A critical analysis of the exhaustion of the current model of European cultural networks.
The publication of my resignation from the IETM network after thirty years of membership generated a necessary and profound debate in the cultural sector. However, my intention was not for this act to remain as a personal anecdote or a simple reaction on social media. As a consultant dedicated to the strategic development of the arts, I consider that my obligation is to provide intellectual rigor and coherence to this dialogue.
As a result of this reflection, I have written the document "The New Challenges of European Cultural Networks: Strategic analysis and proposal in the face of systemic crisis", a text that synthesises my professional diagnosis regarding the current state of our transnational collaboration structures.
The genesis: An imperative of coherence
After three decades of experience, including two terms on the Board of Directors of IETM, I have observed how the ecosystem of networks has changed profoundly. What was born as a space for intellectual friction and liberty is now at an identity crossroads. This analysis does not come from pessimism, but from professional honesty: it is necessary to recognise the symptoms of what I identify as a loss of identity of the networks to propose real solutions.
The diagnosis: Three central arguments
In the full document, I develop three critical axes that explain the exhaustion of the current model. The first of these addresses the structural trap and the bureaucratic drift. I analyse how the transition from informal and independent networks to structures dependent on programs like Creative Europe and other lines of public funding has transformed networks into project production agencies. This financial dependence has forced organisations to adopt external institutional agendas, prioritising administrative survival over true artistic necessity.
The second argument focuses on the mirage of diversity and coloniality. I question projects that, under the appearance of global inclusion, depend on the funding of state agencies with clear geopolitical agendas. There is an ethical dissonance when the discourse of diversity is sustained by the same States that maintain dynamics of coloniality or remain silent before devastating humanitarian conflicts, as evidenced in recent crises in Gaza, Lebanon, or Iran.
Finally, the third axis examines linguistic predominance and the cultural hegemony of English. The absolute dominance of this language as the only vector for communication systematically excludes diverse frameworks of thought and limits the depth of debate. I propose that Artificial Intelligence (AI) must stop being a technical option to become a political tool for equity that permits real plurilingualism and returns the voice to mother tongues in all spaces of communication and professional exchange within cultural networks.
Proposal for the future: Strategic lines of action
This document is not limited to a diagnosis; it concludes with a roadmap for the transformation of future cultural structures. This proposal is articulated in four fundamental strategic lines of action: bureaucratic emancipation to recover agility, the defence of independence and autonomy of criteria against external pressures, the ethical revision of funding models, and the technological institutionalisation of plurilingualism.
Confronting current challenges requires us to stop reflecting only the existing institutional mandates. By assuming intellectual coherence and searching for answers beyond bureaucratic complacency, the sectors of culture and the arts will recover the essential political impulse to forge the European cultural ecosystem of tomorrow.
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The complete and extensive version of this analysis is provided for those professionals, academics, and managers who wish to study this strategic proposal in depth. This document is designed for professional reading and is offered in both English and Spanish.
