The new AECFest CAMP is a capacity-building and professional networking platform for mid-career performing arts producers and curators, designed to strengthen Asia–Europe cultural exchange. It’s designed to spark dialogue, exchange ideas, and explore ways festivals can create lasting artistic impact in a world where mobility and collaboration are increasingly complex.

In today’s complex geopolitical context, international cultural mobility has become increasingly difficult. Additionally, festivals are under pressure to generate long-term impact beyond presentation. In this context, the AECFest CAMP addresses the need for sustained professional exchange between Asia and Europe. It focuses specifically on mid-career producers and curators — key decision-makers in artistic mobility, commissioning, and programming — who are rarely the primary beneficiaries of structured bi-regional initiatives. 

Selection is through a nomination-based process in consultation with partner institutions, ensuring a curated group aligned with the festival’s artistic focus and strategic objectives. Participation is made possible through partnerships with key institutions and arts organisations across Asia and Europe, reinforcing the initiative’s collaborative, co-owned nature and strengthening long-term institutional relationships. 

By embedding capacity development within a live international festival, the AECFest CAMP fosters experiential learning, peer exchange, and critical dialogue. Participants will not only experience the artistic programme of AECFest but also reflect on how festivals operate as platforms of cultural diplomacy, where funding structures, partnership frameworks, and curatorial decisions shape not only artistic circulation but also the narratives and power dynamics embedded in cross-regional exchange.  

The pilot edition in 2026 unfolds within the 8th Asia–Europe Cultural Festival in Utrecht from 19–23 May, in partnership with SPRING Performing Arts Festival, and will grow into an annual gathering that blends professional development with immersive festival experiences.

Through the AECFest CAMP, ASEF reinforces its role as a convener and connector in Asia–Europe cultural relations, supporting mid-career cultural professionals as key multipliers in building resilient, critically engaged, and future-oriented performing arts ecosystems across both regions.