KRAFT was initiated by SÍN Arts Centre in 2021. This year is our second edition of the training programme, which we realize in collaboration with various professionals within the field. The programme leader is Anikó Rácz in collaboration with Luca Kövécs. Our external experts are Brigitta Kovács, Levente Lukács, Petra Péter and Gergely Talló.

The primary focus of the programme is to share and expand knowledge about questions about artistic creation, such as production management, the support of the long-term career development, a deeper understanding of the local and international context in which the artists work.
The programme is supported by the Zoltán Imre Programme of the National Cultural Fund and will run throughout the year.
The programme consists of three elements:

1. Workshop series of four sessions focusing on topics such as

• Prosperity
• Structure
• Money
• Collaboration

We develop and realize four one day workshops with a focus on the above topics. Each workshop day is divided into two modules – in the morning we discuss the given topic at a basic level, with fundamental information, where we invite emerging artists, whereas in the afternoon we go deeper into the questions, discuss them in more detail and perhaps with a wider scope. The afternoon sessions are open to both emerging and mid-career artists. Our experience in the 2021 Kraft edition proved that the cross-generational discussions of professional questions, difficulties and opportunities have highly beneficial indirect effects.
We transfer knowledge, and provide a framework for the participants to share their experiences in a supportive, safe space. We learn from each other.

As a new element of the programme we invite the interested artists for a one hour online discussion preceding each workshop, when they are asked to have their input into the content of the following workshop. We conduct these discussions with the help of the OPERA group facilitation method. The results of the discussions are fed into the development of the following workshop.

2. One-on-one consultations with emerging dance makers in connection with their artistic project.
The process includes three discussions in which the consultant and the dance maker discuss

• the project preparational phase,
• the project management phase and
• the evaluation, closing phase of a project

The meetings are conducted according to a structured series of questions that support the dance maker to proactively think over their project from the planning to the completion and prospect for its future life.

It is our medium term objective to develop a toolkit for such mentor/consultant – artist discussions and make available publicly for colleague to use.

The Kraft programme is the result or a one step forward in the work of SÍN as regards to a more structured, methodological support of the emerging dance community. We believe in a horizontal partnership with the artists and other colleagues in the field, the content and format of the Kraft workshops and one-on-one consultation process has been developed in this spirit.

We would be interested in hearing about other similar examples and good practices in the international field with the ambition to share and widen our knowledge, to collaborate for the future development of our activities.

If you run a similar programme or are interested in hearing more about Kraft please contact Anikó Rácz at racz@sinarts.org