Giving a new dimension to cultural projects, thanks to the involvement of volunteers

Many volunteers regularly work abroad, for varying lengths of time, with associations, local authorities and public bodies, in a wide variety of fields, from cinema to music, theatre, visual arts, heritage protection, etc.

Volunteers help set up cultural events, support artists and creative work, and promote the French-speaking world by organising festivals, concerts and residencies for local and foreign artists. Cultural mediation is often part of their missions, as is the development of access to culture, sometimes through the organisation of artistic and cultural workshops for the general public and especially for young people.

Mobility between countries through volunteering allows the initiation and development of partnerships between cultural organisations. As a result, the number of volunteers from other countries coming to France is increasing. At a time when decentralising perspectives is at the heart of cultural policies and when mediation programmes are increasingly turning towards new audiences, hosting an international volunteer opens up rich prospects. It invites us to look at the world from a different point of view in order to understand it better.

A few figures

In 2021, 14% of international civic service volunteers and almost 2% of international solidarity volunteers (VSI – volontaires de solidarité internationale) were involved in the field of culture.