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VA international working survey results

VA recently put out a survey to the cultural sector to find out more about how international work is being carried out in the UK and what could be done to further support it.

See the images for quick snapshot of the results and read below for more indepth analysis.

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Results of the survey and VA's response

International engagement

It was clear from our study that Europe is the continent that the UK arts sector has most frequent engagement with, followed by South-Central Asia and South America.We are pleased to hear this as we will be providing a service to further the success of collaborative work between the UK and Europe through our position as the UK Cultural Contact Point. The results also confirm that we are 'in synch' with the sector given our record of work in China, India and the Far East, as well as decades of work with Latin America.

Relationship building

When asked about international relationships, our respondents highlighted four key methods from the list we provided: Research visits (the most popular), a visit to the UK by an overseas organisation or contact, through participation in an international festival/initiative, and attending a conference/seminar/workshop/networking event.

It is clear that the UK-based cultural professionals who took part in our survey find it necessary to develop international work through personal and face-to-face encounters, with opportunities to learn about a particular cultural context and its artwork through first-hand experience and quality information-sharing events.

‘Other’ means of relationship building that were cited include:
• Relationships initiated by artists
• Relationships built through an Artist in Residency programme
• Own initiative beginning with a personal visit abroad to see friends
• Through fellowship schemes, such as Trailblazers run by ADAD
• Through collaborations with sister companies abroad
• Through Visiting Arts

Once again, the majority of these options directly involve international travel, which emphasises the need for artists and cultural professionals to have more mobility.

VA should lobby with the sector to maintain or increase research/mobility grants. Online information and intelligence will help to create better potential partners. VA is developing a range of web tools to address this.

Obstacles to international working

It is unsurprising that the largest obstacle to working internationally is a lack of dedicated international funding. Similarly, the second largest obstacle – the issues with red tape and attaining visas for international artists coming into the UK – Visiting Arts receives calls and emails about on a daily basis.

Other obstacles cited are:

Confusion of roles of intermediary bodies
Lack of clear information and up to date intelligence
As a small independent, 'I have to raise the money myself'
Working internationally seems to be at the bottom of a lot of theatres’ priority lists. There’s sometimes a sense that it can be perceived as not being able to guarantee box office sales
Access or introductions to decision makers
Timeframe and communication
Text heavy work not being perceived as attractive to take into other lingual/cultural contexts

Online information and intelligence will help to create better potential partners. VA is developing a range of web tools to address this.

Funding for international work

This section shows what we expect to see: that the government, through the Arts Council, British Council, local authorities and other government departments provide the bulk of UK arts funding for local and international work. Corporate sponsors appear to be the least engaged funders, which is a slightly worrying notion as we move swiftly towards cuts to the government budget that will inevitably affect the grant-giving schemes it operates.

Other funding sources we cited as:
• Individuals
• Overseas organisations collaborating on the project
• None – self funded
• No UK funding – all funding provided by international governmental and private funders
• European Commission

VA, with the sector, will lobby for an increase in funding for international work.

Information required to improve capacity for working internationally

Again, information on funding sources and introductions to partners and sponsors lead in these responses. Information on opportunities, platforms and venues come in second with visa support a close third.

We hope our new website will be a dynamic platform for sharing and discussing information on international working.

Skills development to build capacity for international working

VA’s research visits are highlighted here as being the most important skills development that sector professionals desire. VA has a strong track record of leading visits that more often than not provides learning and relationship-building that result in high quality international collaborative work.

People can seek this training, as well as leading to better understanding of how we can assist artists and cultural professionals in learning more about the nuances of working in conflict zones.

Other training cited was:
• ITC multi-media competence training
• Funding for further workshop activity established on VA’s in country workshops

VA will continue to look for funding opportunities to develop its international training capacity

Most important outcome of international work

It is significant that the majority chose ‘Increased intercultural understanding’ as their top outcome for international work. It has confirmed for VA that our strapline and mission are still as appropriate and relevant as ever.