The first visits of artists from home and abroad have begun to happen in two of the 27 Neighbourhoods of the European Capital of Culture project. During 2019 and 2020 they will hang out with the locals and work in places that are part of the 27 Neighbourhoods flagship. During their stay there, the artists will try to get acquainted with the specifics of the places, researching the local myths and legends, and use them as the starting points in the process of creating their new artwork.
At the beginning of October the Neighbourhood of Delnice welcomed the Finnish artist Anna-Mari Karvonen. This Helsinki-based artist does performance art in the context of theatre, dance and radio. As a temporary resident, she will stay in the Delnice Neighbourhood until 19 October, where she will be assisted by the Croatian artist Matija Kezele in her exploration of Delnice’s interesting localities, and of the narratives ingrained in the town’s past and present.
The Dutch art collective Hoge Fronten, led by the artist Lieke Benders, and artists Jolle Roelofs and Saskia de Haas were at the first artists’ residency in the Neighbourhood of Mrkopalj from 13 through 18 of October. Helped by a local artist from Rijeka Tajči Čekada they’ve had the chance to get to know the local community as well as the local narratives and specifics of Mrkopalj.
This activity is being implemented under the 27 Neighbourhoods flagship of the Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture project and the international project entitled Centriphery, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
Centriphery is an interdisciplinary European project aimed at fostering dialogue among international arts professionals in a variety of art disciplines, local artists and members of local communities. This project is aimed at generating new content and artwork which makes the peripheral areas of Europe the centrepiece of artistic events.
The 27 Neighbourhoods flagship of the European Capital of Culture gathers together neighbourhoods throughout Primorje and Gorski Kotar County and connects each of them with one neighbourhood from one of the 27 member states of the EU. This fosters the development of good interpersonal relationships and creates an atmosphere of enjoyment in diversity. Informal connections and networks of cooperation become the foundation of future cultural activities that will last beyond 2020. The 27 Neighbourhoods flagship connects people from the islands, the coast, the outback, the highlands and the city of Rijeka itself. These are: Lovran, Opatija, Matulji, Kastav, Pehlin, Drenova, Škurinje, Turnić and Mlaka, Student Campus in Trsat, Jelenje, Čavle, Praputnjak, Kostrena, Crikvenica, Novi Vinodolski, the island of Rab, the island of Unije, the city of Cres, the city of Krk, Malinska, Vrbnik, Gomirje, Mrkopalj, Fužine, Delnice, Brod na Kupi and Gornji Kuti.
