The culture sector, local, regional, national and European policy makers have to find adequate answers to ever-changing practices in transnational cultural exchange: export, import, various forms of cooperation, mobility of people and artworks. Better monitoring and measuring of mobility is crucial and reliable statistics and data collection are key to developing future culture mobility policies, both on EU Member States level and on EU level. A sustainable long-term mapping instrument should be developed and implemented across the EU in order to monitor cross-border artistic mobility, highlight existing imbalances and explore cultural policies’ impact on international mobility flows.

In 2009-2011 – in the context of SPACE – a first Travelogue Prototype that links very diverse national datasets about international touring was developed. This tool functioned as a leverage to raise awareness with national governments about the necessity of improving and coordinating data collections and as a starting point for capacity building within ministries and institutions. With this goal in mind, we organised workshops, seminars and conferences, we developed technical guidelines & documentation and provided one-on-one technical support. More info can be found on http://www.arts-mobility.info. 

Building on the foundations of Travelogue 1, Travelogue 2 wants to further develop this sustainable monitoring instrument that can feed national and European cultural policies. 

• SO 1: Travelogue 2 analyses international mobility in the performing arts, with special attention to asymmetries and factors stimulating or hindering high quality mobility.

• SO 2: Travelogue 2 raises political awareness about the necessity of well-coordinated data collection to feed cultural policy and assist in building up the technical capacity to do so. This combination is key to filling up the gaps in current data collection on European performing arts mobility.