{"id":1896,"date":"2012-08-01T13:01:05","date_gmt":"2012-08-01T18:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/optative.net\/blog\/?p=1896"},"modified":"2016-09-27T07:51:24","modified_gmt":"2016-09-27T12:51:24","slug":"world-fringe-congress-to-welcome-infringement-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/optative.net\/blog\/world-fringe-congress-to-welcome-infringement-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"World Fringe Congress to welcome infringement festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Montreal infringement festival<\/a>,\u00a0sometimes\u00a0described as\u00a0“the anti-Fringe”,\u00a0has been invited to the first-ever World Fringe Congress<\/a>, a gathering of the leaders of 40 Fringe Festivals\u00a0 – and one infringement festival – from 13 countries across the globe.<\/p>\n

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival<\/a>, now the largest arts festival in the world, will be hosting\u00a0the unique event this year from August \u00a016 \u2013 19, 2012. Set\u00a0during the Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland, the purpose of the Congress is “to create a lasting network and a real sense of how Fringes can work together to achieve all our aims”.<\/p>\n

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The Edinburgh Fringe Festival has humble, yet controversial\u00a0beginnings in 1947. It all started on the heels of World War II,\u00a0when a group of local Scottish artists were snubbed by a new festival called the Edinburgh International Festival that refused them permission to play there. In retaliation, the artists played on the “fringe” of the elitist festival, a term that was officialised\u00a0the following year (1948) after journalist\u00a0Robert Kemp wrote: “Round the fringe of official Festival drama, there seems to be more private enterprise than before … I am afraid some of us are not going to be at home during the evenings!”<\/p>\n

What began as an artistic protest against elitism and exclusion soon blossomed into a global movement, with Fringe becoming an artistic genre\u00a0that signified true\u00a0independence: edgy, Do-It-Yourself performances that challenge the status quo<\/em>, often through bold irreverence, experimentation, and controversy.<\/p>\n

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Not only did the Edinburgh Fringe eventually\u00a0grow much bigger than\u00a0the original elitist festival, but the movement also spread to\u00a0many other countries, where Fringe Festivals sprouted up to meet the\u00a0cultural and activist needs of various communities around the world.<\/p>\n

The Fringe concept became especially popular in Canada, with the first festival appearing in 1982 in Edmonton. By the early 1990s, over a dozen Canadian Fringe Festivals had come into existence and organizers began meeting to find ways to consolidate the artistic movement. On September 26, 1994, they founded the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals<\/a> (CAFF)\u00a0, allegedly to to “safeguard the integrity of Fringe Festivals”, amongst other noble-sounding objectives.<\/p>\n

In 1998, the\u00a0CAFF trademarked the word “Fringe”, allegedly to “preserve…\u201cFringe\u201d ideals and principles<\/a>,”\u00a0\u00a0however, according to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, CAFF actually trademarked it for financial purposes<\/a>, including the selling of Fringe-related wares and services:<\/p>\n

WARES:<\/a><\/strong> \u00a0 (1) T-shirts, caps, brochures, programs, posters and mugs. \u00a0 (2) Bookmarks, calendars, decals, collectible cards, greeting cards, notepads, diaries, pens, glasses, mugs, tumblers, memo pads, key chains, bumper stickers, adult and children’s clothing, – namely shirts, pants, woven shirts, polo shirts, fleece shirts, sweaters, tank tops, sweat pants, shorts, scarves, hats, caps and sun visors, umbrellas, hand held fans and cushions. <\/p>\n

SERVICES:<\/a><\/strong> \u00a0 (1) Presentation, the advertisement and the promotion of theatre productions.<\/p>\n

Unfringe-like? It gets worse. Canadian Fringe Festivals and the CAFF also frequently\u00a0threaten legal action<\/a> against\u00a0students and independent artists who attempt to use the word “Fringe” without their permission. Furthermore, Fringe artists have been complaining<\/a> for over a decade about the unfair treatment they receive at CAFF-sponsored Fringe Festivals, including everything from excessive fees to play, censorship, conflict-of-interest sponsors, corporate spam visually polluting Fringe sites, the expulsion of artists from the Fringe for criticizing sponsors, and even the banning of political artists<\/a> and physical\u00a0aggression by Fringe security guards.\u00a0Worse still, \u00a0some of the Canadian Fringe Festivals have even sold naming rights to questionable corporations.<\/p>\n

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For example, the Saskatoon Fringe was recently renamed the “PotashCorp Fringe” after a $40 Billion corporation that extracts natural resources to make fertilizer. The industrial process\u00a0causes untold environmental destruction<\/a>, and\u00a0PotashCorp\u00a0has been criticised<\/a> for damaging ecosystems\u00a0and\u00a0importing minerals\u00a0from the illegally occupied Western Sahara. Meanwhile, the Montreal Fringe Festival is named after St. Ambroise beer, and\u00a0there is speculation\u00a0that the Toronto Fringe Festival will soon be named after the TD Bank, following a series of close\u00a0collaborations<\/a>\u00a0between Fringe administrators and bankers.<\/p>\n

Needlees to say, the corporate takeover of the Canadian Fringe Festivals has resulted in angry artists\u00a0petitioning<\/a> for\u00a0the festivals to\u00a0protect the original Fringe concept and return to\u00a0its activist and community-based\u00a0roots. The media is taking note of the brand damage too, with Montreal Gazette editor Lucinda Chodan noting<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cI was here in Edmonton when the first Fringe was launched. I\u2019ve followed it through the years, and frankly, the Fringe in general has become more mainstream, sometimes just plain silly. The edge isn\u2019t there anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in Edinburgh, Fringe veterans are complaining about similar issues of corporate manipulation, with journalist and performer Stewart Lee describing the situation as the “slow death of the Edinburgh Fringe”.<\/a><\/p>\n

Likewise, Deborah Pearson, a Torontonian who moved to Britain in 2005, has\u00a0been very successful<\/a>\u00a0overseas with a performance collective known as the Forest Fringe<\/a>. In 2007, she founded a venue by that name at the Edinburgh Fringe \u2013\u00a0as a “totally independent, not-for-profit space.”\u00a0In 2010, Stage magazine\u00a0listed her and her\u00a0artistic partner Andy Field as two of the 100 most influential people in U.K. theatre. Ironically, in Canada, Forest Fringe would be illegal and subject to lawsuits due to trademark infringement. In Canada, Deborah Pearson’s success would have been blocked by corporate interests.<\/p>\n

Like it or not, with all the corporate influence and interference, the Fringe Festival certainly isn’t what it used to be.<\/p>\n

Enter The World Fringe Congress, and event\u00a0organized by the World Festival Network<\/a>.\u00a0This organization “acts as a liaison between festivals and implements cross-festival ideas and relations, such as award schemes, tours and funding opportunities.”\u00a0They also\u00a0offer “consultancy, start up and advice to new festivals.” Both organizations were founded by Holly Payton, an arts administrator with plenty of experience at the UK Fringes. According to her profile:<\/p>\n

“Holly has worked in the festival business since 2001, rebranding the ‘Brighton Festival Umbrella’ and founding the Brighton Fringe, which she then managed for 7 years. She has worked as a Festival Venue Director and in the Senior Management Team of Edinburgh Fringe Society as well as for many UK international Festivals.”<\/p>\n

When questioned whether the\u00a0World Fringe Congress\u00a0would be a good\u00a0place to debate questions about corporate influence on the Fringe Festivals, especially in Canada, and to discuss the future direction of the Fringe,\u00a0Payton replied:<\/p>\n

“…the Congress will recognise that there are many models of Fringe and many different ideas within it, without recognising any one model, concept or Fringe as more valid than another.”<\/p>\n

With 40 Fringes and 1 infringement festival in attendance, it could make for a lively discussion. Despite the fact that CAFF claims 21 Fringe Festivals from\u00a0Canada and the USA, there are also\u00a0festivals in countries\u00a0as diverse as Thailand, New Zealand, Australia, France, Hungary, China, South Africa and Brazil, to name a few.\u00a0World Fringe provides a list of all Fringe and infringement festivals in the world, including a world map, on its website<\/a>. Fortunately not all Fringe Festivals follow the corporate model promoted by CAFF, meaning that with no Fringe hegemony or ideological struggle in place, as in Canada, there could potentially be rich discussions amongst the various invitees concerning topics of great concern.<\/p>\n

The Fringe in the 21st Century faces a stark choice: the more it allows corporate interference at the festival, the\u00a0more it damages its value as\u00a0a Fringe. The choice is whether to allow the Fringe to fade into a mere marketing opportunity for corporations, where artists\u00a0must pay to\u00a0become\u00a0commodities, or whether to put the full power of the Fringe back into the hands of the performers and to empower them,\u00a0in the spirit of those brave artists\u00a0who created\u00a0the Fringe\u00a0in the first place.<\/p>\n

While in Canada the Fringe is firmly locked in a trademark, complete with all its restrictions against artists and following criticism, there is hope the other festivals won’t be led astray down this same destructive path.<\/p>\n

Like it or not, the Fringe is a very delicate brand. Corporate interference such as marketing and visual pollution, pay-to-play fees, naming rights, and trademarking are the very antithesis of the original 1947 Fringe. Signifying underground,\u00a0edgy, artistic, independent, and Do-It-Yourself,\u00a0the Fringe relies on its own authenticity to succeed. When these slippery corporate concepts are\u00a0applied at the festivals,\u00a0it can only damage the Fringe’s image and disempower the artists, which is why a discussion needs to be had amongst stakeholders about where the line should be drawn in regards to our increasingly endangered Fringe.<\/p>\n

The infringement festival<\/a>, created after artists were kicked out of the Montreal Fringe, \u00a0offers a solution. It has created a\u00a0mandate<\/a> designed to empower artists and communities and prevent corporate interference at the Fringe, complete with a guide for seeking ethical sponsors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The infringement model has proven successful in places as far afield as Ottawa, Toronto, Regina, Nova Scotia and Bordeaux, France, who all staged\u00a0individual infringement festivals, and in Montreal, Buffalo, Hamilton, and Brooklyn where the festivals are permanent. Buffalo’s 8th edition just enjoyed over 800 performances<\/a> of “arts under the radar”, making it the largest infringement festival to date.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Furthermore, not only is there strong media coverage\u00a0about infringement and its history, but there are strong connections between the infringement and newly-formed Occupy movement, demonstrating that progressive politics can indeed take centre stage in the\u00a0Fringe Arts. People\u00a0wishing to establish an infringement festival can consult\u00a0an online Do-It-Yourself Guidebook<\/a>\u00a0and receive support from the Global Infringement team.<\/p>\n

For those who heed these warnings and are interested in reforming\u00a0the Fringe,\u00a0the infringement criteria can be seen as a\u00a0blueprint to transformation, safeguarding artists\u00a0while keeping unethical and damaging corporate practices at bay. If the Fringes fail to take this message into account, it could very well be a case of history repeating itself, ironically with the Fringe now cast in the role of the exclusive and elitist festival that it had originally protested against.<\/p>\n

If Holly Payton and the World Fringe Congress\u00a0fully intend\u00a0“to create a lasting network and a real sense of how Fringes can work together to achieve all our aims”, they need to\u00a0note that there\u00a0seems to be\u00a0two competing aims that are diametrically opposed: one that supports Fringe arts for the original cultural purposes,\u00a0and one that wants to\u00a0exploit the Fringe brand for corporate reasons.\u00a0All Fringes need to\u00a0decide which of these visions they choose to\u00a0support, because the two aims cannot be reconciled any more than those of\u00a0organic farmers and McDonald’s. Simply put, one is grassroots, human, activist and authentic, whereas the other is manipulative, corporate\u00a0and sometimes even parasitic.<\/p>\n

While there is hope the World Fringe Congress can provide a place for the important conversation that needs to take place about the ongoing corporate threats to the Fringe, the danger lies, as always, in corporate manipulation.\u00a0If those subscribing to the corporate model try and influence, or even co-opt, the more activist Fringe Festivals\u00a0present at\u00a0the event, it could very well end up as a mere PR exercise for the corporate Fringe model – and not the urgent debate that needs to take place before even more damage can be done to the cherished and endangered\u00a0Fringe. The real question that needs to be asked is: where do we draw the line?<\/p>\n

With the infringement festival\u00a0in attendance, represented by myself, Donovan King,\u00a0at least one voice\u00a0will be present to\u00a0argue on\u00a0behalf of\u00a0 the\u00a0authentic Fringe, a place where activism and\u00a0arts\u00a0take centre stage,\u00a0and where\u00a0corporate\u00a0manipulation and marketing\u00a0are dismissed\u00a0and\u00a0relegated to\u00a0shopping malls and the like,\u00a0where they clearly belong. At the authentic Fringe, artists and community must come first.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Read more from this series:<\/p>\n

\n
Preview: World Fringe Congress to welcome infringement festival<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
World Fringe Congress Report #1: First Impressions<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
World Fringe Congress Report #2: The word on the street and Congress opening<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
World Fringe Congress Report #3: Retaining the Fringe Edge or Show me the Money!<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
World Fringe Congress Report #4: World Fringe Fair, Open Spaces and Members Only Clubs<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
World Fringe Congress Report #5: Searching for the Fringe and Reflections<\/a><\/div>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Montreal infringement festival,\u00a0sometimes\u00a0described as\u00a0“the anti-Fringe”,\u00a0has been invited to the first-ever World Fringe Congress, a gathering of the leaders of 40 Fringe Festivals\u00a0 – and one infringement festival – from 13 countries across the globe. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, now the largest arts festival in the world, will be hosting\u00a0the unique event this year from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7,36,14,1],"tags":[441,442,355,439,367,443,84,444,440],"class_list":["post-1896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-community-issues","category-road-trips","category-uncategorized","tag-canadian-association-of-fringe-festivals","tag-corporate","tag-donovan-king","tag-edinburgh-fringe","tag-fringe-festival","tag-holly-payton","tag-infringement-festival","tag-world-festival-network","tag-world-fringe-congress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/optative.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/optative.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/optative.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/optative.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/optative.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1896"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/optative.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3018,"href":"https:\/\/optative.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1896\/revisions\/3018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/optative.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/optative.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/optative.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}