Does your community need
an
Festival?
A guide to creating your own infringement festival
infringementfestival.com
V1 25.01.05
What is
an infringement festival?
The infringement Festival is an interdisciplinary festival open to all critical artists. Celebrating Freedom of Expression and designed as a real arts democracy, this festival is a critical response to the oppressive neoliberal worldview and all its Billboard Trucks, Televisions, flyers, advertisements, jingles, made-for-TV Wars; and the depoliticisation of people through this diversionary Spectacle.
The infringement welcomes a
variety of performances and cultural resistance: theatrical presentations,
street activism, political theatre, musicians, radical performance, visual artists,
films, marginalized expressions, spoken-word, puppet shows, disadvantaged
groups, and anyone wishing to artistically infringe
on the monoculture that creeps into every corner of our lives. Aiming to provide
a positive environment that encourages and nurtures critical art, the
infringement emphasizes both critical practice in the arts, and artistic
practice in activism.
Adhering to a
mandate that signifies the spirit of the real Fringe, the infringement festival
returns a lost venue to communities around the world. The infringement
festival challenges the co-opting of the arts and commodification of culture
(such as corporatized Fringe™ movement), and provides
an alternative space, a celebratory festival that is both autonomous and
critical. Reclaiming space for creative purposes, the infringement
festival encourages critical reflection, dialogue, and action. Celebrating cultural resistance, the festival empowers communities
to artistically infringe on the
increasingly invasive and homogenized consumerist social reality - and to
reclaim the culture.
Does my community need an infringement festival?
Odds are, yes. If your city or community suffers from any type of oppression, monoculture, apathy, or boredom, an infringement festival could provide inspiration and amusement - and help raise awareness for positive social change and global justice. By encouraging critical arts and linking up local artists and activists with a global movement of cultural resistance, a new creative and political space comes into being - which is good for any city. Here are some good reasons to start an infringement festival:
- It is a great place to interconnect with artists and activists, locally, nationally, and globally. It is a solidarity movement of critical expression.
- It encourages the creation of arts and performances, providing valuable opportunities for people to express themselves artistically and politically - in a safe setting. The critical works can inspire activism and social change.
- It reclaims culture. As a people-based alternative to the corporate-based monoculture, the festival viscerally challenges the imposed neoliberal model. Reclaiming culture empowers communities, and leads to positive social transformation.
How many infringement festivals are there?
At the moment (January 2005)
there are five:
What is
the history?
The term "Fringe" theatre originated in
Unfortunately, this international festival of
anything-goes DIY theatre has recently come under threat from corporate
interests: the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF) has trademarked
the word "Fringe" and begun restricting its use for artists. It is
now common to see the festivals heavily endorsing (and even being named after)
corporate interests and charging the artists they supposedly support
“registration” fees ranging from $400 to $600. Once a popular people's
festival of creative resistance and expression, it is now a co-opted commodity
with a corporate agenda. A Fringe™.
In
Since then,
efforts have been made to stop this branding and ownership of our culture and
to put the fringe back into the hands of the artists and the community. From
this, the infringement Festival was born in 2004. The
inaugural year featured over twenty acts, including well-known Montréal playwright and activist
David Fennario, Optative
Theatrical Laboratories, Travesty Theatre, NYC Boal
practitioner Kayhan Irani,
award-winning Massachusetts queer and transgendered
writer and performer S. Bear Bergman, Alexis Sottile
from Theaters Against War in New York, puppet shows, culture-jamming, music,
films and much more. The festival spread to
How much does it cost to
set one up?
$0.00 – nothing! There is no fee to create an infringement festival, and a festival can be run on a shoestring budget or for nothing at all.
Are there any guidelines?
Yes, to avoid being co-opted, the infringement Festival asks all festivals
follow a mandate that looks like this:
·
The festival is 100% free for all artists to participate in. It will never charge a “registration fee” or
take any money of artists’ ticket sales.
·
The festival is open to all critical artists and must never refuse
admittance, set entry criteria or censor.
·
The festival is run as a non-hierarchical arts democracy.
·
There must be no unethical or conflict-of-interest sponsorships.
How is it organized?
To bring the infringement movement to your town, all
you need is a group of dedicated people willing to put in a little bit of time
and effort. A “spearhead” is responsible for coordinating everyone’s efforts to
ensure that your festival will be ready to welcome local and touring acts. There
are generally considered 3 stages of organization to suit different resource
levels:
STAGE 1: This is the simplest form an infringement
Festival can take. All you need is someone to encourage artists to join, keep
an updated list of the dates and times of their performances. All artists bring their own venues, and the
festival acts as a facilitator for spreading information about the acts (phone,
web), and provides a gathering spot for artists (which could be a bar or café).
In order to accommodate the touring groups, organizers should find people
willing to billet the out-of-town performers and prepare a list of local venues
that could accommodate performances.
This model of infringement festival costs nothing and can be run
relatively easily.
STAGE 2: Here the festival attempts to provide to as
many artists as possible the following resources: performance venues, technical
support, media support, billeting for touring artists, a printed program,
volunteer support, and a central gathering place. The festival also attempts to
get funding from various sources such as government bodies, ethical sponsors,
fundraisers, etc. It is possible that organizers will get paid an honorarium if
there is enough money after expenses.
STAGE 3: While no festival is yet within Stage 3, here
the festival would be fully-funded and run on a yearly basis, with paid
organizers. With solid resources in place, a Stage 3 infringement festival
would aim to encourage the growth of the infringement network and movement, in
addition to running their own festival.
How many organizers do I need?
Although there are no steadfast rules about how many
people you need, festivals operating in stages 2 and 3 generally have several
organizers. While it is up to each festival to design a structure that suits
them, the following generic roles and responsibilities should be considered, as
they cover all the bases:
·
Overall Facilitator: A general organizer to
spearhead and facilitate the project, get the ball rolling and make sure it
stays on course.
·
Manager: Someone to keep detailed
records of what the other organizers are doing, and ensure that things are
getting done.
·
Artist Recruiter/Organizer: An organizer to meet with
the artists and find out their venue requirements, technical requests and
address any questions they may have.
·
Venue Recruiter/Organizer: An organizer to find venues
for the festival..
·
Fundraiser: An organizer to seek out
ethical sponsorship
·
Volunteer Coordinator: Someone to recruit and
coordinate the efforts of the festival’s volunteers (or iF
Agents, as we call them in
·
Tech Supervisor: An organizer to recruit and schedule
technicians.
·
Publicist: A media organizer to send
press releases, set up interviews, make and distribute the infringement program,
posters, handouts, etc.
·
Researcher: Someone to research ethical
sponsorship, acts, community groups, etc.
·
Web Supporter (optional): A web designer and/or
updater.
Please note that is possible to combine or regroup
some responsibilities. Our Montreal Organizational Structure can be found at
the end of this document (Appendix A).
How do I recruit artists?
The most effective way to encourage people to
participate in an infringement Festival is (and most likely always will be)
word-of-mouth and internet communications. If there is funding, flyers and
posters are good, and sometimes local media can plug your recruiting effort. Also,
at www.infringementfestival.com
you can inter-connect with other artists, make announcements, and spread the
word online. We
can provide sample posters, press releases, media contacts, etc. A sample
artist agreement can be found in Appendix B.
How do I find venues?
Many bars, coffee shops and other places equipped
for performance (that make money through customers buying drinks) will let you
use their space for free, if they feel your shows will drum up some customers
for them or will help get them some publicity.
It is important to keep track of what technical
equipment each venue has (if any) so you can try to match it with what
performing groups have requested when making the
festival’s schedule.
You may want to put aside some of your funds to rent
one venue fully equipped for theatre tech (if the need arises), and it is also
advisable to have a few venues that can handle some of the inter-disciplinary
acts you may get (dance, visual arts, music, etc.).
Once you’ve found your venues, it’s a good idea to
have them sign a contract to make sure everyone’s on the same page. We’ve included a sample agreement we use in
Montréal at the end of this document (Appendix C).
Obviously it is not always possible to provide
venues to all acts, so the festival should encourage artists to being their own
performance spaces too.
How do I find money?
Lack
of money is not necessarily a bad thing – the infringement is designed to cost
very little. As a general rule of thumb, don’t spend it if you don’t have it.
Still, money can be very useful, and luckily there are a lot of ways to get it:
·
GRANTS: Often grants can be obtained from governmental arts
and community funding bodies on the municipal, state/provincial, and federal
levels. This will require research into who is funding cultural and community
initiatives, filling in application forms, meeting deadlines, and being
organized. Grants and bursaries can also sometimes be obtained from
non-governmental sources, such as foundations, NGOs, and academic institutions.
The infringement international team maintains a data-base for grants funding.
·
ETHICAL SPONSORSHIP: Many businesses can provide you with products to
sell or financial support through ads in your program, donations, etc. The key to finding them is to think locally -
microbreweries, photocopy shops, corner stores are a good start. Then you need to ensure that they meet the
festival’s criteria for ethical sponsorship.
You will need to create a team to research these companies to ensure
they maintain their ethics.
·
FUNDRAISING: Money can also be raised in the good old-fashioned Fundraiser
event: stage a benefit performance, hold a bake sale, have a raffle, etc.
Basically create an event where you can make money for the cause while
spreading awareness about the festival.
·
OTHER SOURCES: There are many other ways to get money, such as
asking for donations from the public, selling related merchandise (eg: make a
DVD about your festival), finding investment, etc.
Can anyone help me set it up?
Yes. There is an
“infringement international” Steering Committee (with at least one representative
from each infringement festival) that oversees the entire festival circuit, and
attempts to support artists and festivals as best as possible. The Committee
provides new festivals with consultation, a help-guide, propaganda, samples of
venue contracts, artist application forms, and media and web support.
What do I need to do?
To get involved in the infringement movement and
start a festival in your town, or for more information, please don’t hesitate
to contact us. When you are ready to connect your
community’s infringement festival to the global network, please send
infringement international the following information:
·
Your city or community
·
Contact person
·
Public contact details
(email, phone, address, fax, website, etc.)
·
E-mail address to be added to the Steering Committee’s
listserv
·
Suggested dates for your
festival
Email: optatif@excite.com Phone: (514) 583-FEST (3378)
Once we have received these
details, your community will be added to the infringement festival site and map
– and that’s when the real fun starts!
Conclusion
The trademarking of the word
“fringe” is outrageous and disturbing on so many levels. Heeding this cultural
danger signal, the infringement
festival is both a culture-jam and a transformative space that celebrates
“infringing” against the all the oppressive forces that infringe on us daily. Because the infringement offers what the original fringe had
– a free opportunity for people to express themselves
critically and dramatically – it can happily bloom in any location, regardless
of language or culture. It is a people’s festival (as much yours as anyone
else’s), and if it is nurtured, it will grow. It is our hope the festival will
spread quickly, inspiring people across the planet to celebrate cultural
resistance, and to dramatically challenge oppression, monoculture and
corporatization wherever they may appear. If this guide has inspired
you, we hope to see an infringement festival sprouting in your community soon! Join
the infringement and reclaim your culture!
* Please FWD, RE-POST, and distribute
this document *
APPENDIX
A
The
organizational structure we use in
Jason C. McLean - Chaos Organizer
Julie Lewis - Viral Communications Coordinator
Louise Fessard - Francophone Artist Relations and i.F. Agent Organizer
Donovan King - Minister of Culture Jamming and i.F. International
Sonia Cho - Artist Recruiter and Community Liason
Natalie Grall - Media Baronette
Jay Lemieux - Venue & Sponsorship Organizer
Simone Nichol - Tech Organizer
Gary St. Laurent - Infringement Central
Winston Macpherson - Video Editor
Aubrey Winter - Web Dominatrix
Eric Squire – Sponsorship Investigator
The Board: Melissa Ambs, Matt Jones
George Mougias - Bored Advisor
APPENDIX B – Sample artist agreement
from
Show Title:
______________________________________________________________
Performer/Production Company: ____________________________________________
Brief Description: _________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Ticket price: $_____________ Reduced Ticket Price:
$______________
Allow comps for:
Media (y/n): ____ infringement performers (y/n): ____
Festival volunteers (y/n): ____
Do you require volunteer box-office staff (y/n): _____ Show running time:
__________
Registration fee: $0.00 Surcharge: none Percentage of ticket sales kept by artist: 100%
OUT OF TOWN ACTS ONLY: Do you require billeting (y/n): ___ For how many: ___
Will you be requesting the use of a festival venue or
supplying your own: ____________
Festival Venues
Tech requirements requested:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Preferred dates and times/absolute impossibilities between
June 9th and 19th, 2005:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Please note that festival
venues with technicians are available to all performers who request them while
space permits.
Performers will receive a
minimum of three performances between the dates of June 9th and 19th
2005.
Although we do not
guarantee all technical equipment requested, we will make the best effort to
accommodate performers as well as possible. Performers are required to return all
borrowed equipment in working condition and not damage the space
provided.
Bring-Your-Own Venues
Name and location of the venue:
_____________________________________________
Date(s) and time(s) of
performances: _________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Contact info: Name: _______________ Phone: ( ) ____-_____E-Mail: ____________
APPENDIX C – Sample Venue Agreement from
This agreement made this _____ day of ___________, 20__ is a
contract between the infringement Festival (hereinafter referred to as the
festival) and ______________, an authorized agent of the venue known as
_____________ (hereinafter referred to as the venue).
It is mutually agreed by and between the parties as follows:
The venue will allow the festival to use the space known as
________________ for the purposes of performances open to the public during the
following specified dates and times between June 9th and 19th
2005:
Thursday, June 9th AFTERNOON (Y/N): _______ EVENING (Y/N):
_______
Friday, June 10th AFTERNOON (Y/N): _______ EVENING (Y/N):
_______
Saturday, June 11th AFTERNOON (Y/N): _______ EVENING (Y/N):
_______
Sunday, June 12th AFTERNOON (Y/N): _______ EVENING
(Y/N): _______
Monday, June 13th AFTERNOON (Y/N): ________ EVENING (Y/N):
_______
Tuesday, June 14th AFTERNOON (Y/N): _______ EVENING (Y/N): _______
Wednesday, June 15th AFTERNOON (Y/N): _______ EVENING
(Y/N): _______
Thursday, June 16th AFTERNOON (Y/N): _______ EVENING (Y/N): _______
Friday, June 17th AFTERNOON (Y/N): ________ EVENING
(Y/N): _______
Saturday, June 18th AFTERNOON (Y/N): ________ EVENING (Y/N):
_______
Sunday, June 19th AFTERNOON (Y/N): ________ EVENING (Y/N): _______
The following exceptions and specifications will be in effect: ______________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The festival agrees to schedule performances in the venue on
the dates and times indicated.
The venue agrees to provide the space free of charge and
make all technical equipment on the premises available to the festival and its
acts for use during the performance unless otherwise stipulated.
The festival agrees that any equipment borrowed will be
returned undamaged when the performance is over.
Neither the festival nor the venue will retain control over
ticket price or admission to the space (with the exception of staff) during the
time of the performances.
The acts performing control their own ticket price and
admission to the venue during the time of the performance and retain all box
office proceeds of their show.
The venue retains all proceeds generated by the products
they sell during the performance except when otherwise stipulated.
The festival and its acts will be responsible for all
publicity of the event.
The venue insures that the space will be properly heated, ventilated, lighted, clean, in good order and properly staffed and that they will be the owner/operator of the space with a valid lease during the time of the performance.
The festival cannot be held accountable in the event of any
sort of accident.
These following additional terms and conditions will be in effect: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This agreement cannot be changed, except through the consent of both the venue and the festival.
SIGNED AND AGREED:
_________________________________ and _____________________________
Representing the infringement Festival Representing
the _________ venue