From 5-8 October 2023, the Trans Europe Halles (TEH) Camp Meeting #96 – Reboot! took place at Fabrika in Tbilisi, Georgia. From A4, four staff members were present at this meeting. The topic was connected to the past few turbulent years we experienced on a political, social, economic and ecological level. Now it is time to pause, gather, and reboot. The workshops, talks and meetings were not only inspired by the theme, but also by Georgia’s vibrant arts and cultural scene.
TEH is a network of grassroots European cultural centers that are housed in repurposed buildings. Throughout the year, TEH organizes several events and meetings. The largest meetings are the conference and the camp meeting, which are organized yearly. Besides that, TEH offers training workshops and seminars, and amplifies the voice of the cultural and creative sector in Europe. Additionally, TEH connects its members through collaborating regionally and thematically through Hubs. This meeting #96 was extra special for A4, as it was the first meeting for us as the new coordinator of the Arts Education Hub. In this role, we hosted the Arts Education Hub meeting. We connected new members and found opportunities for professionalization and exchange on the theme of arts education.
The hosting organization of TEH #96 was Fabrika in Tbilisi. This cultural center is housed in an old Soviet sewing factory. Besides the cultural center, the building is also home to a hostel, several shops and some restaurants. The cozy yard forms the central point of the space, where everyone came together for food and for informal meetings in between program elements.
The program was very packed and there were many highlights. A recurring part of TEH meetings is the general assembly. Here we got some updates on the current financial situation and we voted for new members and for the new TEH Executive Committee. Tbilisi has a strong culture of social activism and this also came back in the program. One of the highlights of this was a panel discussion with one Ukrainian and three Georgian artists who shared how they (unintentionally) became activists because of the current political climate. At the East Hub we presented the activities of the hub in the last years, and opened the discussion of what its future could look like. The session was opened not only to the hub members, but to any organization interested in the topic. We visited the East Hub meeting as well. A4 has been part of this hub since its beginning. Within the hub we develop and deepen the cooperation between the cultural organizations from the region of Eastern and Middle Europe and exchange the knowledge.
As A4 is now the coordinator of the Arts Education Hub, we attended the ‘Hubs & Beers’ meeting for all hub coordinators.
TEH Camp Meeting #96 was very successful! Want to receive updates about TEH? Sign up for the TEH newsletter!
The TEH membership and the attendance at the meeting were supported using public funding by Slovak Arts Council.