ARVIVA - Sustainable Performing Arts
Basic information
Project Title
Category
Project Description
ARVIVA is a French non-profit organisation gathering more than 200 artists, producers, technicians, public workers, creation, production and performance venues, festivals, artistic teams and operators in the performing arts. They act together towards a common goal: to undertake the ecological transformation of the moving arts sector and act with no delay for a fair and sustainable world. They commit to change their work practices to make a change and the most of the potential impact of arts.
Geographical Scope
Project Region
Urban or rural issues
Physical or other transformations
EU Programme or fund
Which funds
Description of the project
Summary
The non-profit organisation Arviva – Arts vivants, Arts durables was created in 2019, impulsed by 9 French professionals of the moving arts industry, united by the will for their sector to think its sustainability in a context of ecological and Covid-19 crisis. One of the starting point was the analysis that in a society affected by a health and economic crisis, arts and performing ones in particular were not considered as “essential” by governments and were deeply endangered. In a world where energy resources are announced to be lacking within 20 years, it is very probable that arts will be one of the first sectors to have to cut its consumption. We wish for the performing arts sector to be able to work without depending so much on fossil fuels and economic or social situations, and realised along the way that art is a central leverage for society change, thanks to:
- its central position regarding other industries. Performing arts are relying on transportation (for artists & audience), buildings (venues, festival installations, sceneries...), hospitality, catering, communication and digital fields... Making a change in the way of doing arts will have consequences on the rest of the economics;
- its power on our imagination and our deep desires. The ecological crisis is intimately linked with our urge to consume forever more, and artists are the only ones being able to help us desire a sustainable desirable future.
Currently, Arviva hosts more than 200 active members, for which we developed a guide book for sustainable practices in the performing arts. Further on, the networking effort on the national and European level, the numerous meetings with experts, partners and public entities, the knowledge capitalisation and the coordination effort has offered the non profit to count as a national representative for sustainability in the performing arts.
Key objectives for sustainability
The project of Arviva is built on three principles:
- Quantify the impact of the performing arts on an ecological level. For more than 1 year, we have been engaged in the creation of an environmental footprint calculator, a tool measuring both individual and sectorial footprint of performing arts projects. This tool will be linked to our handbook and measure reduction potentials in relation to actions engaged by the users. As we generally embrace the complexity concerning sustainability, we have integrated biodiversity and circularity along with carbon emissions indicators.
- Educate and inform. An “Action Handbook” compiling action proposals is already published in open-source to help any structure to build its own charter adapted to its activities. A 5,5 days online course has also been developed together with experts, and is currently provided to 70 people between Jan. and April 22. Moreover, we wish to develop our website into a strong ressource library, and to create expert training programs and shorter ones in order to widen the scope of attendees.
- Unite the sector towards mutualisation and cooperation, to improve circularity and avoid over equipment of some structures at expenses of other; as well as get inspired by other’s actions. We wish to gather all initiatives combining performing arts and sustainability. So far, we gathered more than 200 members, and will now to go further and include other networks as members of our organisation. We organize various member meetings in order to work as a peer-to-peer organisation with democratic practice as core value. We also produced a national convention in December 2nd 2021, gathering more than 200 participants, both on line and on site. In 2022, we are organizing a showcase for sustainable performing arts projects, combining a financial prize and a support program, and creating an action-research program for enhancing the functionality economy & collaboration for actors on a local level
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
Aesthetics is central in Arviva’s conception as our actions are deeply rooted in the artistic sector with the wish to combine a low-tech approach with the creation of new narratives fostering the ecological transformation. These two pathways are complementary to give a new horizon to performing arts in France, and more importantly a positive one, not only focused on lowering its impact but also on the possibilities it can offer for social and behavioural change. Such a combination is for now exclusive, as similar projects are silo managed and do not link artists with other professionals.
We defined our strategy with a manifesto and commitments. In this manifesto, we state that we do not want to erase nature from our representation nor continue to separate culture from nature. We bet on changing art because our venues, troupes and shows are spaces for dialogue and exchanges, because the arts can be speaking tubes, “aide-mémoires”, researchers, places-to-think, to-inhabit, to-live. We organized a national convention with a round table dedicated to the power of narratives for shifting both the sector and the society, featuring two artists engaged in new narratives (Camille Decourtye & Samuel Valensi) and two expert researchers (Anne-Caroline Prévot & François Ribac).
Quality of experience is also at core of Arviva’s project, as we co-design our tools and programs with the final users, and wish to include the general audience as well in the future. We conceived Arviva as a place of experimentation for social and environmental justice solutions, and set the bar to be an inspiring project for the actors of performing arts, in the way the organization works in terms of democracy and involvement of an eco-system but also in terms of how we design and realize the projects. This wish for exemplarity forces us to be attentive to every design detail and involve multiple deciders.
Key objectives for inclusion
We chose a bottom up approach to write of our “action handbook”, as well as the rest of our activities, and believe co-development is a common solution to shared considerations. Co-design, citizen engagement and universal design are now at the heart of our standards.
The board of the non-profit is composed of 11 performing arts workers, representing different aesthetics and jobs, from dance, circus, opera, theatre to classical and modern music, and from the production trainee or classical singer, to freelance artistic agent or director of cultural venue. We believe that differences between experiences, backgrounds and positions are crucial to have a representative debate and develop solutions that are profitable for all. The members of Arviva are also representing many different art fields and positions, and are largely consulted on the strategy of the organization. For instance, we organized many workshops around the theme of the funding strategy of the organization: from which companies could we accept money from, what subsidy could we hope for… It resulted in the creation of formal guidelines for the funding of Arviva: for instance no money should be asked or accepted from companies whose main activities are directly harmful to the environment, even if they had developed compensation strategies. Members also gather in various thematic workshops, that change every 6-8 months. Through a “meeting guide”, we try to offer as much horizontality as possible in discussions, with space for everyone to express their thoughts, and equity of speech time between members. We also encourage experience sharing, by helping connection between members with similar situations..
Last, all the tools built by the organization itself are in free access and open-source. We believe that the cost for quality information should not be bore by individuals, and even more when problematics like the Earth’s protection are at stake.
Physical or other transformations
Innovative character
One of the first motivation of our organisation is to engage performing arts professionals into action. But this should not be done in opposition to social justice, equity of all or artistic freedom. We then have to navigate through all these notions, helping the sector to find a right balance between these central problematics. The variety of actors within the organization rightfully helps to take into account every structures position and situation within the performing arts sector, and realize that there is no “one fits all” solution to ecological transformation. We also knew that we had to take into account the need of a low carbon strategy for the sector, but also circularity in the use of materials, impact on biodiversity as well as cultural levers for societal change.
Art is by essence very diverse, and we advocate for all workers and artists to audit their ways of performing, creating, touring, programming… and think of an action plan towards sustainability with help of the tools built, information and experiences gathered by Arviva. Arviva is willing to provide tools to empower people, more than giving pre-made solutions. The organization bases itself on the conviction that ecology can be something else than a new constraint for performing arts, but an inspiration and innovation source. We then aim at a rise of awareness and collective understanding of the ecological transformation challenges for the sector, by making people feel engaged and involved in this necessary revolution.
Taking the Bauhaus as model, peer-to-peer standard of work within Arviva and efficiency of its work method to tackle ecological matters has allowed to grow a sense of belonging for members, and to feel part of a movement. In that sense, the combination of access, sustainability and quality of experience for members and for the performing arts professionals in France is exemplary.