Kristof Blom - Victoria, Belgium

Dear Sir, Madam,

It was by great surprise I received the news on CPR’s funding cut from the Arts Council of Wales. With this letter I like to make a clear point on the strong and intense collaboration there’s been between Victoria, production house of performing Arts based in Gent, Belgium and CPR over the last years and what a loss it would be for us not to be able to continue this relationship.

Victoria and CPR have been working together on many different levels over the years, presenting the company for the first time in the UK with the hit production “Bernadetje” and continuing to consequently bring the company over to Wales. Very important to us was that CPR didn’t only follow Victoria’s success productions, but also supported the more difficult work of young emerging artists. Also, organising the international meeting “Towards Tomorrow”, on which I presented the way Victoria works with young artists, was a great networking event for me on which I was able to exchange information with Welsh, national and international colleagues.

More information on Victoria is attached to this letter and here’s a list of activities on which we collaborated.

1997 : “Bernadetje” by Alain Platel & Arne Sierens in Aberystwyth
2000 : “Youth Rules / Confusion Reigns” by Roy Faudree in Bangor, Newport, Aberystwyth and Cardiff
2003: “üBUNG” by Josse De Pauw in Cardiff
2005: “LALA#2” in Aberystwyth and participation on the “Towards Tomorrow” meeting

Once again, we value the work of CPR very high can’t stress enough what a loss it would be for the performing arts in Europe if they couldn’t continue.

Best wishes

Kristof Blom
Victoria International Relations
Belgium