The three federal states involved are constituted very differently in terms of the historical development of the independent performing arts as well as the organisation and equipment of their scenes. At the structural level, too, the state associations with their full-time and voluntary structures are differently situated. Within the respective regular portfolio, which reflects the core tasks of the association's work in the federal state, cross-state cooperation projects are not possible within the daily work of each individual association, either financially or in terms of personnel.
In Verbund Mitte:Ost, we see the opportunity to implement a scene-encompassing, structure-building network project whose most important principle is knowledge transfer: learning from each other, sharing knowledge and experience for mutual benefit. This is the only way we can identify potential and needs from the scenes and steer the next steps towards an active network.
IAs part of the #TakeNote funding programme of the Fonds Darstellende Künste, supported by NEUSTART KULTUR, the four state associations worked together for the first time in 2021 (at that time still with the Brandenburg State Association of Independent Performing Arts) on a cross-state cooperation project. With the Conference of Visions on 7 September 2021 at the WUK Theater Quartier in Halle (Saale) and an accompanying podcast, the partners initiated a professional exchange and networking of actors in the independent performing arts from the participating federal states as well as representatives from politics, administration, cultural funding and regional development across state borders.
In 2023 and 2024, we attended the INTHEGA congress together with artists as the Mitte:Ost association to present artistic productions from Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia and to establish contacts with the touring theatre industry.
