On 22 and 23 October, Rijeka will welcome the heads of projects from the cities that were, or that are yet to become European Capitals of Culture. The meeting of the Network of ECoC cities takes place twice a year in the cities that will bear this coveted title next year, so after the meeting in the Irish city of Galway held in the spring of this year, this current meeting takes place in Rijeka on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Delegates from former and future ECoC cities, more than 45 of them, are staying in the City of Rijeka to attend a Meeting of the Network of ECoC cities. Along with the host, Rijeka 2020, an impressive list of ECoC delegates from the former capitals of culture will be at the meeting: Liverpool 2008, Stavanger 2008, Pécs 2010, Turku 2011, Maribor 2012, Guimarães 2012, Marseille 2013, Pilsen 2015, Mons 2015, Wroclaw 2016, San Sebastián 2016, Aarhus 2017, Leeuwarden 2018, Valletta 2018; and from the cities that bear the title this year – Plovdiv 2019 and Matera 2019. The list also includes delegates from Novi Sad 2021, Timisoara 2021, Esch-sur-Alzette 2022, Kaunas 2022, Veszprém 2023, Tartu 2024, Bodø 2024 and of course, Galway, who will, together with Rijeka, bear the title of the European Capital of Culture in 2020.
The goal of this two-day meeting is to share the knowledge and experiences among the cities brought together by this significant title, but it is also a chance to talk about the challenges they are facing in the process.
“This informal network brings together ECoC cities who share their experiences and examples of good practice, and it is also very important in that it facilitates the networking of everyone involved. This is also an excellent opportunity for Rijeka to promote its ECoC programme, and to show our guests how we were preparing for the project which promotes the values also deeply ingrained in Rijeka itself – openness, tolerance and solidarity”
, said on the occasion Irena Kregar Šegota, Partnership and Communications Director of Rijeka 2020.
On their first day in Rijeka, the delegates will learn about all the details of Rijeka’s ECoC programme, and they will also attend the “D’ Annunzio’s Martyr” exhibition at the Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral. As part of a larger, ongoing exhibition, Borders – Between Order and Chaos, D’ Annunzio’s Martyr marked the centennial of D’Annunzio’s occupation of Rijeka and sent a clear message that speaks against any and all forms of both historical and contemporary fascism. We are also planning to take our guests on a tour of the Benčić Complex, which will be the future home of the art neighbourhood, and a visit to the “We’re not like them” exhibition, dealing with migrations and with the concepts of the foreign and the others.
On Wednesday, 23 October, the delegates will go on a tour of the 10 Lungomare Art flagship locations throughout the Kvarner region, where 11 permanent works of art will be installed. All of the works deal with certain specifics of the location in which they are installed, with the guiding principle being to concentrate on the aspect that is important to the local community and that links the past to the present to some extent. In this manner, facilitated by the Lungomare Art flagship of the European Capital of Culture project, contemporary art leaves the museums and meets local communities, thus creating a brand new cultural-artistic tourist route. The second day of the meeting was envisioned as a day of workshops on the topic of strengthening the capacity of the ECoC cities and the creation of lasting, sustainable collaborative projects, while the delegates of the network will also visit the CNT Ivan pl. Zajc.
Photo: Tanja Kanazir
