The new established Baltic Culture Fund has issued its first grants. A total of 400,000 euros were allocated to joint cultural projects involving the Baltic countries, which was used to support 9 projects in the fine arts, music and performing arts fields.
Altogether 33 projects were submitted to the competition. The budget of the Fund was 300,000 euros, of which each Baltic state contributed 100,000 euros. Six projects were supported by this amount. In addition, the Baltic Culture Fund received a donation of 100,000 euros from the Nordic Council of Ministers for organising cultural events in the Nordic countries. This amount was shared between three projects:
With a grant of 50,000 euros, the Music Information Centre Lithuania with Music Estonia and the Latvian Music Information Centre will set up a joint stand for the Baltic countries at the World Music Expo WOMEX 2019 in Tampere.
A joint project involving the Nida Art Colony project organised by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, Narva Art Residency and the Vilnius Academy of Arts, which will introduce contemporary art from the Baltic countries at the Today is Our Tomorrow international art festival in Helsinki was awarded 25,000 euros.
The Lithuanian Composers’ Union, Latvian Composers’ Union and Estonian Composers’ Union were jointly granted 25,000 euros to introduce contemporary music from the Baltic countries in Sweden and Iceland.
The aim of the Baltic Culture Fund, founded in 2018, is to promote cultural cooperation between the Baltic countries and strengthen the internationalisation of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian culture through joint cultural projects and events. Grants are awarded annually and the next deadline for applications is 20 February 2020.
