Transmissions - A bilateral Greek-Norwegian cooperation project

Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival (https://ultima.no/en) and the Onassis Stegi (https://www.onassis.org/onassis-stegi/ , Athens) are joining forces in a bilateral cooperation project, in the context of the Bilateral Fund (EEA Grants 2014-2021) whose purpose is to increase cooperation between Norwegian and Greek organisations.

Ultima is one of the most dynamic Nordic music festivals, presenting a wide range of challenging and innovative performances in various locations in Oslo every year. Onassis Stegi is the reference point for contemporary work in Athens across a range of creative fields: theatre, dance, music, digital arts, visual arts, discourse-based events, cinema and art education. The two institutions have worked together in the past in a variety of EU cooperation networks and have developed a strong understanding of each other's objectives and priorities. Both also play important roles in their local creative communities.

The project, named Transmissions, will last for two years and involves a wide range of exchanges and co-productions involving several other partners. Apart from a major new production involving Norwegian and Greek artists that will be jointly developed and presented in late 2021, Transmissions will include an exchange project between the Music Departments of the Universities of Oslo and Athens and a joint project bringing together sound art residency programs from islands on the opposite ends of Europe: Syros Sounding Paths and the Lofoten Sound Art Symposium. There will also be projects related to sound art in public spaces as well as a co-development of sound-based education projects for schools.

The project's kick-off meeting took place yesterday in the context of this year's Ultima Festival. All involved are convinced that this form of expanded and extended cooperation is essential for stimulating original work as well of course for building stronger relationships between cultural actors across Europe.