Formed as an information website by IETM - International network for contemporary performing arts in 2002, On the Move became an independent association in 2005, and was then structured as a network in 2009.
Today, On the Move’s network spans more than 25 countries and counts some 70 organisations – from national funders, to other networks and info points, to centres for creation. Joined by a small number of individuals, the network shares a commitment to promoting cultural mobility in all its forms while striving for a fairer sector. Members meet once a year for the annual meeting, but collaborate on projects and activities all year round.
Background
On the Move took its first steps towards becoming a network in 2007 when a lively partnership of ten ‘Connectors’ was established to share expertise and knowledge on online information in the performing arts: Centro Dramático de Aragón in Spain, Dance Info Finland, the Finnish Theatre Information Centre, Goethe-Institut Brussels, the Irish Theatre Institute, Miso Music Portugal / Portuguese Music Information Centre, the Arts and Culture programme of the Open Society Institute (now Open Society Foundations), the Pisa-Papéis directory maintained by Procur.arte in Portugal, the Theatre Union of the Russian Federation’s Russian Theatre Life in Brief, and Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute in Poland.
From 2009, the network was expanded to cover all forms of cultural mobility information, with over 30 members in more than 20 countries, and began to grow its focus beyond the performing arts and music sectors to cover all art disciplines and areas of culture, in Europe and internationally.
In recent years, the network has established working groups to connect members around common issues, and bring new perspectives to the question of how to support international work in a way that is fair and sustainable.