About TRANSEUROPA

Transeuropa is the result of a participative process taking place throughout Europe, involving hundreds of activists, politicians, philosophers and artists mobilised in order to achieve a truly translocal festival.

TRANSEUROPA is a transnational artistic, cultural and political festival organised by European Alternatives since 2007. In the past decade, TRANSEUROPA has attracted thousands of attendees and active participants through a decentralised event structure in over a dozen European cities and a high profile moment in one city. For the 2017 edition, Convergent Spaces, the main city for TRANSEUROPA is Madrid

Why Convergent Spaces

A glance over the past ten years suggests that, at the level of political institutions, the energy for renewal has been lacking. We have witnessed how the democratic crisis at European level is a counterpart of the democratic erosion that is presented at the national level: state political institutions do not have the capacity to address the economic, political, social and cultural issues that we face, either because they have voluntarily renounced a certain sovereignty in the process of European integration, or because in a globalised world, they no longer have the capacity to influence the global trends that affect people’s lives.

At the same time, a grass-roots politics of contestation and civic invention has been spreading across the continent. European Alternatives has been at the centre of it, networking the dispersed elements of this renewal. TRANSEUROPA’s unique approach establishes a temporal transnational space for making these dispersed elements visible across Europe. These elements work daily at the local level to imagine and to put into practice new forms of doing politics and art at a transnational level.

The main goals of TRANSEUROPA are to provide an innovative, transnational and open format of cultural and political debate; foster exchange, cooperation and mutual support between the participants, and serve as a point of convergence for political, artistic and civil society actors. It runs over five days and covers three main thematic (Europe as a refuge, Cities of Change and the Commons) through a mix of formats ranging from lectures, participative workshops, artistic interventions, performance, cinema, music and political debates.

We think it is time to open spaces for dialogue and exchange for the creation and improvement of the social, political and artistic reality that is being built in Europe. There are many new dynamics at the local level that work to produce political change outside and inside the continent borders. Movements that from the cities and towns, from the citizens initiatives and platforms, the feminist and LGTBIQ + groups, are working to reach the Europe of tomorrow, and that demonstrate that a real change can only happen through a renewed political vision beyond national boundaries.

What others say about us…

“I felt like an orphan going around the world speaking about how art can influence politics and other forms of collaboration and suddenly finding European Alternatives and Transeuropa was like discovering a twin I hadn’t met before”

Tania BrugueraCuban Artist and instalator

“For me Transeuropa was a wonderful way of connecting with people I would never otherwise have met, and feeling part of a wider European culture”

Marina LewyckaNovelist, United Kingdom

“The Transeuropa symbolises and expresses all that is radically creative about European Alternatives and the networks they have been able to cultivate through European citizens from Sofia and Cluj to Belgrade and Bologna. If you want to experience the future of Europe now, look no further than Transeuropa Festival.”

Engin EsinProfessor of Citizenship, Open University

“People often are amazed how diverse and colourful is their city, region, or country. It is Transeuropa Festival which helps them discover it. Transeuropa invites us to discuss fundamental issues and encourages us to be active citizens of our communities. I am proud to work with European Alternatives building better Europe!”

Robert BiedronMayor of Słupsk and LGBT activist, Poland

Previous editions

European Alternatives organised the first edition of Transeuropa in London in March 2007 and it hosted philosophers, political theorists, artists and curators who engaged a public audience in discussion of the multiplicity of European questions. Zygmunt Bauman launched Transeuropa with his lecture “Making the planet hospitable to Europe” and opened a Festival that sought to open up public spaces in which discussion of European issues could take place. Ten years after the first civil-society-initiated Festival of Europe, Transeuropa lands in Madrid for five days of debates, trainings, workshops and assemblies.

Beyond Fragments. 2015 edition of Transeuropa

Beyond Fragments was the 2015 edition of Transeuropa taking place in Belgrade as co-production together with NeDaVimo Beograd. The festival programme was divided into three themes: new forms of politics and movements, alternative economies and the commons. Contributors include artists, activists and leading thinkers such as philosopher Srećko Horvat, political scientist Ulrike Guérot, activist and Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde, author and activist Brett Scott, theatre director Angela Richter and Guardian journalist Nabeelah Shabbir and artivist Tania Bruguera.

Imagine – Demand – Enact 2013 edition of Transeuropa

Imagine – Demand – Enact was the 2013 edition of Transeuropa. It was the result of a participative process taking place throughout the year across Europe, involving more than 200 activists and volunteers, spread over 13 cities in 12 European countries.

About ‘Re-Build Refuge Europe’

European Alternatives leads Re-Build Refuge Europe, a project that brings together partners from the UK, Sweden, Spain, Finland and Germany, and Greece. It aims to counteract the dominant discourses of ‘crisis’ and ‘threat’ by using art, culture and innovative practices allowing European citizens and refugees to learn from each other as equals. Activities of the project include storytelling, training and workshops for participants and the digital arts. Interim and final results of the project will be exhibited and performed during the Athens Biennale 2017 and TRANSEUROPA Festival 2017 in Madrid.

The project Re-build Refuge Europe provides the space to link up cultural actors and societal actors mobilised in different corners of Europe to exchange and build new practices. It also uses a creative mix of mediums to raise European citizens’ knowledge of issues at stake for refugees and in making Europe a place of Refuge where all people can feel safe.

The Creative Europe programme funds activities that recognise and celebrate the contribution refugees and migrants make to cultural diversity in Europe.