What is EMAP?

European Media Art Platform (EMAP) is the largest international platform for residencies of emerging media artists. It has developed from European Media Artists in Residence Exchange (EMARE) initiated in 1995 by the lead partner. The network now connects 11 European cultural institutions and organizations; these partners annually give production grants to some of the best emerging European media artists, investing at the same time in research, capacity development, and presentation and distribution of media art in Europe and beyond. The main goal of the project is to foster high quality production of artworks by European artists, facilitate project collaborations and develop partnership between European organizations dealing with media art.

Project concept

The basic purpose of the programme is to enable European artists to collaborate on diverse projects and consequently to create closer bonds between European new media art organizations.

The unification and extension of Europe, triggered by the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, has created new problems to be faced with, as well as new opportunities for cooperation and exchange. This period of transition has been characterized, on the one hand, by the challenge to become more 'European' – which generally has meant more homogenous – and, on the other, by a desire to define what constitutes national and regional identities, in order to both retrieve a sense of traditional cultures, now lost; and to consider how respective national and cultural identities might enrich and enhance one another, as opposed to being divisive.

EMAP/EMARE offers an opportunity to work within these bounds, as defined by the individual artists, which enables the latter to develop their own projects within a new context and thereby give something back, in turn, to their host organization. This process of encouraging artists' projects and building stronger links between media organizations is enhanced by the rapid development of network technologies and also reflects the moves towards integration taking place throughout Europe.

The various new technologies now coming to the fore require a relatively high degree of know-how and, although each individual organization has its own unique set-up, facilities and staff, opportunities for the exchange of information and skills give a further boost to the programme. Sharing insights, facilities and knowledge also foster greater efficiency when dealing with the international media market (issues such as TV broadcasting, co-productions, co-funding, etc.) and the art world (festivals, exhibitions, screenings, etc.).

EMAP is always on the lookout for new partners, so European media centers with an interest in joining the network should please contact us.

Structure

- Partner organizations meet on different occasions (at festivals such as transmediale, ars electronica, Werkleitz, DEAF, Impakt etc.), to coordinate activities;
- All EMAP partner organizations issue a joint, Europe-wide call for entries; All EMAP partner organizations sit (for about 3-6 days) on the jury panel hosted by a different partner each year;
- Any artist who works with digital media and is in possession of a valid European (or partner country) residence permit and identity card is eligible to apply;
- Entries should include the application form, a CV, (audio)visual documentation of approx. 3 reference projects and a proposal including technical reader and timeframe for the project to be developed with EMARE aid. Students are not permitted to apply but young artists are encouraged.

Aims

To create a European network of Media Labs in collaboration;
To host Media Artists from all parts of Europe and facilitate the exchange;
To benefit from diverse cultural backgrounds;
To benefit from different kinds of competence and knowledge;
To benefit from different infrastructures;
To benefit from different cultural platforms and markets;
To launch collaborative projects or co-productions between different countries;
To exchange also cultural programs and staff;
To do joint applications, i.e. for European Union funding;
To create a joint jury that evaluates all applications;
To ultimately respect each individual's own decision regarding selection of artists.