Syndicate: Schengen and artists

[TIM HODGKINSON <timpragma@CompuServe.COM>]

Greetings,
I am writing to you - as a director, co-ordinator or organiser of cultural
events - in the hope that you will agree to become a signatory of a letter.
The text of the letter follows, and we will send it to the ministries that
are responsible for administering the Schengen Agreement. It is not
necessary for you to actually sign the letter, but simply to return an
e-mail to me in which you state your agreement to be listed as a signatory,
giving your status such as "artistic director of such-and-such a festival"
etc. Please accept our thanks, in any case, for taking the time to read the
letter.
Yours sincerely,
Tim Hodgkinson,
Secretary, Culture Europeenne Ouverte

Text of letter;

Open letter to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and to the Ministries of
Justice of countries signatory to the Schengen Agreement.

Culture Europeenne Ouverte
London Office, 46 Spenser Rd, London SE24 ONR

Dear Sir/Madam,

        We the undersigned, representatives of organisations having
occasion to invite artists from foreign countries to participate in
cultural events in the various countries of the European Union, and
specifically in the countries signatory to the Schengen Agreement, wish to
draw to your attention certain shortcomings and failures in the current
system, and our proposals for resolving them.

        Despite the numerous and varied subsidies that we receive from
national institutions and from the E.U. to encourage and deepen cultural
contacts between the citizens of Europe and those of non-European
countries, there remain serious impediments to the free movement  of
artists between the cities of Europe and non-E.U. member states; these
difficulties derive from national political and administrative structures.

        How do things stand today? The consulate of a member country has
complete freedom to act in an arbitrary way; the consulate is free to
specify its own procedure for obtaining a Schengen visa; despite the
submission of the exact documentation specified, there is no guarantee that
the visa will be supplied by the correct date; furthermore additional
documentation may be demanded, for reasons that are disclosed neither to
the applicant nor to the inviting organisation; the consulate may then
demand that the application be begun again from the date at which the new
documentation is submitted, and so on. The consulate accepts no
responsibility for the results of its actions, is answerable to no
independent body, and, in the case of a tour involving performances or
exhibitions in several Schengen countries, is free to ignore appeals from
major cultural organisations from other member states concerned.

        Result: the artists and audiences of several countries are
disappointed, and cultural organisations that often operate on finely
balanced budgets are in a situation of financial loss.

        If the Schengen Treaty is really to serve the citizens of Europe,
it is a priority that it be made to operate in a consistent way.

        To further our work for an open European culture, we the
undersigned therefore demand the following conditions:

        1) That the procedure for obtaining visas for foreign artists
invited to tour countries in the Schengen territory be harmonised in all
the signatory countries.

        2) That these procedures be formalised and made available to the
public.

        3) That all consulates of Schengen member states be bound to follow
them.

        4) That in the event of refusal or delay in the issuing of a visa,
the reason(s) are to be clearly stipulated; the cultural organisation
issuing the invitation is to have the right of appeal, and, where this
appeal is found to be well grounded, to compensation for financial loss and
        damage to reputation.

BELOW IS THE LIST OF PEOPLE/ORGANISATIONS WHO SHOULD RECEIVE THIS LETTER BY
END OF OCTOBER; WE NEED 100 SIGNATORIES BY END NOVEMBER.
PLEASE MAKE THE LIST GROW...

SKRAEP
Gracia Territori Sonor
Krzysztof Knittel
Birgit Ulherr
Albert Markos
Carlos Zingaro
Raymond Strid
Martin Klapper
Sergio Amadori
Dominique Repecaud
Fabrizzio Spera
Alessandro Achilli
Metalogico
AMI
Bourges Festival
Ostinato/Marianne Lyon
Kersten Glandien
Chris Cutler
Wolfgang Wasserbauer
Hans Falb
Werner Ponesch
VUB
Logos
Tullio Angellini
Rote Fabriek
Strasbourg Musica
Bordeaux Sigma
Banlieu Bleu
Metz Festival
38 Rugissants
Pedro Lopez
Vooruit
Fred van Hove
RAI
Moers
Taktloss
Montepulciano
Schloss Solitude
STEIM
Gulbenkian Foundation
Goethe @ Munich
Thomas Lehn
Fundacio Miro
Instants Chavires
Pezner
Anja Stasse
Christoph Huber
Elke Moltrecht
Erhard Hirt
Felix Klopotek
Frank Schulte
Gaudeamus
Hannover Biennuel
Harald Muenz
Jens Brand
Martin Blume
Moritz Froehner
Peter Schoerdorf
Reiner Michalke
Ute Pinter
Waldo Riedl
Domenico Sciaji
Francis Faber
Jean Marc Montera
Avant Schwaz
Carl Bergstrom-Nielsen
Foundation Artists' House
Einklang
Time of Music
Ars Electronica
Klangspuren Schwaz
Musikprotokoll
Ultima Festival
Donaueschingen Musiktage
Kasseler Musiktage
November Music
Charm of Sound
Paul Pignon
Luneberg New Music Festival
DEAF 98