ABOUT SEWEM
What is SEWEM?
SEWEM – Sino-European Women Entrepreneurs in Music – is a networking and mentoring programme to promote the skills of European and Chinese women in the music and export sector, and to support equality.
It is funded by the European Commission.
SEWEM is also an experimental laboratory for the rapprochement of the music industries and relations between Europe and China. It will enable the creation and cross-border circulation of European, Chinese and transnational music.
The main objectives will be to foster sustainable and fruitful cooperation through mentoring; to create spaces for artistic encounters between Chinese and European music worlds; to use music as a tool for creation and cooperation, and to promote the discovery of history, art and different ways of thinking; and finally to support the knowledge of music markets and the export of European companies to China and more widely to Asia.
What is the SEWEM mentoring programme?
The core mentoring programme ran from October 2022 to June 2023 and provides long-term support for personal and career development of young professionals who identify themselves as women, trans or non-binary.
The programme consists of three pillars:
- 1-on-1 meetings between mentee and mentor, for the organisation and content of which the participants themselves are responsible
- Group meetings on topics that are relevant to the participants (e.g. knowledge of the Chinese market, understanding of music export strategy, etc., which take place in the form of workshops)
- Exchange between European and Chinese participants with online networking session, and meeting of Chinese professionals and mentorship participants at Womex 2023.
What is the SEWEM Residency?
A five day artistic residency in France in September 2023, intended to gather women musicians from Europe and China, while creating the right conditions for musical creation and intercultural cooperation. We aim to develop resources for organising such residency – for artists and producers – and for approaching and accepting cultural differences. There will be a total of six women artists involved (three European and three Chinese), one music venue in France (Le Rocher de Palmer, Cenon) and one manager in China (Pollux Beijing). Artists have been chosen by Mr. Patrick Duval, artistic Director of the venue Le Rocher de Palmer, Ms. Haiying Song of Yari Music and Ms. Wan Yee MIU of Pollux Music (Beijing) Culture Media Co., Ltd
The work carried out during the residency will be the subject of writing (by Eric Meyer, specialising in China), interviews and a documentary by David Bross, videographer. All resources will be publicly available below.
Who is behind the programme?
The project is funded by the European Commission and led by Le LABA, French centre of expertise specialising in EU projects, with a strong focus on gender equality, training, coaching, evaluation, communication, management of international and cross-cultural projects. It counts on a Chinese cultural network that has been built up over several years.
SEWEM also involves EMEE, the European network of music export offices and European cultural institutions, aiming to find new strategies to develop and promote European music in the world;
Piranha Arts, independent production company based in Berlin, whose events (such as the Carnival of Cultures and WOMEX) are motivated by issues of musical and cultural diversity;
and Musiques de Nuit / Le Rocher de Palmer, the artistic direction of the performance hall Le Rocher de Palmer, based in Cenon near Bordeaux, which hosts nearly 150 shows and residencies around world music, and organises numerous mediation and awareness-raising programmes.
The mentoring programme is run by RAW Music, Romanian association dedicated to music export activities, and organiser of the Mastering the Music Business conference festival. It is also a partner in Creative Europe projects, such as HEMI and MEWEM, that aim at supporting artists and professionals in music.
Links & Contacts
Website europeanmusic.eu/sewem
Instagram @SEWEM_eu
Email sewem@europeanmusic.eu
Partners
Associated partners
