New Solidarities is On the Move’s new project co-funded by the European Union for the period 2025–2028.
The 2025–2028 project is placed under the auspices of On the Move’s most recent commissioned research, captured by South African curator and writer Ukhona Ntsali Mlandu: ‘Solidarity […] is not charity. It is born out of the recognition that our fates are linked.’ The New Solidarities project aims to unpack the need for new sustainability mechanisms in the culture field, within Europe and internationally.
The multiplicity of crises has accelerated processes of transformation that had already been set in motion by ecological, (geo)political, technological and socioeconomic changes. At the same time, these crises have deepened the precarity of artists and cultural professionals, adding more urgency to questions of fair practice, solidarity, and the status of artists and culture professionals. In a world undergoing constant change, mobility practices are changing too. Fundamentally, On the Move distinguishes itself through its expertise in understanding the continually shifting landscape of cultural mobility. This involves identifying new needs and weak signals of future development and providing valuable insights for both practitioners and policymakers.
To fulfil this crucial role, On the Move persists in recognising, analysing, and advocating for emerging mobility practices that align with the evolving dynamics of the social and natural environment.
Key subjects
The New Solidarities’ project will be articulated around key subjects, such as:
- more equitable access to cross-border opportunities and fairer working conditions for mobile artists and culture professionals,
- support to democracy resilience while addressing, for instance, cross-sectoral policy cooperation on artistic freedom, including supporting actions for at-risk and displaced artists,
- the ecological transition, especially when addressing ‘green mobility’ issues,
- the creation of spaces for maintaining stronger connections worldwide and imagining new solidarities on mobility-related issues at Europe-wide and international levels, and
- the reflection on new forms of digital mobility that are more human-based.
Events, encounters and publications
The New Solidarities’ project will hold key events and spaces for encounters, such as the following:
- The yearly series of Cultural Mobility Forums, starting with the 2025 edition in Riga in partnership with the Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture
- The implementation of new formats of interactions and exchange with the ASK (Advocacy, Support, Knowledge) capsules, curated as part of existing international events (and the Walk-the-Talk Series based on the needs expressed by OTM members
- The continuation of working group meetings (Mobility Info Points, At-risk and displaced artists, and communication with networks) and of the bi-annual webinars
In connection with these events, a series of publications are planned, including Cultural Mobility Yearbooks, Cultural Mobility Funding Guides and Cultural Mobility Flows Reports.
The first topics to look forward to in our events and publications in 2025 include the following:
- The mobility of young and emerging artists and culture professionals
- The status of at-risk and displaced artists in EU countries, the UK and the US
- Mobility Funding Schemes in Nordic-Baltic Countries
- Funding ‘Green’ artistic residencies
- The mobility of Indigenous creatives
- Fairness after the Digital Era
Stay tuned to our website and make sure you get all the updates by subscribing to our monthly newsletter.
Three main sources inspired the writing of this project: the Mobility Spaces’ learning (2022–2024), the consultation with OTM members, OTM team member and partners that led to the OTM Strategic plan (2025–2029), and the online consultation about the OTM website (November 2023).