"Diaries: Lindart and the Albanian Women Artists Association", Bulevard Art and Media Institute, Albania

Diaries is a way to create an archive as a commons through the lens of the Lindart Association - the first and only Women’s Artist Association in Albania after the end of the Communist Regime in 1991. Conceived in 1993 and founded in 1994 by 14 women artists working within the art scene at the time, Lindart responded to the need for creating new learning opportunities in a context in which old patriarchal traditions continued to shape the development of culture and visual art. The collective opened the Lindart Cultural Center in 2000, and between 2001 and 2010 they developed a program that produced exhibitions, workshops and events. The group also decentralized their activities from the capital city of Tirana, expanding participation in the association to other cities in the country. Despite the historical and international significance of Lindart’s program, their work and their struggle as artists and as women is barely known. Since 2022 Diaries has opened the possibility of creating an archive starting by public participation to the research. The nature of the project is intergenerational, participative with both local and international audiences and archives, embracing art and education as an ongoing methodology.

"Promoting universal access to art and well-being", Mindfulness Institute - Mindful Art, Belgium

Mindful Art ® x Tactile Reproductions is an innovative project that transcends the boundaries of art by offering a universal experience. This harmonious device is aimed at both sighted and visually impaired people, as well as art lovers and neophytes. By linking the collections of several museums through a common approach, the project integrates perfectly with the programme of the institutions and adapts to their diverse audiences.

The unique fusion of Mindful Art® meditation with tactile reproductions of works of art provides an enriching sensory exploration. Visitors discover art through touch, sound and meditation, transforming their relationship with the works. This sensitive and emotional experience, which requires no prior academic knowledge, fosters a deeper and more inclusive understanding of the world. It reminds us that humanity shares a common essence across cultural, linguistic, physical and temporal differences.

The sound capsule aims to slow visitors'pace, transforming the museum into a place of well-being, while tactile exploration encourages a more attentive presence during the visit.

The performance workshops help to raise awareness of these artistic proposals, while at the same time creating a deep commitment from participants through an enriching emotional connection.

"Curating the Periphery", KRAK Center for Contemporary Culture, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Curating the Periphery is an informal but comprehensive project which aims to establish protocols and create tools for total engagement within which new values are formed in the socially neglected environment of the city of Bihać. Using curatorial practice with the intention of intervening in socially relevant processes, the project deals with the challenges of working in the field of contemporary culture and art in a context characterized by post-war, post-socialist and post-industrial trends. Respecting local characteristics and keeping in mind the urgency of the moment, project consciously avoids passive audiences and strives to establish and strengthen the community. It is a project which contemplates the distance between the artistic image and real life in the context of the European periphery and a marginalised environment such as Bihać. It initiates a discussion on present relevant issues in a traumatised, post-genocide society. Searching for possible answers to the questions ”how to articulate an artistic discourse on the European periphery” and ”how to motivate urban reinvention in a post-socialist and post-industrial spatial context”, the project focuses on the KRAK and its specific geography, which serves as a starting point for understanding the complex political, social and cultural layers within which it operates.

"Go on With the Story", Udruga Skribonauti, Croatia

”Go on With the Story” is a multidimensional project that Scribonauts have been implementing in the Croatian prison system since 2016. So far it has consisted of a reading group and creative writing workshops in the only Female Penitentiary in Croatia, online book club for former female prisoners and the general public (+500 participants), regional annual short story competition where the public is invited to write a short story inspired by the fragment written by one of the female inmates (250 short stories received every year), and a short story collection “Go on With the Story”, published by Scribonauts in 2020. This collection includes stories by 12 renowned Croatian female writers, which were inspired by textual fragments produced during writing workshops in the female penitentiary. In 2021 the project and the book won the Sozial Marie award for social innovation. With the aim of fostering wider communication between inmates and the public and widening access to art, we now plan to turn short stories from the collection into multimedia pieces through a collaboration between writers, visual artists, and musicians. This will result in multimedia shorts stories in the format of Facebook/Instagram stories which can be widely shared.

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"The Significance of Art at Work", Kunst På Arbejde, Denmark

KPA addresses a societal need that many museums and cultural institutions invest significant resources in reaching non-users. We engage people at their workplaces, creating encounters with art in everyday work environments and non-museum settings. With the project ”The Significance of Art at Work,” we aim to enable even more people to encounter art in their workplace - enhancing these encounters with specific interaction tools and bridging the gap between workplaces and artists. The project involves the development of a conversation kit, educational materials, and bridge-building events between the workplace and the art world. This initiative benefits society by enhancing cultural education, benefiting museums and art halls by expanding their audience base, improving workplace well-being, and fostering a more sustainable art scene that ensures broader access to the art world for citizens who might otherwise be excluded due to structural, economic, or cultural reasons. The project will benefit many parties and have a range of positive effects at multiple levels: More people will enjoy and benefit from art - strengthening their relationship, interaction, and experience with art - and thereby gaining access to cultural education. Research shows that when people have good cultural capital, they do better in many other aspects of life.

"Objective: Independent Lives", Concomitentes, Spain

The project will promote independent living for individuals with diverse abilities through artistic participation. Aligning with institutional shifts towards inclusion and autonomy, participatory art acts as a catalyst for transforming the role of people with special needs. Located in Barbanza, region in Galicia, Spain, with over 65,000 inhabitants, the project partners with Asociación Ambar, which works with approximately 1,100 diverse individuals. We apply New Patrons’ established methodology: an expert mediator, Natalia Balseiro, will facilitate the participatory process, involving individuals with special needs and a broader local critical mass. The creative dynamic spans a year and a half, including at least 100 participants across a minimum of 20 participatory sessions aimed at unraveling shared concerns. Eventually, a suitable artist will be appointed to create artwork responding to community demands. Learnings will be shared with similar communities and entities, through (1) a toolkit, (2) two “Art & Diversity” forums: “Local contexts, diverse-abilities and cultural work” (local, onsite) and “Crip theory and European experiences” (international, online). The process, as a source of ideas, community cohesion, and artistic perspectives, and the resulting work (i.e.: performance, installation, digital art), as a materialization of these elements and legacy for the future, are equally transcendent.

"KORAL", Arts Convergences, France

KORAL is an application that converts the smartphone into a musical instrument for discovering, playing and creating in a group. Thanks to research at IRCAM and with the help of AI, simple, customisable gestures activate musical sounds and patterns without ‘false note’, for an intuitive relationship with musical creation and a (re)discovery of repertoires.

Developed for and by people with disabilities (psychological, mental or motor), the application brings the virtues of music to all, breaking down the barriers of acquisition and learning. KORAL has been designed in response to the needs and financial constraints of medical and social structures, and offers an innovative, simple, fun and free tool to facilitate the organisation of group musical discovery and creation workshops.

After a phase of validating the benefits of KORAL, tested with around a hundred participants in the first workshops held in the Paris region, the project is now focusing on rolling out the solution nationwide. The dissemination methodology is designed to be collaborative and progressive, and is based on 4 principles : spreading the word, sharing resources, individualised support and networking people with complementary skills.

"Libraries on Prescription", Comicdom Press, Greece

Athens Comics Library has initiated the first social prescribing programme in Greece: “Libraries on Prescription”. The aim of the programme is to include more than 30 libraries and 200 library and psychosocial support professionals in Greece over a period of 24 months, and is a cross-sectoral collaboration of libraries, health professionals and cultural activities to improve mental health and well-being through culture. With the programme, Athens Comics Library aims to connect the health and creative sector through a collaborative approach in order to design a system that is more collaborative, open, innovative and people-centred and remove stigma around mental health particularly in rural and vulnerable communities. In this respect, they aim to define a social prescribing program for people who have long-term health problems, complex social needs, and mental health challenges.

"FilmSight, Osvěta z.s., Czech Republic

Filmsight is a workshop for young people who are blind or visually impaired to develop their skills in the art of film making. In hands-on workshops in Europe. Participants will learn the approach of Assisted Filmmaking from a professional filmmaker and use it to realize their own film ideas. The short films that are produced will be screened in art and education venues, creating an opportunity for all to share their visions with a wider audience in Europe. All workshops will be reproducible and can later be conducted by the participants on their own.

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"Hear My Voice, London Bubble Theatre, United Kingdom

‘Hear My Voice’ is a cyclical sharing of stories, building an international community of artists.  

It extends the reach and impact of the hybrid performance: ‘Ay Kash / کاش ای / If Only’, created by Cosmino Productions a collective of eleven young women aged between 15 – 23 living in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.  

London Bubble will bring Cosmino Productions from Berlin to London for a series of performances of 'If Only' to inspire other groups of women who have experienced disempowerment.  

They will be invited to taster workshops to share their stories and explore their creative identities.

Event 25: Living Trail

At the end of a year of residencies and experimentation, the Living Trail event will take the form of 7 major meetings, punctuated by dozens of cross-disciplinary events, with the participation of local residents. Living Train will cover the whole M28 area, from la Mosson to Montpellier and the Chais in Sète, from Aniane Abbey to Château Laurens, from Sana to Grau-du-Roi, via La source du Lez and the Canal de Lunel.

From 28 September to 4 October 2025

‍- 7 major events
- Dozens of related one-off events
- Associated artistic or research residencies
- Residents in action
- Partners throughout the "M28 - Terres de culture" area
- Artistic proposals in all the region's stations in partnership with Gares et connexions
- A handover with the Euro-Africa Biennial on the weekend of 4 and 5 October 2025

All disciplines combined: Performing arts; Music; Visual arts; Gastronomy; Architecture ; Heritage; Landscape and in all forms: Experiences; Immersion ; Participation.

"PerformanceBus (with Studio ALTA Prague)", TRAFO House of Contemporary Arts Budapest, Hungary

Trafó House of Contemporary Arts (Budapest) and Studio ALTA (Prague) join forces to realize new tours of Studio ALTA’s ”PerformanceBus” in Hungary, further developing the experience of earlier dispatches in Czech Republic and Armenia. The ”PerformanceBus” was originally conceived by Studio ALTA with the aim of decentralizing attention directed towards the diverse platforms, institutions and individual activities dedicated to performance art in different regions of the country. In Hungary, due to the ongoing political changes and the shrinking access to critical culture across the country, it has become an increasingly pressing question for Trafó, how the institution could decentralize its activities and facilitate access to contemporary art in different parts of the country. Without institutional partners and public infrastructures that could make the regional touring of artists possible, this becomes a task for new artistic and curatorial imaginaries, which is why we are interested in the experimental project ”PerformanceBus”. Together with Studio ALTA and in collaboration with local artists, we would like to realize three tours of the ”PerformanceBus” in Trafó’s 2025/2026 season, in order to open up a “magic portal” and imagine a more free, democratic and equal acccess to contemporary art and critical culture across Hungary.

"Suitcase Theatre, Little Angel Theatre, United Kingdom

Suitcase Theatre is a unique initiative by Little Angel Theatre that brings small-scale, co-created theatre shows to marginalised audiences who face barriers to accessing traditional theatre venues. Designed in collaboration with participants and artists, and in partnership with appropriate organisations, these shows aim to foster connection and address key social issues faced by isolated groups such as elderly care home residents, refugee families, and critically ill children.  

The programme is distinguished by its five critical points of engagement: co-creation with the audience, ensuring child agency, providing respite through uplifting experiences, travelling to the audience’s location, and fostering a lasting legacy of connection. Each show is designed to be portable, fitting into a suitcase, allowing the theatre to reach those in hospitals, care homes, refugee centres, and other settings.  

Current shows include Me & My Bird, which connects elderly residents through puppetry, If Not Here… Where?, a bedside show for hospitalised children, and Welcome, a non-verbal performance for refugee children.  

Funding would allow the addition of new shows for prisons and women’s refuges, expanding this impactful initiative.

"AMP-lifying Musical Inclusion, Open Up Music, UK

This project will drive the development of the Accessible Musical Pathways (AMP) Toolkit, aiming to create a more inclusive orchestral sector by increasing accessible opportunities for young disabled musicians.  

The AMP Toolkit is shaped by insights from our award-winning programmes and ongoing collaboration with young disabled musicians and five orchestral partners to ensure its relevance and effectiveness. Completing this project will provide arts and education organisations with the tools needed to implement and embed inclusive practices in their work.  

Grounded in the Social Model of Disability, the Toolkit guides youth ensembles in evaluating the accessibility of their current offerings and identifying steps to improve inclusivity and accessibility. After completing the evaluation, ensembles will receive a tailored change plan to help implement these steps and broaden access for young disabled musicians.  

We have piloted an initial framework covering the first two areas of the Toolkit. The next phase will focus on testing the four remaining areas and developing an online platform with tools to support organisations in making meaningful change. By fostering an inclusive approach, the AMP Toolkit will play a key role in transforming the orchestral sector, initially throughout the UK, creating more opportunities for diverse talent to thrive.

"Museum for Rookies, Notranjska Museum Postojna, Slovenia

The Museum for Rookies program is an innovative pedagogical program prepared by the Notranjska Museum in cooperation with the Adult Education Centre in 2023/2024. The program aimed to prepare a comprehensive museum exhibition, open the museum to the public as widely as possible, and connect with the local community. The unique feature of the Museum for Rookies program is that amateurs, i.e., ”non-curators,” people who have no practical experience with exhibitions, were invited to the museum work - the preparation and installation of the exhibition. We asked all interested parties to participate in museum processes that are usually inaccessible to the lay public. At the same time, they get the opportunity to become more concretely acquainted with the work of the curators, get to know the museum behind the scenes, and, in this way, through their own experience, identify with the museum’s mission. The broadest participation of the community in the museum’s work also meant the decision to let the visitors themselves choose the exhibition’s title. Based on polls published on the museum’s social networks, the title of the exhibition was chosen: Stone on Stone - palace!

"Palau Vincles", Fundació Orfeó Català - Palau de la Música Catalana, Spain

Palau Vincles is the socio-musical intervention project through choral singing (born in 2011 and promoted by the ”Fundació Orfeó Català-Palau de la Música”) which is aimed at children and young people in vulnerable situations, who live in areas of high socio-economic complexity.

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"Nelli the Dog and a Friend", EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Finland

Espoo’s Nelli is an interactive work of art. It represents a new form of public art that speaks to people with empathy and personality.  

The sculpture changes its location in the city every year. The museum wanted to give the right to choose the place of the artwork to its real owners, the townspeople. Nelli makes her appearance in her new neighborhood through local events where residents are in active roles.  

The new place is chosen by the residents together with the museum’s public art experts. The resident group that chooses the place for the Nelli sculpture also chooses the next group that chooses a next location for it. This is how, over the years, many communities get to know the processes of public art, selection criteria, and the museum’s collection work.  

Now Nelli needs a Friend. The activity with resident groups has proven to be effective and important. Nelli creates a sense of community where it is located. The story of the emphatic dog needs to grow. We have plans to involve townspeople in creating a Friend. There is also potential for growing the communal activities around the works of art.

"1 km de danse", CN D Centre national de la danse, France

Designed and implemented by the CN D Centre national de la danse, 1km of dance is a festive event, entirely for free. Over a one-kilometre area of public space, there are performances, group warm-ups, dance initiations, DJ sets, etc. Since its creation in Pantin in 2022, 1km de danse has brought together local residents, dance associations, music centres and artists to get as many people as possible dancing together. Open to all types and styles of dance, 1km de danse helps to raise awareness of dance as an art form. The event helps to spread dance throughout the country by giving both amateurs and professionals the chance to get together and dance together. Building on the success of the first two editions in Pantin, the 2024 event was held in three towns: Château-Thierry with the CDCN - L'Échangeur, La Rochelle with the CCN - Mille Plateaux and Sète with the Scène nationale - Théâtre Molière. This dynamic will continue in 2025, with 4 new towns confirmed and 5 others in the process of being validated. The aim is for 1km de danse to become a national event taking place in a large number of towns in France and overseas.

"Tell Me Your Story: A Digital Repository of Cycladic Heritage", Museum of Cycladic Art, Greece

The ”Tell Me Your Story” project aims to create a digital repository to preserve the rich cultural heritage of the Cycladic islands, specifically Anafi, Sikinos, and Kea. These islands, deeply rooted in traditional practices and folklore, face threats from overtourism and climate change, which undermine their unique identity. The project will gather oral histories through intergenerational interviews, focusing on material culture, biodiversity, and intangible traditions. The Museum of Cycladic Art, through its ”Cycladic Identity” initiative, leads the project with support from partners like the Heritage Management Organization and the National Technical University of Athens.  

By utilizing innovative technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and Large Language Models (LLMs), the project will streamline the transcription and thematic analysis of oral stories. Human experts will work alongside AI to ensure cultural accuracy and preserve these traditions for future generations. The project aims to connect younger generations with their cultural roots and raise awareness about Cycladic heritage both locally and globally. It will also serve as a model for future cultural preservation initiatives in other insular communities. Community engagement, digital platform development, and global outreach are central components of this initiative, fostering both local involvement and international cultural exchange.

"Treeline, Artichoke Trust, United Kingdom

A pan-European project uniting countries across Europe in one continuous musical journey.  

TREELINE, a new and ambitious project produced by Artichoke, will be an extraordinary quest that links Europe’s ancient forests once again, connected by an epic cycling adventure through eight countries, aiming to celebrate the enduring spirit of these forests, fostering a deeper connection between people and the ancient natural world that surrounds them.  

Conceived of and led by renowned composer, musician, and tree-enthusiast Graham Fitkin, the project will traverse the continent’s oldest woodlands by bike. Along the way, Graham will perform new work in up to 30 concerts in towns, cities and villages. The music will be directly inspired by trees chosen specially by local people in each location.The route runs through Romania, Hungry, Slovakia, Czechia, Germany, Belgium and the UK.  

The project aims to:

• Engage audiences that would not normally engage with classical music

• Create a green touring model to be replicated across Europe and beyond  

• Partner with organisations across Europe to ignite and inspire future relationships with the UK.