The Roberto Cimetta Fund is an international non-profit organization set up and is run by renowned cultural professionals from various countries of the Euro-Arab zone in order to find a funding solution to the ever-increasing mobility and internationalization of artistic practice. It has provided mobility grants to almost 1300 artists and cultural operators and stands out as a key player and mediator on the questions of artistic mobility and cultural development in the Euro-Med zone. RCF’s expertise is aimed at directly benefiting local artists working at an international level as well as providing public institutions with opportunities to outsource cultural and artistic mobility strategies in a cost-effective way.
An impartial selection system focuses on the quality of the artistic initiative and the concrete local impact of the travel grant when the artist returns to his or her home country. RCF helps to build sustainable partnerships between international funders and also between artists and cultural operators. As such it contributes to building a framework for diplomacy of local governing bodies next to national diplomacies. The Fund builds up partnerships with foundations, ministries, local or regional governing bodies, European capitals of culture that wish to promote artistic works and productions and favour local development through a Fund capable of providing international expertise in cultural cooperation.
It’s role is also to identify funding and policy issues and advocate for the sector by involving policymakers and institutions. The RCF set up a consultative platform in May 2011 in Paris with 50 participants from 14 European, Arab and other Mediterranean countries and defined an action plan with 6 specific recommendations that was sent to members of the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly, members of the European Parliament and the EU Commission executive teams.