Virtual Crossovers: An e-residency for arts journalists

The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) through its arts website culture360.ASEF.org and ENCATC, the European network on cultural management and policy are pleased to launch the open call for Virtual Crossovers, an e-residency for emerging arts journalists from Asia and Europe. This e-residency will be held online for a period of 4 weeks and will offer an opportunity for capacity building, networking and peer collaboration for 2 emerging arts journalists (one from Asia and one from Europe), with a focus on cultural diplomacy and international cultural relations.

Format & requirements

• The online residency and mentorship programme will be conducted online and will have a duration of 4 weeks. Each selected journalist will be assigned a mentor from the other region.
• The selected journalists will have the unique opportunity to attend online lectures from high level experts in the field of international cultural relations.
• At the end of the residency, each journalist will write an article on the topic of international cultural relations between Asia and Europe.
• The selected journalists will be required to take part in a closed-door meeting at the end of the programme.
• The selected journalists will be invited to participate in ENCATC’s Members Talk and share their experience and learnings.
• The selected journalists will have the opportunity to publish an article in the June issue of the ENCATC magazine.
• Each participant will be required to document the progress of the residency through a weekly online diary hosted on ASEF culture360 Instagram and ENCATC Instagram.

Fee: Each participant will receive a fee of SGD 500 for their participation in the residency.

Mentors and Themes

The following experts will be the mentors for the residency:

Kiwon HONG (Korea)

Professor Kiwon HONG read Aesthetics and Public Administration in Seoul National University (B.A.), New York University (M.P.A.) and Yonsei University (Ph.D). She began her carrier as a cultural policy researcher in the public sector (Korea Culture and Tourism Research Institute) and moved to academia to bridge the world of theory and reality. Her commitment in cultural policy research gave fruit to hosting the 9th International Conference on Cultural Policy Research in Seoul 2016. She has served in various positions where she thought would make any difference or challenge status quo. Name and prestige being not always in proportion, the most she felt committed was being a member of Women Cultural Policy Forum in which she is still active. Serving as a board member of Seoul Foundation of Arts and Culture and Korea Arts Management Service brought depth in her perspective. Outside of her specialized field, her position as committee member in the Presidential Commission on Policy Planning and Ministry of Personnel Management has extended her perspective. Currently she is a professor in arts management and cultural policy at Korea National University of Arts, School of Drama.

Kiwon HONG’s mentorship will focus on the following theme:

“Despite continuous efforts to reach gender equality, the future seems bleak with numerous cases of #MeToo in every part of society worldwide and recent witnessing of vulnerability of women in Covid-19 situation. Arts and culture are not an exception with its persistent tradition of arts making, be it education or the functioning of market in the arts world. Serving as a committee member in the Arts Council of Korea and Seoul Foundation of Arts and Culture, those who shared to advance this subject into the public awareness committed to actively collect and produce critical data and information in order to support policy action. I would be willing to invite any researcher to participate in this action from a cross-cultural perspective to enlarge the audience and also widen the dialogue among those who care about this subject.”

Carla FIGUEIRA (Portugal/UK) and Musa IGREK (Turkey/UK)  

Dr. Carla FIGUEIRA is the Director of the MA in Cultural Policy, Relations and Diplomacy and of the MA in Tourism and Cultural Policy at the Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom. She is an international relations graduate of the Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa (Portugal), she moved to London after a career in arts management. In the UK, she gained an MA in Arts Management (City University, UK, Chevening Scholar) and a PhD in Cultural Policy and Management (City University, UK, Praxis XXI Scholar). Her interests and expertise ranges from mapping of cultural and creative sectors and industries, language policies, the theory and practice of cultural diplomacy and international cultural relations in general, to place branding, national identity and cultural tourism. Carla is a member of ENCATC, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). Full profile here: https://www.gold.ac.uk/icce/staff/figueira-carla/

Dr Musa IGREK is a researcher and he worked as an arts and culture journalist more than a decade between Istanbul and London. He holds a PhD from the Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship at Goldsmiths, University of London and a MA in Cultural Policy and Management from Sheffield Hallam University, UK. His research and teaching interests are cultural diplomacy, cultural relations, domestic and foreign cultural policy, international organisations, hegemony, public diplomacy, strategic communication and national identity/image. More info: https://twitter.com/musaigrek

Carla FIGUEIRA and Musa IGREK will mentor the journalist from Asia on any theme related to cultural diplomacy and international cultural relations within their areas of expertise.

Eligibility criteria

• Emerging arts journalists (up to 28 years of age) who are nationals of one of the 51 ASEM member countries. Please refer to this link for the full list of 51 ASEM member countries: www.aseminfoboard.org/partners
• 2 to 3 years of proven experience as a journalist in the arts and culture sectors.
• Excellent written and spoken English.

Submission of applications

We invite you to submit your application through this form and attach the required documents by 22 March 2021 Midnight CET.

https://asiaeuropefoundation.formstack.com/forms/virtual_crossovers_application_form_copy

Selection Panel

A panel comprising one representative from ENCATC, one representative from ASEF and the 2 mentors will evaluate and select the participants. Please note that only successful candidates will be notified latest by 31 March 2021.

Project timeline