The Expert Group for Network Funding gathered in Helsinki on 24 November to make funding decisions for the second round of the Short-term Network Funding. The second application round for 2021 received 24 applications in total out of which 7 network projects were granted network funding. The granted amount in this round was 112 516 euros.
The pandemic has had a huge impact on international collaborations in the field of culture but also inspired new ways of working and there were several examples of hybrid working-methods on this round. Unfortunately, the pandemic has also had an impact on the number of applications and this round of Network Funding received significantly less applications than normal. However, Nordic culture grants are still available to support the field in crises and the Expert Group is hoping to see the numbers rising again next spring and to be able to support networking in the field to the maximum.
The granted projects include for instance Independent Initiatives of the Baltics (IIB). The main objective of this network is to initiate a new sustainable platform for meeting, cooperation, discussion and exchange of knowledge among Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian artist-run initiatives based on experience and expertise of existing Nordic networks of artist-run initiatives. This new network will use experiences from Nordic AIM Network (Artists Initiatives’ Meetings Network) to develop similar collaboration in the Baltic countries. The AIM network was funded by Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture in 2018-2021.
Another granted project from the round is a network titled Diversity and Inclusion in Nordic and Baltic Music. The network will promote the careers of artists with intellectual disabilities and increase opportunities for cooperation trough developing a collaborative network for artists with intellectual disabilities. The aim of the network is to support disabled artists’ professional development in the field of music.
A good example of new ways of working is a network between seven Nordic and Baltic dancers who are working with a network series that links dance artists together in hybrid forms of cultural mobility and collaboration via digital platforms. The network opens up possibilities for critical artistic thought to open new channels of artistic expressivity and engagement as well as to rethink choreography of culture by focusing on areas outside the capital cities.
The Network Funding is part of the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture that aims at strengthening artistic and cultural cooperation between professional artists and other professionals within the field of culture in the Nordic region and the Baltic countries.
The next application round for the Network funding opens on 24 January 2022 and the deadline will be on 24 February 2022. It will be possible to apply for both the Short-term network funding as well as the Long-term network funding. The short-term funding is available for networks which will work together for up to one year whereas the long-term funding is for longer projects with a maximum duration of three years.
Please see the section Granted projects for all granted applications from this and previous rounds.
