European Network of Cultural Centres (ENCC)

RIMA Network

Red Internacional de Mobilidad Artística (RIMA)
Estonia
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Powered by multilingual matchmaking, assistance, and mentorship tools, RIMA is the first digital platform to connect artists and curators from the Global South with international opportunities for mobility and funding. RIMA aims to increase the participation and selection of artists from the Global South in international calls for residencies, grants, events, festivals and other career-pushing opportunities, thus opening access and promoting international cultural relations.

Whether through grants, fellowships, residencies or commissions, international mobility and financing opportunities add up to over one thousand spaces where cultural workers can experiment, produce and exhibit their work to a global audience while expanding their network of peers. However, when analysing the origin of those selected, there is evidence of a much lower participation from the Global South. 

This inequality arises from existing communication and application mechanisms, which pose awareness and access barriers for most Global-South-based cultural practitioners. Most existing alternatives promoting international mobility opportunities are biassed towards native English speakers. They are list-based and require a lot of repetitive manual information filtering to find opportunities that fit their profile. This translates into a tedious and cumbersome user experience. 

Suitable for smartphones and computers, RIMA will be a multilingual platform for artists to find, prepare and submit an application for funding or mobility through a friendly, comprehensible and straightforward experience. This will help to make the process less confusing and increase the number of applications, which shall translate into increased diversity of participation. 

By building a platform to improve access to funding, mobility, mid-career education, and shared experiences, we would actively be helping “level the playing field” for creatives worldwide.

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