artFAQ meets produktionsbande
11:00 – 21:30
Bochum (Prinz-Regent-Theater)
und Mülheim (Ringlokschuppen)
application deadline: 28.04.2026, 23:45
artFAQ meets produktionsbande
Impulse Festival visitor group by and for production managers
about the format
Festivals can mean many things to production managers: a multi-day opportunity for networking, a special setting for reaching new audiences, an intensive period on tour, and an exciting occasion for exchange among colleagues.
With our format artFAQ meets produktionsbande, Swiss and German producers come together to discuss production work in the independent performing arts during the Impulse Festival stop in Bochum & Mülheim. In addition to professional and personal exchange sessions that form the framework for producers’ festival visits as part of the artFAQ meets produktionsbande format, we will of course attend selected shows from the Impulse programme and take part in ‘meet-the-team’ discussions.
The aim of the festival visit format is to facilitate a group discussion about production work in the independent performing arts general. At the same time, the joint attendance at performances, accompanied by pre- and post-show discussions, is intended to provide an opportunity to experiment with finding a production management-specific language for how we wish to talk about art.
main data
Impulse Festival: http://impulsefestival.de
location: start in Bochum; closing in Mülheim
date: Sa, 13.06.2026
meals: lunch & dinner will be offered for free
shows: tickets for selected shows will be provided for free
participants: 7 producers from Switzerland, 16 Producers from Germany
hosts: Kathrin Walde (artFAQ), Martin Bien (produktionsbande)
travel expenses: to be paid individually (Shuttle Bochum – Mülheim is for free)
accommodation: to be paid/organised individually
application deadline: 28.04.2026, 23:45
program
Our day together in Bochum & Mülheim at the Impulse Festival will consist of the following:
11:00 – 11:30 | Getting to know each other & networking
Networks/platforms: FESTIVALFRIENDS (Germany) & artFAQ (Switzerland)
11:30 – 13:30 | Getting to know each other among producers
Producers compare working conditions between Switzerland and Germany
13:30 – 14:30 | lunch & break
14:30 – 16:30 | Discussion on cultural policy
17:00 – approx. 18:00 | Performance
Show: “Fortunate Shortcuts” (Marie Meyer)
approx. 18:00 | Shuttle
from Bochum to Mülheim
19:00 - 20:30 | Wrap-up
wrapping up the day together
20:30 - approx. 21:30 | Performance
Show: “Work Body” (Michael Turinsky)
artFAQ is the production platform for dance, theatre and performance in the Zurich region. Its focus is on the training and professional development of cultural practitioners who work, or wish to work, in the fields of production and project management. artFAQ brings together knowledge, answers questions and shares expertise. artFAQ is an organisation run by and for the independent theatre, performance and dance scene in the city and canton of Zurich; through its free services, it strengthens the professional profile of production management.
Further information: https://www.artfaq.ch/
For more than 30 years, the Impulse Festival for Performance, Theatre & Dance, organised by the NRW KULTURsekretariat, has been one of the most important festivals for the independent performing arts in the German-speaking world. The festival presents notable productions from the independent scene in Germany, Austria and Switzerland over the course of a year. It invites a wide audience to encounter innovative and transdisciplinary approaches and aesthetics in performance, theatre and dance, thereby reflecting contemporary developments.
Impulse 2026 will take place from 3 to 21 June and will open in Düsseldorf before moving on to Bochum, Mülheim an der Ruhr and Cologne. In each of the four Impulse cities, a packed programme will be on offer over these three weeks, comprising the Showcase – the heart of the festival – featuring around 10 outstanding productions from the independent scene in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, alongside the curated programme focus ‘Post-West’.
Further information: https://impulsefestival.de/
This open call is aimed at practitioners in the field of artistic production within the independent performing arts. We understand the field of artistic production in the broadest sense and view it as an umbrella term for numerous and interconnected areas of focus and professional profiles (including administrators, coordinators, production dramaturgs, production managers, producers, company managers, managers, controllers, strategists, distributors, consultants, critical companions, etc.).
We define protagonists in artistic production within the independent performing arts as those individuals who reflect on existing production processes and wish to reshape or further develop them. In this context, we view these protagonists primarily as those who support the production processes of artists and collectives, rather than primarily producing their own artistic practice.
Apply via the produktionsbande online form by 28 April 2026. artFAQ will then select the producers to take part in this programme.
artFAQ meets produktionsbande is a programme funded by artFAQ with the generous support of the Impulse Festival. We would like to thank our colleagues at the Zurich production platform for enabling us to implement this programme together.
We deeply value the spirit of solidarity with artFAQ because our Zurich colleagues and friends are making a jointly conceived programme possible despite produktionsbande’s lack of funding.