The Culture and Art Programme supports Nordic cooperation within art and culture. You can apply for funding for a project with artistic and/or cultural quality which promotes a multifaceted and sustainable Nordic region.
The programme grants support to projects within all areas of art and culture, in all project phases: preliminary work, production, presentation and dissemination. However, you cannot apply for funding for activities which have already been conducted.
You can apply for support for projects that invest in cultural and artistic productions and creative work as well as to organise and implement projects that develop skills within the field of art and culture. Support can be granted for all types of costs that are directly associated with the project.
For example, the projects may entail:
creation or dissemination of works, projects and initiatives that require a creative process
creation of meeting places between artists/cultural bodies and the public
development and dissemination of knowledge and/or work methods
organising discussions and debates, as well as seminars and workshops
You cannot apply for funding for:
tours with already existing works or productions
running costs of institutions or other activities
basic financing of projects which run for several years – such as ongoing costs for an annual festival
productions of works without the active involvement of partners other than artists themselves, e.g. solo performances or album recordings.
film and TV productions, productions of computer games nor book publishing.
projects that are part of an education or training course
commercial activities that aim to generate a financial profit
projects outside the artistic or cultural area, for example, sports events.
projects which have already started before the decision on support by us has been approved and dispatched
activities that have already been completed. At the earliest, activities that are supported by the programme may begin 10 weeks after the application deadline.
New! In 2022 and 2023, there is a particular emphasis on the promotion of Arctic cultural co-operation.
Although funding for Arctic cultural collaborations can be applied for in any application round of the Arts and Culture Programme, in the second application round of 2022 and the two rounds in 2023, funding is reserved especially for collaborative art and culture projects in the Arctic.
In this context, Arctic cultural co-operation refers to co-operation between Arctic actors in the Nordic countries, Canada, and the US. This emphasis includes a focus on indigenous peoples and their culture in the Arctic. In addition, projects that follow up on or are born out of Nordic Bridges shall be given priority insofar as they cover the Arctic.
Finances
You can apply for support for all phases of a project, from preliminary work to implementing a full scale project. The amount applied for should be reasonable considering the scale of the project. The larger the amount applied for, the larger the requirement for self-financing from, for example, other funding bodies. Co-financing is considered a key part of the project’s conditions.
Projects can be granted:
up to EUR 7,000 with full financing
up to EUR 40,000 with at least 30% co-financing
up to EUR 100,000 with at least 50% co-financing
Therefore this means that the grant from the Culture and Art Programme can cover between 50 – 100% of the project’s total costs, depending on the size of the applied grant.
In-kind financing can count towards co-financing. In-kind financing consists of goods or services as payment instead of cash. For example, voluntary work. How you estimate the working hours of volunteers should be specified in the budget and the amount must be reasonable considering the tasks and their duration.
We recommend that all the project’s costs are collated into one application to Nordic Culture Point. For example, all travel costs can be included in the application to the Culture and Art Programme.
For an example of how to make a detailed budgetary appendix, please see here.
Support from other Nordic organisations It is also possible to apply for support from other pan Nordic institutions and organisations, such as, for example, the Nordic Culture Fund, for the same project. The total funding from the Culture and Art Programme and other Nordic organisations may not exceed 85% of the budget.
Who can apply?
Everyone who is active within the field of art and culture can apply, provided that the project fulfils the programme’s criteria and the cooperation includes partners from minimum three countries, of which at least two are Nordic, that is, either Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, the Åland Islands, the Faroe Islands and/or Greenland.
Applicants can be:
individuals
groups
organisations, institutions and companies
It is neither necessary for the the applicant to live or work in the Nordic region. Furthermore, it is neither necessary for the person or members of the group to have Nordic nationality, as long as the Nordic dimension of the project is fulfilled in other ways.
How is an application assessed?
The assessment is conducted based on the aforementioned criteria and depending on how well the application has managed to convey the following:
Nordic dimension The Nordic dimension is assessed based on how it promotes cooperation between the Nordic countries or between the Nordic countries and the rest of the world. This by, for example, contributing to greater understanding between the Nordic countries and/or knowledge of Nordic artists and their works. It would also be an advantage if the project promotes language comprehension in the Nordic region.
In cases involving Nordic participation/themes in international projects, the Nordic participation should have a significant impact on the content of the project and should be clearly explained in the application.
Cooperation The cooperation dimension is assessed based on how well it creates exchange of knowledge between the different participants and/or organisers of the project, and whether it creates new contacts between persons who work with culture.
Quality The project is assessed based on how it develops and raises the quality of the art and culture area, the innovativeness of the project and whether the results of the work will persist. The applicant’s ability to complete the project in a good manner will also be assessed.
Sustainability The project’s sustainability is assessed from a social, economic, cultural and ecological perspective. Projects are also assessed in terms of their contribution to creating cohesion and the promotion of an inclusive and multifaceted artistic and cultural life in the Nordic region. Please find more information on sustainability in the following co-operation programme on cultural policy.
Strategic guidelines for cultural co-operation within Nordic council of ministers
The assessment of applications for Culture and art programme is also influenced by following two documents:
Strategic priorities of the co-operation programme are:
• A green Nordic region:
A green cultural life ensures good living opportunities for present and future generations
• A competitive Nordic region:
Vibrant art and cultural life in and outside our region contributes to green growth
• A socially sustainable Nordic region:
An inclusive Nordic cultural life promotes democracy, diversity, and quality of life
Please note that the application deadline is 15:59,Finnish time. Granted projects may begin 10 weeks after the application deadline within the Culture and Art programme.
We use cookies on this website to improve your experience. By continuing to browse this site, you agree to this use. How we use cookies.
Cookie Policy for Nordic Culture Point
What Are Cookies
As is common practice with almost all professional websites this site uses cookies, which are tiny files that are downloaded to your computer, to improve your experience. This page describes what information they gather, how we use it and why we sometimes need to store these cookies. We will also share how you can prevent these cookies from being stored however this may downgrade or ‘break’ certain elements of the sites functionality.
We use cookies for a variety of reasons detailed below. Unfortunately in most cases there are no industry standard options for disabling cookies without completely disabling the functionality and features they add to this site. It is recommended that you leave on all cookies if you are not sure whether you need them or not in case they are used to provide a service that you use.
The Cookies We Set
In order to provide you with a great experience on this site we provide the functionality to set your preferences for how this site runs when you use it. In order to remember your preferences we need to set cookies so that this information can be called whenever you interact with the page. For example whether the welcome banner is displayed on the main page is affected by cookies.
Third Party Cookies
In some special cases we also use cookies provided by trusted third parties. The following section details which third party cookies you might encounter through this site.
This site uses Google Analytics which is one of the most widespread and trusted analytics solution on the web for helping us to understand how you use the site and ways that we can improve your experience. These cookies may track things such as how long you spend on the site and the pages that you visit so we can continue to produce engaging content.
We also use social media buttons and/or plugins on this site that allow you to connect with your social network in various ways. For these to work, the specific social media sites will set cookies through our site which may be used to enhance your profile on their site or contribute to the data they hold for various purposes outlined in their respective privacy policies.
Facebook Pixel
The Facebook Pixel receives these types of data:
– Http Headers – Anything present in HTTP headers. HTTP Headers are a standard web protocol sent between any browser request and any server on the internet. HTTP Headers include IP addresses, information about the web browser, page location, document, referrer and person using the website.
– Pixel-specific Data – Includes Pixel ID and the Facebook Cookie.
– Button Click Data – Includes any buttons clicked by site visitors, the labels of those buttons and any pages visited as a result of the button clicks.
Disabling Cookies
You can prevent the setting of cookies by adjusting the settings on your browser (see your browser Help for how to do this). Be aware that disabling cookies will affect the functionality of this and many other websites that you visit. Disabling cookies will usually result in also disabling certain functionality and features of the this site. Therefore it is recommended that you do not disable cookies.
More Information
Hopefully that has clarified things for you and as was previously mentioned if there is something that you aren’t sure whether you need or not it’s usually safer to leave cookies enabled in case it does interact with one of the features you use on our site.