Programme

Rural Areas and Audience Renewal
 

How do pop music scenes exist — and resist — in rural and peripheral territories of the Euroregion in a context of multiple crises (economic, social, democratic, ecological)?
Only for Pro pass
ESPACE K, Théâtre
1h30
Production : Diffusion Prod, Strasbourg Music Week

This panel starts from the lived realities of small venues, community-based spaces and rural initiatives — often on the front line — to examine their capacity for adaptation, innovation and cooperation. 

Far from being marginal, these spaces are developing practices that now inspire the entire sector: new ways of welcoming audiences and artists, resource-sharing models, attention to quality of experience, and strong local anchoring.

In partnership with Court -Circuit, Fédération des musiques Actuelles (BE)

CUR - Grégoire PATEAU (FR)

Officer for Territorial Development and Projects at UFISC (Union Fédérale d’Intervention des Structures Culturelles)

The Union brings together 16 member organizations, representing nearly 3,000 artistic and cultural structures engaged in a wide range of activities: creation, production, and dissemination of artistic projects and events; cultural initiatives within local communities; the creation of public and civic spaces through artistic practices; transmission of skills; and support for amateur practice development. 

Recognized at both territorial and national levels, UFISC contributes to consultations on public policies led by the State and local authorities, as well as to the professional structuring of the sector. 
It supports organizations, teams, and project leaders through various programs, and provides collective working spaces to improve employment conditions, foster mutual knowledge among structures, and strengthen cooperation. 

UFISC leads cooperation initiatives and research-action projects, and works on observing practices and analyzing alternative ways of operating. It develops open initiatives, based on partnerships and the public interest, addressing key issues such as cultural diversity and cultural rights, territorial cooperation, solidarity-based economy, and ecological and civic transitions. 

Every two years, UFISC organizes POP MIND, a major collective and civic gathering aimed at “building networks” to “build common ground” with other civic stakeholders—creating spaces to exchange, support one another, innovate, and cooperate, thereby contributing, from the ground up, to the construction of an open space for culture and solidarity. 

UFISC is also active at the European level through several projects, such as COOPTERR, which brought together six countries around territorial cooperation and cultural rights, and which now continues through the training program LOOKING UP.

Arnaud FIÈVRE (FR)

Director of venue Contre-Courant MJC-MSAC, Verdun, France

Director of Contre-Courant MJC-MSAC since 2023, Arnaud Fièvre's professional career has led him to develop his skills in the field of improvised music, alongside his involvement in professional performing arts organisations.
Contre-Courant MJC SMAC:

Established in the Verdun metropolitan area since 1970, Contre-Courant MJC has an ambition in line with the values of popular education, offering local residents a range of activities that are outside the commercial sphere and administered by its users.

With expertise in the field of popular music, Contre-Courant MJC implements measures aimed at encouraging residents to participate in and contribute to the artistic life of their region, in accordance with cultural rights standards.

Guy VAN HANDENHOVE (BEL)

Programmer at Centre Culturel René Magritte à Lessines, Belgique

He began as General Buyer at Free Record Shop, where he oversaw purchasing operations and developed in-depth expertise in music markets and trends. He then joined EMI Edition Belgique, serving as Managing and Artistic Director for 17 years. In this strategic role, he led editorial development, supported songwriters and artists, and supervised the production and negotiation of music projects. He continued his career as an artist manager for five years before moving into cultural programming.

For the past 2.5 years, he has been Music Programmer at the Centre Culturel René Magritte (CCRM) in Lessines, where he curates a demanding and eclectic program aligned with current live music dynamics. The CCRM is a key cultural institution in the region, offering a multidisciplinary program (music, theatre, comedy, talks) and featuring a 450-seat main hall as well as a more intimate 200-seat venue. The centre is also associated with the Roots & Roses festival, a well-established event dedicated to roots, rock and Americana music.

Thanks to his cross-sector experience—industry, publishing, management and programming—Guy Van Handenhove brings a comprehensive vision of the artistic, economic and territorial challenges facing the music sector.

Andreas BECKER (DE)

CEO and programmer at Kinett in Kusel, Germany

Andreas Becker does many things. Since his teens, he's played in bands, did DJsets, designed posters, organized concerts, and worked freelance as a painter/graphic artist.


Since 2015, he has been primarily responsible for the music program at the Schalander music club and the Kinett cultural center, which grew out of it, in Kusel, the second smallest district town in Germany, located in the North Palatinate Uplands. Both clubs have already received the APPLAUS award for their music programming, the latter being the only venue in Rhineland-Palatinate to do so in 2024. He's trying tirelessly to keep pop culture alive even in the least expected place. Over the years he got well connected to other like-minded people in Germany, Europe and all over the world.

10 Rue du Hohwald — 67000 STRASBOURG