i-Portunus Houses

i-Portunus Houses was part of the i-Portunus pilot scheme, co-funded by the European Commission, dedicated to testing diverse mobility models for artists, creators and cultural professionals. The i-Portunus Houses pilot was focused on hosts, underlining their value in providing efficient residencies and working environments for creative individuals. The scheme was open for the 41 Creative Europe countries and offered specific support for local hosts to team up with up to 5 artists and/or cultural professionals. After the piloting phase, a permanent mobility scheme has been included in the EU’s Creative Europe programme.

i-Portunus strongly believed in the professional value of making real-life contacts across European borders and collaborating with peers face-to-face. Hybrid forms of cultural mobility and collaboration via digital platforms may provide another form of transnational exchanges for artists and cultural professionals. Especially also for those who work and live in more remote places of Creative Europe countries. Cultural organisations and the creative professionals working in them urgently need to innovate and prepare for hosting their peers and co-producing also in the digital space. This is particularly important as long as the pandemic lasts, but also in view of a less travel-intense, more equally accessible and greener future of cultural mobility.