Crossing Borders: The internationalization of the Northern European cultural scenes in the last 20 years

In 2004, ten countries joined the European Union, expanding it to 25 member states. Among them were four countries from the Baltic Sea region: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The so-called "eastward enlargement" as well as the migration movements from crisis countries in the last two decades opened up new perspectives for the internationalization of the cultural scenes not only in the former Eastern Bloc countries, but also in Northern Europe. As a result of freedom of movement, unexpected cultural contacts and academic training programs, for example, a clear creative surge can be observed, which has also been reflected in the program items of the Nordischer Klang festival over the years. A panel discussion will deal with the development and situation in the professional music sector as an example. What international cultural promotion programs exist here? What confrontations or leveling of different national mentalities and socio-historical cultural dimensions does the collective creative process entail? Last but not least, what role do national cultural export institutions play in crossing borders to international audiences? Invited are Mikko Fritze, the director of the Finland Institute in Germany (Berlin), the Estonian jazz musician Rahel Talts (Copenhagen), the US-born percussionist Owen Weaver (Bergen) from the Yrry Quartet, who specializes in contemporary composition, as well as Frithjof Strauß (Greifswald/University of Szczecin), program manager of Nordischer Klang.