Slovenian EU presidency event Amsterdam 2008
presidency, Slovenia, EU, culture, event

Belarus cultural scene
Belarus cultural scene by Andrei Liankevich

MED reflection group

Stepbeyond

Ukraine’s new rock’n’roll literature

Journalist workshop Casablanca

Moldova - A new wave of Moldovan theatre rushing into shore
Photos by Andrea Davoust who accompagnied journalist Damien Dubuc on his trip to Moldova. The ECF commissioned this article to our media partner Café Babel. The article gives us an insight into the contemporary Moldovan theatre scene, its' key personalisties and the topics at stake, such as the ambiguos realtionship towards Europe.
moldova, theatre, cafebabel

Routes Princess Margriet Awards 2008
ROUTES to the Future - Award edition 2009 - What happenend? Cultural theorist Stuart Hall and the dancer-choreographers Jérôme Bel and Pichet Klunchun have been presented with the first-ever ROUTES Princess Margriet Award for Cultural Diversity. Against the stunning backdrop of Les Halles de Schaerbeek in Brussels, Hall, Bel and Klunchun were handed their awards on December 9th by the ECF's former President, Princess Margriet of the Netherlands. There is no award like it in Europe, and the event was arranged accordingly, with a performance at its heart which brought the message of the speeches vividly to life. Present as speakers were also: HRH Princess Laurentien in her role as president of the ECF and the Dutch Minister for European Affairs, Frans Timmermans. Pictures by Maarten van Haaff
Routes, Prinses Laurentien, Prinses Margriet, Stuart Hall, Jerome Bell, Pichet Klunchun

Kaliningrad, Russia
Kaliningrad is a Russian exclave with a uniquely European position. Nestling next to the Baltic Sea, between Lithuania and Poland, and separated geographically from the rest of Russia, this former capital of Eastern Prussia (Königsberg) is rich in history and surrounded by a culturally specific and resourceful region. As in other places of post Soviet transition, Kaliningrad’s cultural sector is striving to develop in new directions, often in the face of daunting challenges.

Lviv, Ukraine
Lviv is a major city in western Ukraine and one of the main cultural centres of the country as a whole. Post-Soviet Lviv is going through a transitional period, seeking a new identity and a secure place in the wider European community. It is a city which has an outstanding cultural heritage and a lively arts scene: a genuine ‘city of culture’.

Chişinău - Republic of Moldova
Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova (Republica Moldova) is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east and south. Moldova's vineyards, rolling hills, forests and historical sites attract international tourism. Local cultural activists expressed their wish to tap into the potential of the country’s cultural sector and to use this potential to advance the development of the country as a whole.

Slovakia - Zilina region
Slovakia, an EU member since 2004, is a multi-ethnic country right at the heart of Central Europe. The diverse Zilina region in the north west borders Poland and the Czech Republic, making it a natural ‘Euro-region’ – one which is rapidly developing. On October 29, 2007, the Regional Assembly of Zilina voted in favour of the new cultural development strategy for the entire region as outlined in the policy document ‘From Cultural Values to the Value of Culture’.

Turkey - Kars, Canakkale, Antakya
Four cities on the outer rims of Turkey are united in one capacity building project. One hoped-for, long-term outcome is a new shared framework for cultural development in the cities involved: Kars, Antakya (Antioch) and Canakkale. On the north Aegean coast, Canakkale is a city that is eager to reinvent its identity through culture. Like Kars, Antakya is a border city (Syria is close by): such border cities have their own dynamics which can assist and also challenge cultural development.

Staf members