“It’s OK that our way to the goal is longer than expected” – Getting through pandemic with NuoraNORD Incubator
The NuoraNORD Incubator project has passed its midpoint and we’ve found ourselves reflecting where we have come in the project thus far.
The project was originally planned to be an intensive residence in Tallinn plus a virtual conference. Then we entered a new era where everything went online, and so did we. We decided to execute the entire project virtually with online workshops, meet-ups and discussions. With a curious mind we went in to explore the possibilities to connect, find peer-support and work together without being in the same place. It seems to have taken everyone involved by surprise how strong the sense of connection among the group is when we share an online room with each other.
The Incubator project is in many ways very much participant driven. Our aim is to offer the participating initiatives a platform to develop and support them in realising their own goals. Before we started we thought the teams would work mainly on their own and the Incubator would be a place to share the work done. However, in a time of disorder it is difficult to keep focused and get things done. Thus, the Incubator project has offered the participants a space and structure to work in and be productive. It has turned out to be the best way we can support the initiatives at the moment.
Two of three Incubator workshops facilitated by Tuomas Tirkkonen of Tupu Creative are behind and one is still to come in October. Tirkkonen encapsulated something of the significance of the project during the second workshop in a poem.
The NuoraNORD Incubator project is funded by Nordic Culture Point. The project partners are CircusInfo Finland (coordinator), Riga Cirks (Latvia), Arts Printing House / Menu spaustuve (Lithuania), Eesti Tsirkusekeskus (Estonia), Cirkus Cirkör (Sweden) and Dynamo Workspace for Circus (Denmark). Each partner has selected an initiative from their region to take part in the project. The chosen participants are Lumo Company (FIN), Cameliorchestra (DNK), Below Zero (SWE), Šiuolaikinio cirko asociacija (Contemporary Circus Association, LIT), EPICIRQ showcase (EST) and an unnamed circus production from Latvia.
The objective of NuoraNORD Incubator project is to empower circus projects and their makers in a co-development and peer-support process with both material and immaterial resources. The long-term goal for the project is to develop sustainability and diversity in the field of circus in the Baltic-Nordic region.