Conclusions

In November 2000 the Association of the nine cities organised an evaluation meeting on communication, marketing and sponsorship in Santiago (INCOLSA).

The main aim of this meeting was , on one hand, to share different experiences and best practices in these three sectors and on the other hand to evaluate the cooperation between the nine offices.

The conclusions of this meeting pointed out that the collaboration on pan-European level is not an easy task. Different cultures, different expectations and goals, and multiplying costs can jeopardise ideas and cancel projects. And so it happen, that the primary goal of realising a common communication, marketing and sponsorship programme for all the nine cities did not happen, “the life span of the nine European Cities of Culture offices is by definition too short for complex advertising strategies such as common communication on the 9 ECC2000. It would take years to build up the required image and one cultural event doesn’t have that purpose. If the event is world –wide there are opportunities for companies to have strong labels and images, if their promotion is in one way or another combined with the image of the event. Europe is more than one marketing area, not always with the same emphasis, and what was even more important, not having one marketing office for the whole Europe “, confirmed the participants.

Moreover the participants cities pointed out that “global advertising initiatives would not have been the right approach to European national markets and the cultural products” .(Evaluation meeting for communication, marketing and sponsoring common strategies (Santiago, November 2000)

In all the nine cities the people in charge of communication, marketing and sponsoring cooperate with generosity and lack of jealousy. Everybody was always open in showing and exchanging different ideas and information, as well as giving advice to the other ECC communication, marketing or sponsor managers”46.(Santiago meeting report, 10-12/11/2000)

The best results in the common promotion were achieved when the nine managers had to promote a common project (i.e. Voices of Europe, Café9.net).

Chapter III

A Wealth of projects for the turn of the century

1. THE AECC JOINT PROJECTS

In 1996 (ECC2000 meeting, Santiago de Compostela, May 1996), Avignon, Bergen Bologna, Brussels, Helsinki, Krakow, Prague, Reykjavik and Santiago de Compostela, decided that: “the core of their co operation would consist of a rich number of international cultural projects covering a wide variety of fields, including music, visual arts, new technologies, urbanism and ecology”.

As project leader, each city had to propose such an international project to its 8 partner cities. The 9 cities were free to determine their participation in the proposed international projects, depending on their own cultural city emphasis, programmes and budgets.

This unique and rich cultural co -operation between nine different cities resulted in 12 joint AECC projects big or small, covering different fields: Technomade, Coasts and Waterways, Café9.net, Walkabout Stalk, Communication, Codex Calixtinus, Citylink, Voices of Europe, The faces of Earth, Kide, The House of the Nine Cities, Bologna Gala Dinner.

In order to create, develop, implement and monitor these 12 AECC joint projects more than 35 meetings (meetings involving ECC2000 Directors as well as projects leaders and artists) were organised between 1998 and 2000 in all the nine ECC2000.

TECHNOMADE (Avignon)

Technomade was a project aimed at developing a network of partners from the nine European Cities of Culture. These partners would already be involved in research and experimental activities, which focus on three main areas of interest: “culture, handicaps and technologies”.

Intended to build with them and between them, a cross structure of close collaboration, thus enabling a better understanding of the new conditions of the real cultural expansion being created by the latest technologies as well as certain technological artistic activities in the domain of disability. These new conditions open up new fields of activity in the sphere of perception, motor function and forms of expression, affirming and underlining the central role of communication in all these areas. Technological innovations dedicated to disability held a particular position in the biotechnological progress. Biotechnological advancements redefine and modify the living in its genetic, biological, morphogenetic and behavioural developments, in a radical and sometimes worrying way, asking essential questions on

ethical, juridical, ethnological, political and economic grounds. Technological innovations dedicated to disability however, play an important role of integration and informal expansion through the links that they establish between man, and between man and his surroundings, using the medium of the machine, thus building different strategies of communication and inventive adaptations.The Technomade project wanted to draw attention to the new cultural

possibilities at stake, that were growing around disability, through the exploration of many different fields of cognitive, motive and acoustic ‘conversational’ interactivity. It wanted to try to show the extent to which technologies have the power to make our societies more receptive, more inventive and more attentive to differences and exclusions by the

constructive use of these new technological tools. It wanted to bring to light the imaginary dimension of our time. There exists a deep rational, emotional and phantasmagoric link between the immobilising constraints relating to the disability and the immobilising constraints relating to the exploration of new spaces. Technological equipment is as necessary to a disabled person, immobilised in his or her surroundings as it is to an astronaut, a jet pilot, or a modern-day adventurer in a hostile environment. This means that at the two extreme points of any immobilised person in any situation, lie knowledge and expressions that are profound and different, elaborating and combining together to enrich the existential experience of disability and the desire, both technomadic and mobilising, of exploration and discovery. More broadly, Technomade aimed to try and bring to light the problems created by the impact of technologies that build new forms of interdependence and independence. It tried to enlarge the usual idea of culture, in which each of the community’s components and more specifically, disabled people, have an important place. It intended to show the exceptional effort that researchers make in using technologies to try to make up for disability deficiencies. It also intended to show the important role taken by various means of expression and artistic practise in the disabled world.

COMMUNICATION (Helsinki)

The rapid spread of communication technology is a phenomenon comparable to the spread of the motor car. It is already affecting the lives of everyone in the industrialised countries, whether they like or not.

The theme of the exhibition was interpersonal communication, the impact of mobile phones and the Internet on our everyday lives now and in the early third millennium. The aims were to give non-experts and non-devotees a clear and entertaining account of recent revolutionary developments in communications. Although the main theme of the exhibition

was to some extent quite technical, the subject was approached via more traditional “hands-on” exhibits. Exciting applications, that visitors could examine and try out for themselves, and (H)eureka! Experiences dispel fear of the unknown. Therefore, in each exhibit the question , “What’s in it for you”? was answered.

Themes of exhibits included: Different alphabets and keyboards in the European languages, how a TV picture is formed, designing a mobile network, the history of the Internet, cycling in a 3-D model city, sounds of the sea, and many others.

Parts of the exhibition or the exhibition in its entirety has been touring museums in all the nine cities of culture 2000 over a 15-months period from 1999 to 2001. The exhibition was accessible in 14 languages: English, French, Finnish, Swedish, Dutch, German, Spanish, Italian, Galician, Czech, Polish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Danish.

VOICES OF EUROPE (Reykjavik & Helsinki)

Voices of Europe will brought together in a choir of 90 young people from the ages of 16 -23 from the nine

European Cities of Culture in the year 2000 with ten singers from each city. A distinguished choral conductor

was appointed from each city. He made an official announcement for the participation in the choir, selected candidates, chose the repertoire from the respective city and prepared the young singers for the choir.

The 90 young people (37 boys and 53 girls) had the unique experience of coming together, rehearsing a repertoire from all the cities, singing together in all the 8 different languages and visiting the European Cities of Culture in the Year 2000 in a concert tour in autumn 2000.

The choir gathered for the first time in Iceland at the end of the year 1999, where they sang in a world wide TV broadcast on December 31^st celebrating the new millennium together with the internationally known pop star Björk.

The distinguished Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt, was commissioned to write a piece for the

choir. His piece, “which was the son of” was part of the choirs summer repertoir. The Icelandic composer wrote a European Rap for Voices of Europe. A part from that, the repertoir consisted of old music, sacred music, contemporary music and some folk music.

On August 26^th the first concert was given in Reykjavík and then the tour travelled to the other European Cities of Culture in the Year 2000, Brussels, Helsinki, Krakow, Avignon, Bologna, Santiago de Compostela and Bergen. An extra visit was paid to the home country of Arvo Pärt with a concert in Tallinn.

CODEX CALIXTINUS (Krakow)

The Codex Calixtinus also known as Liber Sancti Jacobi, is connected with the cult of St. Jacob. The manuscript belonging to the Santiago Cathedral was written in mid-twelve 12th century (ca 1150-1170). The Codex takes its name after Pope Calixtus, who is also believed to be the author of some parts of the book. The Codex consists of 5 libri (books). They describe the legend of the life and martyrdom of St. Jacob, miracles of the Saint, the fictitious pilgrimage

of Charlemagne and Roland to Santiago as well as several pilgrimage-routes to the sanctuary leading across France and Spain (thus considered the first travel – guide). Moreover it contains a complete and particularly rich repertory of liturgical chants for the illustrious feasts of St. Jacob’s (July 24-25). This music noted in the Codex Calixtinus is of exceptional historical and artistic value.

The project’s aim was to reconstruct the liturgy of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela on the basis of the Codex Calixtinus and to present it to a wide audience. The manuscript provides us with many interesting indications for interpretation and arrangement. They relate to the structure of the liturgy, the interchange of chants and lessons, to the division of “roles”; dialogues between groups cantores – lector, cantores-chorus, “puer hoc dicat”, “puer hoc repetat pergens inter duos cantores” etc., as well as to “staging” – processions and seating of performers’ groups.

A group of renowned international specialists formed the core-group of the project. The same soloists performed in each city, only the accompan ying choir was different in every city.

COAST AND WATERWAYS (Bergen)

The tension between national cultural identity and cultural openness is one of our time most important questions.

Rivers and seas are open arteries for communications. Life along these lines of communication has demanded and created curiosity and wide mental horizons, as well as forcing populations to develop the art of communication with other cultures -resulting in a cross cultural fertilisation.

The Coasts and Waterways project aimed to highlight cross-cultural meetings along the arteries. Tradition, renewal and understanding are keywords for our modern society and also for the contemporary artists who were invited to participate in this project.

Metaphorically, this project reflects ideas of travel, cultural differences and the mechanics of cross cultural meetings. Artistic and cultural actions are presented in routes, terminals and resources

Life in the North Atlantic

A jointly produced touring exhibition focused on a group of societies in the Atlantic region based on marine resources. The exhibition gave an understanding of a history of cultural meetings and a future based on new demands regarding the management of marine resources. The goal was to create an understanding and a debate about the future. The exhibition was an international collaboration between museums in Bergen, Reykjavik and Santiago de Compostela.

Food art: places and between (artists from all the nine cities)

This was a curate, contemporary, multinational, multidisciplinary performance, fine art project. The artistic content of the project was based on the idea of physical structures of the interfaces between cultures. These structures, ‘nusts’, are transitionally zones between the sea and land, and have filled or continue to fill roles in trade, cultural contacts and travel. The theme of the work was the meal: the meal is the mutual action and experience, rooted in most cultures as a point where many come together, tell stories, exchange ideas, but in different ways within different cultures.

CITYLINK (Prague)

The purpose of Citylink was to provide comparative cultural information in an electronic form responding to the increasing request for the complex review of the highlights of nine cultural programmes without the necessity of internet surfing. The target public included embassies, journalists, education and general public interested in international culture.

The main objectives of the project were:

· to collect project information;

· to compare the monthly programmes day by day;

· to disseminate received data;

· to provide further information (review of the joint projects, other international cultural partnership, links to the local information services – tickets, accommodation, etc).

In practice, Citylink was the monthly ‘e-zine’ in English about the actual programme in the 9 cities of culture. Also the archive of the old programmes was available.

CAFÉ9.NET (Bologna & Helsinki)

CaféNine was a co-operation project for arts and new media between the nine cities of culture. In the form of an electronic café the project provided a platform for exchange ofInternet projects of all kinds as developed in and

amongst the 9 ECC2000. The conceptual starting point of the project was the European social and intellectual

tradition of café culture, a broadly inclusive social phenomena among young people.

From September until October 2000, Café9 was created in each of the 9 cities of culture offering an open window to the Café9 of the other cities for a wide range of world-wide users: young internet-surfers, internet artists, unaccustomed users and beginners.

All Café9 were normal cafés but with added interactive content and connections. Each of the walls of the café was designed as a screen – a window to another cultural city, to the café of that city. For example, the people sitting at a café table will be able to communicate and interact with people sitting at the table at the other side of the window.

Central feature in the café was a stage and a large screen. In practice, Café 9 comprised both a technical platform of standard and highly sophisticated Internet tools, as well as numerous projects, initiated by young people in co-operation with youth organisations employing these tools.

There were no geographic limitations for projects, although those originating from one of the European Cities of Culture or specifically targeting café9.net network participants received special consideration.

The purpose of Café 9 was to provide a network-based social environment, within which young people in Europe between 15 and 25 can creatively collaborate and communicate.

The project was implemented by providing network venues to facilitate interactive networkbased projects initiated by young people. Café9.net received financial support from the European Commission in the framework of the following programmes: Youth for Europe (200.000 Euro), Netdays/Culture 2000 (40.000 Euro). Café9.net was also presented at

Hanover in the European Union stand. http://cafe9.net

WALK ABOUT/ STALK (BRUSSELS)

(Le ³Walk-About² est pratiqué par les aborigènes d¹Australie pour rendre l¹esprit vacant des idées ou des actions qui l¹occupent. C¹est une promenade dans le ³bush², une déambulation parmi les éléments et les choses; une circulation de l¹esprit essentielle à la réalisation poétique du monde.)

Walkabout/Stalk (W/S) was multidisciplinary project, created by Dancers, Architects and Musicians with both social and artistic objectives. It consisted of multimedia performances for carefully chosen public spaces in different urban settings. They were specially designed for ‘difficult’ public areas with the aim to stimulate inhabitants and audiences to re-appropriate and discover their daily environment in an entirely new way. The performances took place in the framework of integrated local events in the partner cities: Artgenda 2000 (Helsinki), Mont des arts Project (Brussels), Wind Festival (Reykjavik) and DanseM Festival (Marseille). The combination of the various disciplines created a unique dialectic process between the artists involved. The interactions within the group were extended to interactions with local partners, local artists and inhabitants of the chosen urban spaces. The performances contained equally important architectural, audio-visual, musical and choreographical elements. The project was produced by 1X2X3 asbl in collaboration with Brussels 2000, in partnership with the Helsinki International Production Office (Helsinki), the Wind Festival Organisation (Reykjavik), Officina (Marseille) and with the strong input of the invited artists in the cities concerned. The performances took place in Helsinki from 18 to 28 May, in Brussels from 15 to 26 August, in Reykjavik from 2 to 9 September and in Marseille from 15 to 30 September.

FACES OF THE EARTH (SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA)

Faces of the Earth was an exhibition about the different ‘faces’ of the earth and their geographic reality in different

zones and countries, and places of special ecological or cultural interest. Those faces of the Earth were shown

through historic and present cartographic representations.

The last one was obtained by multimedia technologies (photos from satellite, computer systems, etc..) and artistic elements (paintings, photos etc..) with the support of the Technologies. These elements allow us to compare the physical

image of the earth with the human interpretation, and also to discover the changes caused by men or by nature itself. Applications of new technologies to problems or interests of daily life were also shown. The international dimension of this project was very important. Several European scientific institutions were specially invited to collaborate in this project: The National land Survey of Finland, the Geographic Institute of Iceland, the Jagiellonia University and Museum Foundation Czartoryski of Krakow, etc. At the same time, the project had the collaboration and support of CERCO (European Committee for Official Cartography) in which practically all European countries are represented.

THE HOUSE OF THE 9 CITIES (Brussels)

Exhibition / performances / installation: an invitation to 9 young artists, each coming from one of the 9 Cities of Culture of the year 2000, to present their work at the occasion of the opening week-end of Brussels 2000 on the 25 and 26 February 2000 in the European Parliament in Brussels.

KIDE (Helsinki)

The sound and light sculpture Kide (Crystal), made of glass, symbolised the connection between people and cultures. 'Crystal' is the symbol project of the Helsinki City of Culture programme and a salute to the eight other Cities of Culture for 2000. In September 1999, a Crystal was installed in each of the Cities of Culture, providing a visual connection between them through a monitor near the sculpture itself. The Crystals will be returned to Helsinki before the New Year and assembled into an 18-metre tunnel of light on Senate Square; people may pass

through this tunnel into the new millennium. The Crystal resembles an ice cube; it is made of laminated and reinforced glass elements. The middle one of the three glass layers is shattered; the broken glass crystals create reflections that shift as the viewer moves. The light source in the Crystal reacts to the touch of a human hand, and the light grows depending on how many people touch it. In the dark, the Crystal is lit. The colour and sound

world of each Crystal reflect the city in which it is placed. The Crystal was designed by architects Kari Leppänen and Peter Ch. Butter. The visual design is by Dusan Jovanovic and the sound design by Jyrki Sandell. The glass construction is a patented Finnish invention.

BOLOGNA GALA DINNER

In December 2000, the Committee for Bologna 2000, the ECC and the Italian Academy of Culinary Art (“Accademia Italiana della Cucina”), the prestigious Italian institution in the enogastronomical field, organised two gastronomical evenings in Bologna. The first dinner comprised a chef coming from one of the 8 European Cultural Cities (who prepared a typical dish of his city) and the chef of a selected Bolognese restaurant. The traditional clientele of each

restaurant was offered a gastronomical sample dedicated to the European Cultural City of the guest-chef. The Second Dinner (17th December the “Farnese Room”, the most important reception room of the city), included the participation of 16 chefs that came together the day before the event. The menu was a gastronomical sample comprised of a

dish or a speciality from each of the guest-cities and a dish prepared by each of the 8 Bolognese restaurants that supported the initiative.

2. OTHER EUROPEAN PROJECTS

1. INTRODUCTION

Apart from the 12 AECC joint projects, this unique cultural co-operation between European Cities also offered:

· the possibility to create new links through common projects between three European cities of the North (Bergen, Helsinki, Reykjavik), three cities in the centre (Brussels, Praha, Krakow) and three in the South (Bologna, Avignon, Santiago de Compostela)

· the opportunity to develop new synergies through international projects between the cultural organisations located in these cities

· the chance to open up to the public and artists of the nine ECC2000 some already well known European projects (e.g. Marathon européenne du Théatre, Muro Dipinto, Summer evening at the organ)

Thus resultsing in more than 60 other European projects big or small, covering a wide variety of fields, including music, visual arts, new technologies, urbanism and ecology.

As it is impossible to mention all the projects in this report we propose here a selection of the major projects realised between the year 1998 and 2000.

THE CULTURE OF EUROPE AS SEEN IN ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS

Following a proposal made by the City Archive of Bergen, the public libraries of Helsinki, Reykjavik, Krakow, Prague, Brussels and Bologna were virtually connected by a joint experimental project. The aim of this project was to draw the attention to the special part played by archives in the cultural heritage and their role in Europe. The method proposed

was to make a showcase of selected documents from all the nine city archive collections to demonstrate the common ground and diversities of European cultures.

A common site presented authors that were connected to a programme of library exhibitions, conferences and readings in all the cities.

This joint project that started in 1999 received funding from the European programme Arianne and will continue in the years ahead.

FIND

Find – Finnish Design 2000 was an exhibition produced-by Helsinki and presented in each of the nine European Cities

of Culture. State -of the art Finnish industrial forms were presented: furniture, textiles, works of arts and crafts and

designs of objects. More than 30 companies involved in this project invited leading designers to create, for the purpose

of the exhibition, modernised version of actual mass-produced objects. One of the assumptions was the presentation of objects, which were earmarked for series production.

TRANSDANCE EUROPE

Trans Danse Europe 2000 was a contemporary dance festival jointly organised by seven of the Cities of Culture for 2000 and the festivals and dance companies representing them. The festival arrived in Helsinki, Avignon, Bergen, Prague,

Bologna and Brussels, Reykjavik.

The festival provided young choreographers and dance ensembles with the unique opportunity to perform and train, to

network and to survey contemporary dance in various countries.

In Helsinki, the event formed part of the dance in the November Contemporary Dance Festival, whose themes in 2000 included the Mediterranean in addition to the Cities of Culture.

The diverse and varied festival programme was dominated by strong female choreographers and dancers. Another unifying quality could be found in the forms of expression employed in the works. Whether small-scale solo pieces or group choreographs, they were, for the most part, concerned with blurring and crossing the boundaries between dance, theatre, performance art and other performing and visual arts.

THE GARDEN OF THE NINE DAMOISELLES

An area in the French town, Vaison la Romaine was destroyed in 1992 when the river Ouvèze flooded. But the disaster was turned into a project where friendship and poetry formed the base. In the garden, Neuf Damoiselles (Nine Muses) you can find nine stones, and on each of them you can find poems written by poets from the nine European Cities of

Culture carved, in both in their original language and in French.

MOVING CITIES

This project consisted of film lasting about 3h (20 minutes per city). In each of the nine cities, artists, dancers, people from the street were invited to perform. This film was a gift for the city. It was a new way to create new links between the cities and their inhabitants.

TRANSPLANT ‘ HEARTH

Transplant ‘ Hearth was a common project co-produced by the Association of Finnish sculptor and the city of Avignon. Transplant Hearth proposed the creation of a “working team” composed of one artist from each of the nine ECC2000. The final work was displayed at the Hospice ST. Luis in Avignon.

THEOREM

Theorem was a programme of cooperation, training and production involving about 15 young European theatre troupes. The aim was to familiarise Western European audiences with the theatre of Central and Eastern Europe (Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czech Republic). Coproductions were presented at the Hamburg or Berlin Festivals and at the Avignon Festival of 2000

EUROPEAN PORTRAITS

The Norwegian photographer, Kay A. Berg, presented a gallery of portraits of personalities who have been working in the field of culture in the nine European Cities of Culture. This travelling exhibition and book was financed by Bergen 2000 in cooperation with local partners in the other eight cities.

HOTEL EUROPA

A seedy and tragicomic hotel encompassed the themes of loneliness, love, mobility, migration and homelessness. Ten of the most interesting European artists and directors created a room based on an overall story-line conceived by the Macedonian playwright Goran Stefanovski. Hotel Europa was an international co-production organised by Bologna

2000 in cooperation with some of the greatest European theatres (e.g. Festival d’Avignon, Intercult etc..).

THE MYSTERIES OF ALCHEMY

An interesting walk among the magic world of the mysteries of alchemy was proposed by Bologna in cooperation with Praha and Santiago. This common project resulted in an exhibition aimed at explaining the art of the transmutation of metals.

SUMMER EVENING AT THE ORGAN 2000

The main aim of this project was to provide cultural ties between cities and nations, and link the main church in Iceland (Hallgrimskirkja) to the great churches of the other ECC2000. This project involved nine artists from the nine European cities of Culture with an organist playing music from his own city or country.

PORTRAIT OF THE CITIES OF CULTURE

The national TV companies of the nine Cities of Culture in 2000 jointly produced a series of documentaries on the life of you ng people in the nine Cities of Culture. The main idea of this joint project was to show the life of the Cultural Capital though the eyes of the younger generation.

“MURO DIPINTO” BIENNAL CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITION

Promoted by the Municipality of Dozza and supported by the Bologna Province, this project involved nine artists from the nine ECC2000 (Fraçois Rousset, Karen Rebekka Vasstrand, Michel Kirkham, Kamil Targosz, Asko Sutinen, Michel Strejcek, Gudrun Kristjansdottir, Xurxo Martino and Alfonso Frasnedi). The works of these nine painters enriched the Dozza outdoor contemporary art gallery, where a collection of over 90 paintings can be admired all year long. This genuine little treasure was launched in 1960, enhanced by great artists and by a Muro Dipinto Art Gallery, containing the sketches of all the paintings, as well as few valuable “rip-offs” from the walls (www.comune.dozza.bo.it )

MARTIN LUTHER

The project consisted of a theatre performance involving several ECC2000 aiming to represent the life of one of the people who strongly influenced the life of those living in the North of Europe.

FESTIVAL THÉATR’ENFANTS

This well-known festival for the young public offered for the first time its creation of a European programme. Artists from Santiago de Compostela, Helsinki and Bergen were invited by Mission Avignon 2000 to cooperate with local artists in order to produce a rich European programme.

TRAMPLIN JAZZ IN AVIGNON

In order to create new links between the nine ECC2000 the annual Tramplin Jazz event invited artists from the other ECC2000 to play music from their own city or country.

UN PANNEAU POUR L’AFFICHE DE RUE

The project focused on the creation in Avignon of several “Affiches” and works made by local and European artists from the other 8 ECC2000.

ACHANTES 2000, CONTEMPORARY MUSICAL CREATION WORKSHOP

The Centres Acanthes and Ircam (Institute for Research and Coordination of Musical Acoust–cs - Centre Georges Pompidou) have been working together for several years in order to share their experience of education, training and computer technologies to enable composers to become more familiar with the most significant musical language of our times. In the year 2000 a special and successful training course took place in Helsinki, Krakow and

Avignon (http://www.acanthes.com )

EURO HEAD

The Euro Head installation was prepared by students from the Academies of Fine Arts in Krakow, Helsinki and Prague. Each city prepared 1/3 of the installation. It was a three-dimensional sculpture symbolising a human head: a head of a contemporary European.

Chapter IV

Nordic Countries: a special partnership in the

year 2000

1. THE NORTHERN DIMENSION

The idea of the Northern Dimension proposed by Finland and now enacted by the EU was introduced to bring a

new conceptual understanding to the policies pertaining to those regions located in the ‘New North of Europe’.

This area stretches from the extreme reaches of the North of Norway and Russia bordered by the Arctic

Ocean and to the southern shores of the Baltic Sea, including all the Baltic countries and Poland. Along the

West-East axis it starts from Greenland and ends in Russian and Siberia. Some 70 million people live in this region. Two strategically important sea areas are located in the region: those of the Baltic and the Barents Sea.

The Northern region consists all in all of very diverse communities, cultures and economies. Such diversity often presents an obstacle to co-operation, but, at best, it can also be a great asset. The human factor in the Northern Dimension is quite substantial and is clearly a resource in the development of the policies of the Northern Dimension.

Activities linked with culture in this area provide both economic possibilities and possibilities for creating new jobs. Cooperation in training, production and distribution in the fields of cultural industries is entirely consistent with the policies of the Northern dimension.

The ultimate goal of the Northern Dimension was to secure peace and stability in the Northern regions. This required a great deal of trust which, in turn, can be built through an understanding of cultural differences.

2. THE NORTHERN DIMENSION IN THE YEAR 2000

Between the nine cities that were selected in 1996, Bergen, Helsinki and Reykjavik belong to the ‘New North of Europe’.

These cities represent a distinct entity among the other European Cities of Culture for the year 2000. In fact, these Nordic cities have a common way of doing things, their organisational culture and priorities are similar, the scale of the city is right, nature is close and cultural services are of top quality.

Nevertheless, these three cities are different: in size (e.g. Helsinki has 500.000 of inhabitants, Reykjavik 150.000, Bergen, 220.000), ambitions (they focused in different directions) and geo-political conditions (only Helsinki belongs to the European Union whereas Bergen and Reykjavik belong to the EEA/EFTA space).

Since the beginning of the nomination, for these cities, it was clear that the year 2000 represented a unique opportunity for putting themselves on the European map tout cour (Reykjavik and Bergen,) as well as on the cultural European map. In order to achieve these objectives the three Nordic cities worked together to develop a rich cultural programme that

resulted in more than 50 cooperation projects

3. THE NORDIC JOINT PROJECTS

In 1997, the Nordic Cultural Fund and Helsinki, Bergen and Reykjavik established a cooperation in order to create a special Nordic programme 2000 within the common European programme. Four projects where selected to receive a remarkable financial support from this Fund (733.330 EURO): Baldur, Nordic Light Festival, Futurice, and ArtNaust. In

addition to these main projects Bergen, Helsinki and Reykjavik implemented several other northern co -operation projects big or small covering a rich variety of fields.

BALDUR

(Ballet/Opera, 266.670 EURO)

Baldur was a unique co-production between the three Nordic Cities of Culture: Bergen, Helsinki and Reykjavík. According to the composer, Jón Leifs (1899 -1968) from Iceland, this was music choreography drama without words. Baldur described great events from Nordic mythology, the conflict of good and evil. The Elder Edda, the Second World War and the eruptions of the volcano Hekla were some of the sources of inspiration embodied in the musical drama Baldur. The production was performed for the first time in Reykjavík (August 2000) and then in Bergen and Helsinki. The conductor was Leif Segerstam (Finland), the choreograp her and artistic director was Jorma Uotinen (Finland), the light and set designer was Kristin Bredal (Norway), the dramatur and co-director was Kjartan Ragnarsson (Iceland), and the tenor was Loftur Erlingsson (Iceland) the dancers were from the Finnish National Ballet and the Icelandic Dance Company. Baldur was performed by the local orchestras and choirs in the respective cities.

NORDIC LIGHT 2000

(Three Light Festivals in November and December, 200.000 Euro)

Nordic Light was a joint project between three Nordic festivals of light. Following the idea of Helsinki´s Forces of Light festival also Bergen and Reykjavik also established their own festival of light. The long and dark season can be seen as a source of strength. The Northern darkness can be turned into a force: it can bring people together. All kinds of art works

inspired by light and different lighting techniques were experienced in Reykjavík, Bergen and Helsinki in November and December 2000.

FUTURICE

(Nordic Fashion show, 133.330 EURO)

Futurice (in Bergen Cybercouture, in Helsinki Future-Fahion-Contrasts) was a big fashion show with a multimedia extravanganza held in Reykjavík, Helsinki and Bergen. The aim was to create a fashion show taking the Nordic environments into account and adding the three cities to the fashion world map. The show featured internationally acclaimed designers, models, dancers and choreographers as well as the best of the Icelandic, Finnish and Norwegian talent. It was produced in Reykjavík by Eskimo Modells, in Bergen by Vestlandske Kunstmuseum and in Finland by MTO Fashion Designers.

ART NAUST

(Site specific art, 133.330 EURO)

Naust (Boat-Houses) promoted contemporary art, and in Norway included five Nordic artists: Olafur Ekliasson, Gitte Villesen, Elin Wilkstrom and Geir Jensen. Each of these worked with the boathouses as buildings , and in relation to the landscape surrounding them. Naust unites the old and the new, international and contemporary art with local tradition and history. The Nordic miracle is the term used to describe the Nordic art of the 1990s, in which all of these artists have played a central role. Nordic artists were seen also in Reykjavik and in Helsinki as a part of Töölö Bay Art Gardens.

KELA 2000: “Virgin of the waters”

Throughout the year a woman dressed in white appeared in lakes around Bergen, as well as in Helsinki and Reykjavik. Kela 2000 was an interdisciplinary outdoor project that crossed the boundary between dance and visual art. It was more of a living image than a performance. The original idea was created by the well-known Finnish choreographer and dancer Reijo Kela.

ART GOES KAPAKKA

A Music Festival in Reykjavik, Bergen and Helsinki.

This project was a multi -cultural city festival, that has been organised four times in Helsinki. The idea of the festival was to bring art closer to the people in clubs, pubs and restaurants, where it is often easier to reach. The artists used all their talent to create a unique performance, which caters to all the senses. The reception of, Art goes Kapakka was very positive in Helsinki and the event has established itself firmly on the calendar of arts and popular culture. During the years 1999 -2000 Finnish musicians who made Art Goes Kapakka also visited Reykjavik and Bergen and later Icelandic and Norwegian artists were seen in Helsinki.

PART IIV

AFTERTHOUGHTS

Reykjavik, AECC Board meeting, August 2000

(The nine ECC Mayors planted nine trees in the Reykjavik Municipal garden)

What were the expectations at the beginning of the cooperation between the nine ECC2000? What were the real and concrete results of this unique experience? What were the benefits or the losses of selecting nine cities instead of one? What has and has not been achieved in terms of cooperation? If this programme was repeated by the nine ECC2000 what changes, if any would be made?

From the beginning of this extraordinary adventure it was clear that the expectations of each city as well as their specific interests were not shared by all of the other cities. In particular, some wanted to present their culture to the other cities, others wanted to “sell” their cultural projects, some thought working together would enhance communication and sponsorship possibilities, others wanted visibility and recognition between the cities. Also, the financial possibilities were extremely different from one city to another.

All these expectations succeeded partially either through the effort made by each city or through the cooperation with the other cities individually. In fact, at least locally, in the individual cities and countries, the knowledge of there being nine cities of culture was quite strong and positive. Although small in number, some new and long-lasting networks were established (i.e. network of the universities, network of the local libraries, etc). Thanks to this network some good projects were established as well as many useful contacts.

On the other hand, the joint marketing was unrealistic since the fulfilment of the individual interests of each city was inevitable. The sponsorship part was a big failure. The Intranet system didn’t work as well as planned and was rarely used by the AECC members. Joint efforts at communication did not really succeed in an important way. In fact, the life span of the nine ECC2000 was by definition too short for complex advertising strategies such as common communication between the nine ECC2000.

With regards to the Association of the European Cities of Culture of the year 2000, discussions focused on the role played by this formal structure in fostering the co-operation between the members. It is unquestionable that the Association offered the ECC2000 organisers and mayors a good instrument for establishing some valuable and long-term contacts in the other “sister ” cities, for exchanging experiences and good practices and for implementing some joint projects. In general, the formal meetings were too many and the direct contacts between the real actors - museums,

orchestras, and institutions – not enough.

Another issue that was brought to attention was that in the years to come should one city be chosen each year or more than one. All the people interviewed answered that this unprecedented experience should never be repeated again. In fact, it was acceptable only because of the special year 2000.

Among the major problems was the financial support that each city received for the year 2000. After almost four years of negotiations the final result from the Council of Ministers was disappointing for all the cities ((220.000 Euro per city). This created financial difficulties in certain cities and disillusionment in others regarding the role of the EU.

Finally, as regards the EU application procedures for financial support (Action III, Culture 2000), our experience demonstrates that it is important that a structural subsidy (as large as possible) is given to each ECC in the future. Moreover, the city nominated should be informed of the figure from the moment of its designation and the fund should be paid at the start of the cultural year instead of 3 or 4 months after the closing of the cultural year.

Notes:

Focus on Northern Dimension, Interview to Georg Dolivo, Helsinki 2000 Director.

An independent Nordic cooperating body whose mandate is built on a 1967 agreement between the Nordic

countries. The purpose of the fund is to broaden and deepen Nordic cultural co-operation by allocating

subsidies.

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