On the occasion of SouthMed WiA Final Regional Conference, in Casablanca on July 11-12, 2019, CUMEDIAE’s CEO Ignasi Guardans presented the free-access wiki platform Culture Agora for many professionals in the field of the audiovisual industries attending the event in Casablanca, highlighting the new released Arabic version of the site and the fact that the CCIs from Arabic-speaking countries can now fully access Culture Agora.  It was well received, and welcomed as an opportunity for those in the cultural and creative industries sector in the Southern Mediterranean region to become more connected with opportunities and activities in Europe, as well as to engage others in opportunities and activities in the neighbourhood.

The SouthMed WiA Final Regional Conference, took place in Casablanca on July 11-12, 2019, and served as an opportunity to present achievements that had been accomplished with this project, discuss the challenges, make steps towards the sustainability of efforts beyond the life of the project, while having closer interactions with the sub-grantees on the development of their various projects, all of which in very practical ways enabled the empowerment of women in audiovisual in the region. The event, hosted by Instituto Cervantes, brought together the projects partners, and provided an opportunity to launch the Women in Audiovisual in the Southern Mediterranean Network, an initiative strongly supported with regards to sharing experience and know-how by associate partner European Women’s Audiovisual Network EWA. CUMEDIAE is proud to be part of this great project and to collaborate with all of the talented partners, and stakeholders that continue to pour energy, and effort into, not just achieving the objectives, and specific outcomes, but into creating special and safe space for furthering the impact and role of Women in Audiovisual in the region.

As one of the members of the Parallel Traces project, CUMEDIAE attended the Intermediate Partners Meeting held on July 1st 2019, hosted by Project Leader AEPJ in its headquarter Casa Adret in Barcelona.

The meeting was a great occasion to evaluate the past few months of the project and to prepare for upcoming activities. Among the main takeaways, the partners renewed their joint effort and commitment to disseminate and spread the word about the project’s actions, particularly in light of the extended deadline of the Parallel Traces Contest (July 17th 2019).

The winners of the Contest will be announced during the first week of August; the first exhibition will then be held in Girona in October.

CUMEDIAE is really proud to be part of this project and how it gives light to Jewish Heritage and its importance all over the History of our continent.

Follow both Parallel Traces and our own social media channels for new updates and don’t miss the opportunity to submit your artwork!

CUMEDIAE is pleased to announce its new partnership with the ASOCIACIÓN XUVENTUDES MUSCAIS EIXO ATLÀNTICO. The two partners will start a collaboration in relation to the organisation of the International Keyboard Festival & Masterclass de la Eurociudad Tui – Valença do Minho (IKFEM) and “FASHION BRIDGE”, an event hosted within IKFEM. The festival will take place from the 17^th to the 21^st of July 2019 on two main stages: the Minho International Bridge and the Paseo Fluvial de Tui. It will be an event about music and also an opportunity to discover the cultural heritage treasured between the southwest of Galicia and the north of Portugal.

CUMEDIAE partner in this new venture will be ASOCIACIÓN XUVENTUDES MUSCAIS EIXO ATLÀNTICO, an association aiming to promote young musicians and to offer a calendar of musical events in the city of Tui. The organisation is responsible for the IKFEM, organised every year by the ASOCIACIÓN to encourage high quality education of young musicians. In the framework of this event, the ASOCIACIÓN also manages “FASHION BRIDGE”, the first cross-border fashion show between Spain and Portugal that fuses music and fashion from both cultures.

We are really excited to be taking on this new challenge that will bring us new cultural and communicative experiences and endless opportunities to keep learning and growing. As partners, both organizations share a common vision on the need to boost the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) and to accompany artists towards a larger professionalization and a higher international visibility, as well as on the need to encourage exchange between different cultures.

As in previous years, we were glad to take part to the 2019 edition of the European Development Days (EDD) supporting the Barcelona based NGO Interarts.

On June 18th and 19th this exciting event, organised by the European Commission, brought together the development community to share ideas and experiences in ways that inspire new partnerships and innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.

Following this year’s topic “Addressing inequalities: Building a world which leaves no one behind”, we had the occasion of presenting developments and outcomes of projects as DECIDES, Culture at Work Africa and also SouthMed WiA – of which CUMEDIAE is a consortium partner.

Visitors had the opportunity to learn more about current Interarts actions, listen to live sessions and discussions and reflect through interesting and fun booth activities.

CUMEDIAE’s own efforts uniting with Interarts made once again a splashing and colorful experience on culture and development. See you next year!

International Colloquium “Culture for the Future” took place in Brussels on the 16th and 17th of June, to promote culture, creativity, innovation and dialogue as key drivers of inclusive development and peace.

CUMEDIAE, represented by Ignasi Guardans, joined 400 experts and professionals from the whole world to explore how cultural and creative sectors contribute to sustainable development and inclusiveness. In particular, Guardans was invited as expert for the session “The challenge of financing cultural and creative industries”.

The event was the occasion to advocate and share ideas on four main topics:

• Culture and cultural industries: new opportunities for job creation and inclusiveness
• The challenge of financing
• Access to markets and mobility of artists
• Digital revolution: impact and opportunities

This two-day conference will support the cultural dimension of development and international cooperation as a strategic dimension in the policies of the European Union and its Member States as well as to encourage investments from private sector and financial institutions.

These reflections will feed into the Manifesto 2019 – Culture for the Future, that will highlight the role culture can play as an enabler of sustainable development, and that cultural and creative actors need to be further supported to become change-makers.

We really look forward to more opportunities to learn and interchange cultural dialogue from such a high-level profile group of people.