A statement from Wales Arts International/Arts Council of Wales, Creative Scotland, Arts Council England and Arts Council Northern Ireland.
As the national arts development agencies across the four nations of the UK, we are working together to develop ways to support the continuation of international artist mobility into the UK and of UK based artists and companies working internationally.
One of these is through Arts Infopoint UK, a pilot initiative to support the arts sector with free information on practical issues relating to artist mobility.
2021 brings a new set of challenges to artists and companies who work internationally, with new rules regarding the recently announced UK-EU Trade and Cooperation agreement. These rules will have an impact on those booking international artists and those taking their work outside of the UK.
The principal focus of Arts Infopoint UK is on international artists and companies travelling into the UK. However, we appreciate there is an immediate need and concern from the arts sector, to understand the practical application of the new rules and we will look at ways to support this.
Some of the work that Arts Infopoint UK will undertake over the coming year includes:
- Developing a web portal to gather, in one place, useful resources and information related to practical issues on artist mobility into the UK such as visas, work permits, taxation and social security.
- Signpost to existing resources and information developed by the leading sector bodies in the UK, as well as to our Infopoint partners across the EU and worldwide on artist mobility out of the UK.
- Work with partners to organise virtual events and webinars on specific topics such as visas and work permits or on artist mobility with a particular country focus.
- Research and gather data on the biggest challenges that the international artists are facing and to use this information to advocate for the needs of the arts sector and work on finding solutions.
- Test the development of an enquiry and information service for artists.
The work will be phased, responding to the needs of the sector and to the practicalities of how companies are able to start working and moving internationally again. More information will be published soon on the website. If you would like to link any related information, events or resources that your organisation has produced, please contact infopoint@wai.org.uk
Arts Infopoint UK is led by Wales Arts International, the international agency of Arts Council of Wales, and developed as a partnership alongside Creative Scotland, Arts Council England and Arts Council Northern Ireland.
We are working alongside Tamizdat and Cardiff Law School (Cardiff University) to develop the Infopoint model. Arts Infopoint UK is part of the On the Move’s network of Infopoints across some of the EU member states and worldwide.
Arts Infopoint UK is supported by the Welsh Government and the Scottish Government.
