Re-imagining mobility for artists and cultural professionals

The mobility of artists and cultural professionals is understood as the temporary cross-border movement to access new career opportunities, collaborators, audiences and markets. As shown by the fifth chapter, ensuring such exchanges is vital for artists’ careers. Nevertheless, global inequality in freedom of movement remains an issue. Daunting visa requirements and a lack of funding and training make mobility more challenging for artists from developing countries. States tend to prioritize supporting their own artists to travel outside their territory, rather than attracting artists from other countries – with 83% of Parties supporting outward mobility, compared with 57% supporting the inward mobility of foreign artists. In the last four years, no preferential treatment measures were introduced by developed countries, despite Parties’ pledge to support artists and cultural professionals from developing countries. CSOs play a crucial role in countering these mobility imbalances, filling funding gaps, administering grants, disseminating information, delivering training and hosting exhibition and networking platforms. COVID-19 triggered a seminal shift in mobility, which means governments are called on to re-imagine mobility in more balanced, digitally accessible and sustainable ways.