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Unlock(down) the Advent Calendar (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
The Kleine Komedie created the Adventskalender, every day in December, people could open up an advent ‘window’ at the theatre’s website and could watch regular artists of the theater perform online acts. These varied from cabaret, singing, cooking and storytelling. All artists decided to participate, many cabaret artist in the Netherlands were not eligible for the government support packages and thus were drastically impacted. Therefore the most important impact was economic as it provided the in-house artists with an income as every performance was paid for. And, with 1.7 million views worldwide, it also showed that there was a very enthusiastic audience. Background De Kleine Komedie was built in 1786…
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Oerol takes the island Terschelling to its imagination (West-Terschelling, Netherlands)
Living in a world during a pandemic leaves people with all kinds of challenges. This also applies for the Oerol Festival, a yearly cultural festival that takes place on Terschelling. The Oerol festival is a true location based performance, in which location theatre, nature and landscape are inseparable from Oerol. During the pandemic they turned tables. Instead of being on Terschelling, they created an online edition, called ‘’The Imaginary Island’’. They succeeded in giving people the island feeling at home and even reached lots a new and larger audience (Oerol n.d.). Background Every year, for ten days long, during the Oerol festival, the whole island of Terschelling is transformed into…
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National Opera & Ballet: Keep on singing and dancing! (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
The Dutch National Opera & Ballet shared its most precious treasures, old and new, with audiences around the world through an online platform they created. The organization still wanted people to enjoy opera and ballet at all costs, so the platform was realized in no time. Fragments, live streams, podcasts, games and much more were part of it. It took some hard work and a lot of creativity, but the organization has put in place an outstanding initiative. They reached people they could not reach before and after them more institutions followed with similar initiatives (Nationale Opera & Ballet n.d.). Background Dutch National Opera & Ballet is a relatively young…
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Mrkopalj, the best place ever, an online local experience (Mrkopalj, Croatia)
When it was clear that Hoge Fronten could not go ahead with a performance with the local community of Mrkopalj, they went ahead with a completely different online performance, organized from the Netherlands together with the local community of Mrkopalj. They could only do so because of the research material they had collected during their visits as artist in residence By bringing this material from the back to the foreground it became part of the performance. The initiative has unveiled their working process and is perceived as a good practice of how to co-create with local communities. Background Hoge Fronten is a Dutch performing arts foundation situated in an old…
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Local focus boosting local pride (Rijeka, Croatia)
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Orchestra Resounds: a symphonic digital transformation (Valletta, Malta)
The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra has put in place a whole range of online events in order to cope with the closures of all venues due to the global pandemic. This effort was also supported by the bulking up of their Events and Marketing Team. The pandemic acted as a catalyst for their digitalisation process, bringing remarkable results in enhancing exponentially their audience involvement and engagement on digital platforms. Background The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in April 1968, under the name of Manoel Theatre Orchestra, regrouping the musicians from the former Commander-in-Chief orchestra of the British Mediterranean Fleet. In September 1997 it stopped being the theater’s resident orchestra, becoming independent…
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Quarantined Italians singing from their balconies (Nationwide, Italy)
Millions of people around Italy have been singing from their balconies at 18.00 in an effort to keep up morale during the lockdown in March 2020. Background This flashmob was organised spontaneously by people around Italy and was promoted quickly via social media. Gathered under the hashtag #unitimalontani (united but distanced), the call launched through social media, invited people around Italy to open their windows, go out in the garden or on the balcony, and sing together. The appointments were fixed for 18.00. The initiative became viral and was supported by millions of people around Italy, including popular musicians, politics, municipalities. Description People across Italy have been singing from their balconies…
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Culture to the Courtyards. Kaunas transformed into open air scenes (Kaunas, Lithuania)
The quarantine affected our daily routine, but life didn’t stop. During the first lockdown Kaunas, the European Capital of Culture 2022, introduced the project “Culture to the Courtyards”. This initiative brought culture to the citizens’ courtyards without prejudicing the quarantine restrictions of that time. Background Project “Culture to the Courtyards” was an initiative of public institution “Kaunas 2022”. The institution was established to implement the cultural program “Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022”. In 2015 it began the journey to becoming a European Capital of Culture with the slogan “from temporary to contemporary”. As it is stated in the official website “The organization aims at the union of cultural…
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Different cities connected through the “portal” (Lublin, Poland & Vilnius, Lithuania)
Photography exhibition inspired by the COVID-19 hotline in Lithuania No. 1808 (Vilnius, Lithuania)
Photo project “Quarantine windows” – daily routine of Lithuanians during the quarantine captured in photos (Kaunas, Lithuania)
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Pietanze d’Arte a Domicilio / Art Delivery at Home (Apulia, Italy)
During the Covid-19 restrictions for theatres and cultural centres, the project “Art Dishes Delivery” offered a delivery service of the artistic performances at home. The artist chosen from the proposed menu reached the public at home (garden or terrace – open space). It was possible to book a performance (theatre, music, poetry, dance) lasting up to fifteen minutes. The proposals of the Asteria Space menu were available in the cities of Palo del Colle and Bitonto (Aoulia, Italy) every Friday from February 19th 2021. Background ASSOCIAZIONE CULTURALE “ASTERIA SPACE” (Cultural association “ASTERIA SPACE”) is a private cultural centre for the artists belonging to five categories – theatre/dance, music, writing, visual…
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Opera and ballet online in collaboration with Google Arts and Culture (Milan, Italy)
Teatro alla Scala, Milan shared its most precious treasures with audiences around the world through Google Arts & Culture, including: 69 tours with a Street View, Ballet and opera online, and over 259,000 digitised images from the theatre’s archives, including sketches and pages from a rare manuscript editions. Background Teatro alla Scala is an opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the Nuovo Regio Ducale Teatro alla Scala (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). Most of Italy’s greatest operatic artists, and many of the finest singers from around the world, have appeared at La Scala. The theatre is regarded as…
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Gilgamesh: bringing spectacle to the big screen (Galway, Ireland)
The Gilgamesh project consisted of a creative program with a series of public performances during the celebration of Galway 2020, but due to COVID-19 this program had to be adapted. A new plan was devised and Macnas made a short film about Gilgamesh. The film premiered at several theatres. This new medium gave Macnas the opportunity to redevelop their art form and set up a new infrastructure that will remain after the project. Besides that, Macnas’s work is now accessible for a whole new audience. In conclusion, this project by Macnas can be seen as an example of adaptability and inventiveness for other theatre makers and the next generation of…
