What is independent creation? Since it’s hard to provide a conclusive, generally accepted answer to this question, the following text offers mainly thoughts on the current reality and musings on what it ought to be.
In its technical sense, the term ‘independent creation’ refers to theatrical and performance art pieces conceived outside the theatrical establishment or those produced in collaboration with a production company of sorts, so long as its creators maintain their independent status in so that they hold complete responsibility over their creation, not only in the artistic aspect, but also in the production one. In fact, the independent creators’ working conditions as well as the nature of their work make the production phase an inseparable part of their direction.
In its ideological sense, the term ‘independent creation’ refers to a craft that signifies independent though in its full sense of the word, one that works hand in hand with freedom of creation and production entrepreneurship. Independent creators are free creators: free to choose their material, to cast as they please, and to contemplate the artistic language, uninhibited by considerations such as large theatre halls ratings and without enslaving themselves to the necessity to please audiences and/or artistic directors. Hence, Independent creators not only produce their own creations, and all that entails, but they also artistically direct their own path.
Not all creators choose the independent route as their ideal preference, or even their first preference, in light of all the hardships involved with this form of work. However, even if some creators find themselves almost reluctantly working so, devoid of any other option, many of them decide to stick with it for the long run, because it allows them the freedom to to create what is right for them and the ways in which to create it.
With time, independent creators learn to specialize in things outside the solely artistic realm: producing, fund raising, account management, marketing, branding, etc. Their way of work requires initiative and burdens them with a great deal of responsibility, because they are the ones in charge of the overall management of their work, starting at the preliminary stages and up to its ongoing run. The demand of professionalism from these creators is therefore binding, given that the artistic, production and ethical values also affect the way the entire field of independent creation is perceived.
The independent Creators Organization was founded with the goal of advancing and empowering the works of its individual members; Men and women who each create on their own, and yet aspire to belong to a community that shares its knowledge. The motive behind the founding of the organization was the wish to advance the independent creators’ means of production and to provide a response to various production issues they encounter throughout their work process – all this in a reality in which they have no choice but to each month invest their energy, time and money merely to ensure the survival of their works. Nevertheless, the organization’s long run aspiration is to serve as a home for independent creators, a home that will provide a space for fertile discussion on the artistic identity of Independent creation in Israel, its ideological agenda and the ways in which to advance and nurture it, with the belief that even with limited financial resources, one can create artistically and structurally rich pieces, ones that will offer an alternative to the work produced within the establishment.
