I left the KlangHaus team in London for a day's conference in Manchester. 06.16 train from Euston, the early morning walk along the river Thames to Vauxhall station was extra special.
Sailing through the country on a seemingly silent bullet. A stone smashed the train windscreen at Milton Keynes and then we were kind of on a go slow.
Got to Manchester, found the trams, bumbled my way onto the right tram.
entered Salford....a strange spread-out landscape, do they imagine we have long Lowry-like legs to stride the wasteland/development...I walked past iconic landmarks which looked like a crap drawing of someone's wildest dream...sorry Man-U stadium, Coronation Street and BBC Media-City...and there, before me was the Lowry Building. I climbed the orange carpeted stairs, eyeing the purple pillars and red walls using my Lowry legs...why is everything so big?
The Conference:
International Touring Advice a summary... you need at least an 18 months lead time, setting up this work is always a slow burn. Any project needs to pay for itself, there is NO Subsidy. Start off in western Europe and find your feet. Your show must transmute cultural understanding. Get local knowledge.Source local set-building materials/equip. Use our talents of promoting and using signed performances/autism-friendly/accessible/relaxed. Collaborate with your foreign host. They might want experience with technicians or vice versa!offer to teach/give tutorials/lighting workshops. Offer a package give them a menu, after-show talk/tech workshop.
Why Tour Internationally? Financial benefits. Audience development. Inspiration. Geo-Political aims...diplomacy
Put 'International' on all your literature and web content.
Think International from the start...set building, equipment, marketing.
Be financially risk-free. Join I.E.T.M.org ( Artists International Development Fund £5,000, could help get your I.E.T.M costs covered... make friends, networks of support.
Exchange Rates : Quote in £s, get payment in pounds. If euros/dollars guarantee it at that day's rate. No Small Currency!! You'll need an IBAN code and a BIC code.
Schedules of payment: on signing 25% of the fee. A quarter or third just before arrival, Final payment within 2 weeks of final show.
Carnet: a list of everything with it's value and place of origin. Must remain the same as when you arrive as when you leave, even the consumables such as gaffa tape!
Visas: sort them 6 months ahead. An okay weight is 150kg, don't make a heavy show!
Tax ; don't get double taxed...local host withholding local tax.
British Council Territories of significance... M.I.N.T , Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey.
Met some lovely people, and hooked up with old friends.
Had a tour of The Lowry with a view to a possible KlangHaus. Wandered around Manchester looking for possible KlangHaus buildings.
.............My journey home was an adrenalin junky's dream...it began with me being so tired that I was hallucinating at the arrivals board and re-imagining my departure time...I missed my train back to London by one minute. I got back to London after crying at the train ticket salesman and saying, it's a mistake, just like this morning's delay to my train, my ticket was transferred to a later train, that gave me one minute's grace to catch the last tube back in London. I ran, I got it, I became a little bit religious for a moment.Knackered!
Sailing through the country on a seemingly silent bullet. A stone smashed the train windscreen at Milton Keynes and then we were kind of on a go slow.
Got to Manchester, found the trams, bumbled my way onto the right tram. 
entered Salford....a strange spread-out landscape, do they imagine we have long Lowry-like legs to stride the wasteland/development...I walked past iconic landmarks which looked like a crap drawing of someone's wildest dream...sorry Man-U stadium, Coronation Street and BBC Media-City...and there, before me was the Lowry Building. I climbed the orange carpeted stairs, eyeing the purple pillars and red walls using my Lowry legs...why is everything so big?
The Conference:International Touring Advice a summary... you need at least an 18 months lead time, setting up this work is always a slow burn. Any project needs to pay for itself, there is NO Subsidy. Start off in western Europe and find your feet. Your show must transmute cultural understanding. Get local knowledge.Source local set-building materials/equip. Use our talents of promoting and using signed performances/autism-friendly/accessible/relaxed. Collaborate with your foreign host. They might want experience with technicians or vice versa!offer to teach/give tutorials/lighting workshops. Offer a package give them a menu, after-show talk/tech workshop.
Why Tour Internationally? Financial benefits. Audience development. Inspiration. Geo-Political aims...diplomacy
Put 'International' on all your literature and web content. Think International from the start...set building, equipment, marketing.
Be financially risk-free. Join I.E.T.M.org ( Artists International Development Fund £5,000, could help get your I.E.T.M costs covered... make friends, networks of support. Exchange Rates : Quote in £s, get payment in pounds. If euros/dollars guarantee it at that day's rate. No Small Currency!! You'll need an IBAN code and a BIC code.
Schedules of payment: on signing 25% of the fee. A quarter or third just before arrival, Final payment within 2 weeks of final show.
Carnet: a list of everything with it's value and place of origin. Must remain the same as when you arrive as when you leave, even the consumables such as gaffa tape!
Visas: sort them 6 months ahead. An okay weight is 150kg, don't make a heavy show!
Tax ; don't get double taxed...local host withholding local tax.
British Council Territories of significance... M.I.N.T , Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey.
Met some lovely people, and hooked up with old friends.
Had a tour of The Lowry with a view to a possible KlangHaus. Wandered around Manchester looking for possible KlangHaus buildings.
.............My journey home was an adrenalin junky's dream...it began with me being so tired that I was hallucinating at the arrivals board and re-imagining my departure time...I missed my train back to London by one minute. I got back to London after crying at the train ticket salesman and saying, it's a mistake, just like this morning's delay to my train, my ticket was transferred to a later train, that gave me one minute's grace to catch the last tube back in London. I ran, I got it, I became a little bit religious for a moment.Knackered!
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