Organisation capacity building and artist residencies to be implemented in Liepāja

Organisation capacity building and artist residencies to be implemented in Liepāja

We commit to building the capacity of cultural and non-governmental organisations in Liepāja, to create diverse activities and to exchange international experience, thus on 24 August the City Council of Liepāja approved the project “CreArt 3.0 #stringing_together” submitted by the Foundation “Liepāja 2027”.

The project “CreArt 3.0 #stringing_together” will include capacity building and mobility activities for civic organizations, artist residencies, and plenty of multicultural events. Covering the period from 2024 to 2026, the activities will feature pleiad of artists with the ultimate aim of increasing the economic and social contribution of visual arts and the cultural sector to the general development of Liepāja. This project will also enable young artists and culture professionals to experience the European Creative Exchange Programme.

The Valladolid Municipality of Spain has undertaken the lead role in the project, backed up by the partners from the Municipality of Aveiro, Portugal, the Municipality of Lublin, Poland, the Croatian Association of Fine Artists “HDLU-Zagreba”, the Municipality of Skopje, Northern Macedonia, the Lithuanian Gallery “Artkomas-Kaunas”,  the French municipalities of Rouen and Clermont-Ferrand, the Italian municipality of Venice, the Czech public foundation “Češke Budejovice”, the Finnish municipality of Oulu, the German municipality of Regensburg and the Foundation “Liepāja 2027”.

The project has been supported by the Creative Europe programme of the European Commission, with a total grant of 1 950 442 euro. The benefit for Liepāja’s activities is 249 112 euro.

The city councillors also decided to support the submission of the project “Mission (un)rest- Empowering Local Storytellers” by the Foundation “Liepāja 2027” to the European Commission’s programme “Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values” “Citizens’ Engagement and Participation 2023 (CERV-20230CITIZENS-CIV)” tender.

This project aims to develop and implement the “local storytellers” and young people’s engagement and capacity building activities defined in the “Mission (un)rest” programme of the “Liepāja – European Capital of Culture 2027” public engagement agenda. It will enable the City of Liepāja, South Kurzeme and Kuldīga municipalities to actively engage local residents in building a civic society. We will report on the results of this call for proposals in June 2024.