as a space of freedom and anarchy
4. Polish multiculturalism?
5. Culture and art in a public space
6. Development through the culture?
7. Culture networking
More information: Warsaw2011
The Shortcut Europe conference 2012 will take place in Zagreb, Croatia.
ENCC`s Creative Photo Contest:
In October 2011 people from all over Europe, who are interested or involved in cultural centre activities, had the opportunity to hand in photographs, visualizing their ideas to the theme “Culture (not) for all?” corresponding to this Shortcut Conference. The participants were asked to address one of the following topics:
*Culture as a space of freedom and anarchy*
*In search of the lost participant*
*Culture and art in public space*
They have been dealing with the growth of competence among culture creators, the strengthening of the participatory potential of people attending cultural events and the exploration of cultural interests of excluded and marginalized communities.
The winner of the photocontest is Susana Neves, a photographer from Portugal. She convinced the judging panel with her black-and-white photo of -a woman in front of her own portrait-
The best photos were exhibited during the Shortcut Conference.
!TAC! Programme – Warsaw 19th of November 2011
TAC! Warsaw was organized by Danuta Jampolska who is the International Cooperation and Exchange Co-ordinator in the Ochota Cultural Centre in Warsaw and could be seen as an extension of the “ShortCut Europe” Conference that took place from the 16th – 18th of November in Warsaw.
TAC! (Take away Culture!) – events makes it possible for people working in European Cultural Centres to organise or participate in study trips in different countries and cities in Europe.The concept focuses on low administration for the organisers and low costs for the participants and aims to develop and support a living network between cultural workers in Europe.
Bridge between European Cultural Centres (BECC)
BECC Evaluation Seminar. Leuven, Belgium has successfully taken place from 28th - 30th September 2011
Find the programme of the Evaluation Seminar here
BECC Website
The BECC has its own website. Discover it here
As a result of the pilot phase of the BECC, which took place in 2008-2009, an exchange guideline booklet was compiled. It contains information about the project and the participation conditions, and it provides valuable tips for both hosts and visitors.
Download the BECC Guidelines for Hosts and Exchangees (7,9 MB)
LINKS!
Culture related websites and publications
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any
use which may be made of the information contained therein.