Connecting ELIA by Rail

Photo Description: Maria at Konstfack in Stockholm

One of the criteria of our SHIFT eco-certification is that we try to get as much impact out of any travelling, while also choosing the most eco-responsible form of travel. I suspect that my travel itinerary in May and June would qualify well in this regard, and I am happy to share more with you.

The dual grounding of my recent trip were two in-person conferences: Culture Action Europe’s Beyond the Obvious conference in Malmö and ELIA’s Annual Meeting of the Platform Internationalisation ELIA (PIE) in Prague. With a few days in between, it became possible to use this trip to connect with members in Sweden, Denmark, Germany (passing through) and Czechia.

Photo Description: Maria with Paula Crabtree, outgoing Vice Chancellor of Stockholm University of the Arts

To start, having traveled 15 hours by train to the conference in Malmö, I took a morning to ‘rail’ back across the famous bridge to Denmark for two very informative visits with colleagues at the Royal Danish Academy and the Danish National School of Performing Arts. Having engaged with many of international colleagues at the excellent Culture Action Europe conference in Malmö for the rest of the day, a very early morning train then took me to Gothenburg the next day, to visit with leadership at Gothenburg University, Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts, hearing about their exciting plans for a new building. On I went in the next train to Stockholm, where it was my honor to give a farewell speech at the Stockholm University of the Arts (SHK) for Vice Chancellor Paula Crabtree, a true friend of ELIA  who fulfilled many roles in the ELIA eco-system including that of Vice President for several years.

After a spontaneously arranged dinner with Anna Maria Koziomtzis of the Royal College of Music Stockholm and reconnecting with incoming leadership at SHK the next morning, I ‘subwayed’ on to visit Konstfack in a completely different part of Stockholm, for my first ever visit to this large institution. It was good to meet so many team members there and share with them the interdisciplinary offer that ELIA makes to its members.

Traveling on from Malmö, I stopped in Berlin where I met up with ELIA President Susanne Stürmer, before visiting with the colleagues at the University of the Arts Berlin for a brief but very important update on current matters affecting the institution.

Photo Description: Working Group PIE dinner with Creative Prague

Next was Prague, where coincidence made it possible for me join a meeting of four ELIA members who are collaborating internationally. At the invitation of UMPRUM Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, this gathering included Elisava Barcelona School of Design and Engineering, Design Academy Eindhoven, and Konstfack (again!). Together with the ELIA team, I also had the opportunity to meet the inspiring team of Creative Prague (partner in the EU funded Saccord project) and some of their local stakeholders.

My final stop in Prague was at two historically important higher arts education institutions: ELIA members Academy of Performing Arts Prague and the Academy of Fine Arts Prague. These two provided the stage for this year’s Annual Meeting of the Platform Internationalisation ELIA. For me, it really was the climax of the trip – an opportunity to touch base for three days with more than 100 ELIA colleagues active in internationalisation. Given that almost everyone present was affected by the current student protests and discussions about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, we gave lots of space to dialogue and understanding.

Photo Description: Backyard lunch at PIE Annual Meeting at AVU

Looking back on this period, and in particular these last days in Prague, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to connect with so many of our members in a meaningful way. A big thank you to all those who hosted me and who opened their hearts and minds for our conversations.

PS: And for the record, I took a flight back from Prague to Amsterdam which felt oddly 'fast' giving the relative slowness of the rest of the travel!