On May 18-20, the first ever European Capital of Culture Forum took place in Kaunas, a city that will become the European Capital of Culture in 2022. The heads of ten culture capitals, participants from 15 EU states, politicians, culture operators, artists and other public figures participated in an intense yet nonchalant event hosted in the amphitheatre of Žalgirio arena.
More than 70 delegates came from abroad, and around 200 local participants actively shared their visions and ideas about the future of culture.
“We were thrilled to see the interest in the cultural landscape of Kaunas and its future is tremendous – it’s also obvious from the comments of the participants that the discussions and presentations they attended were pleasantly surprising“, said Ana Čižauskienė, member of Kaunas 2022 team and one of the organisers of the forum. The team also made sure the foreign delegates would taste the life of Kaunas during the weekend – the Hanseatic days and the Night of the museums also happened at the same time.
Good news is that the draft of the next year’s forum is already being prepared. „We’d like to give more space to the interaction between the delegates, networking and developing new practical skills“, said Ana Čižauskienė. Kaunas 2022 aims to create a unique multidisciplinary event that would invite to rethink the ways we operate in the cultural sector and help reveal the hidden creative forces within the industry.
