STRATEGY 2020 – 2024

Festspillene i Nord-Norge is a foundation, located in Harstad municipality.

The purpose of Festspillene i Nord-Norge is:

To arrange an annual multi-discipline arts festival.
Gather, strengthen and develop the arts field in the north.
Stimulate innovation and new artistic collaborations in the north.
Promote the role of art in the development of Arctic society.

Festspillene i Nord-Norge is interested in and committed to:

Artists

Through the programming of events we look for the immersive, the innovative and the extra ordinary. It is our role to be daring, innovative and bold. We aim to present and support artistic projects that otherwise would not be made.
We are committed to the multiplicity of artistic talent in North-Norway.
We post annual open calls for artistic crosspollinating projects. During the period the artists/collectives are partnered with international mentors that follow the projects to its premier at Festspillene i Nord-Norge.
We engage with young artists at their beginning of careers by offering stipends, mentorships and encounters with variety of artistic disciplines.
We post annually an open call for projects developed and executed by professional artists younger than 30 years old. The development period of those projects is one year, and they have a premier at Festspillene i Nord-Norge.
We arrange a week long youth festival NUK – Ny Ung Kunst – annually. The festival is an inclusive one, inviting abled and disabled youth an opportunity to develop their artistic skills through workshops lead by renowned professional artists. The focus is on the artistic process and the results are shown for audience at the end of the festival week.
We make long term commitments with selected artists and collectives that have shown they are capable of delivering thought provoking, interesting and inspiring events.
We support research and development that delivers our audience insightful and original results.
We aim at supporting projects that are closely tied with the artistic process. The partnerships for those projects come both from artistic and research entities.
We encourage sustainable collaborations, co-productions and innovation with artistic development at its core.
We engage in long terms relationships with the artists and the partners we work with. We believe that a commitment to longer development periods leads to more sustainable practices and innovation. This speaks to sustainability both regarding natural and human resources.
We are interested in finding ways to develop the festival with accessibility in mind and to find innovative ways of securing its future.
We offer residencies and artistic laboratories in collaboration with our creative partners. The residencies are both physical and digital, on site and off.
We organize international meeting places through residencies, online hangouts and gatherings.

Audience

We aspire to have a relationship with our audience on a long-term basis and in a sustainable way by inviting them to engage in activities and experience events that expand their perception of the world we live in.
We are curious about our community, its aspirations and apprehensions. We want to work on community inspired projects with our public where the diversity of the north is brought to light, where the experiences, joys and sorrows are emphasized through artist and community-lead projects.
We are devoted to our youngest public by offering a quality program that inspires, engages and develops. We offer high quality program for children regardless of background or income.
We engage with the teenagers in our community through specialized immersive art experiences, events and activities. Events such as debates, digital and virtual hang outs in addition to programmed artistic events are key elements in our contract with the youth of the north, and we invite them to co-create selected events.
We respect our audience and want to foster dialogues with them about relevance and their interests. We strive to continuously improve and strengthen our relationship by asking the public and listening to their feedback.
We are committed to present and make art available to a diverse audience, regardless of background, disabilities and across all sociocultural groups, and will strive to develop new venues and solutions.

Partners

We are interested in long terms relationships with our partners. By engaging with our partners with the long haul in mind we are able to establish sustainable projects and deepen our contracts. Committing to indelible relationships gives us and our partners stability, to be creative and to move forward.
We are excited about developing sustainable connections that are mutually beneficial. This is done through an ongoing dialogue and establishment of trust.
Our partnerships will serve to strengthen Festspillene i Nord-Norges position as an attractive meeting place for artists, industry partners and arts collectives.

Together we will make the world not only a better place but also a more interesting one!