March 9th, 2022 - Twelve countries from Europe and Africa are joining forces in a cultural project that will be implemented over the course of four years

The Croatian National Theatre Ivan Zajc from Rijeka will partake in a four-year EU project together with a number of major European and African cultural institutions and cities.

The recently approved project, entitled DECONFINING, will be co-financed by the Creative Europe programme. The project is worth over €3 million in total, and the budget granted to the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc will amount to about €400,000.

The DECONFINING project will connect cultural scenes, artists and scientists, as well as universities and audiences from Europe and Africa. The Zajc theatre will create a co-production with the largest theatre in Africa, the Grand Theatre National Doudou Ndiaye Coumba Rose (National Theatre Dakar) from Dakar, Senegal.

Both Croatian and Italian drama ensembles of the Zajc theatre will participate in productions of plays, installations and podcasts; they’ll plan international tours, create an open digital archive, organise forums, conferences and mobility platforms, and publish an anthology of new artistic works.

The project involves 12 partners from 11 European and one African country. Along with the Zajc theatre from Rijeka, the partners are: ITI Germany from Berlin (project owners); Pro Progressione Kulturalis Nonprofit Kozhasznu KFT, Hungary; Bodo2024 ICS, Norway; Kulturhaupstadt Bad Ischl - Salzkammergut 2024 Austria; National Kaunas Drama Theatre, Lithuania; Art Transparent, Poland; Umeni Institute - Divadelni Ustav, Czech Republic; On the Move, Belgium; Goethe Institut Madrid, Spain; Institute of Transmedia Design, Slovenia and Culture Funding Watch, Tunisia.

This is the third project of the Croatian National Theatre Ivan Zajc that is co-financed by the Creative Europe programme.

The first was (Re)Discovering Europe, a project which dealt with the problems of minorities in Europe and involved a unique co-production of five European minority theatres - Pirandello’s Mountain Giants, performed in five different languages during the same play.

The second European project of the Rijeka theatre focused on audience development. Through the ADESTE + project, the Zajc theatre implements programmes designed to reach new audiences and solidify the connection of the existing audience with its theatre. One of the results of the ADESTE + project is the recently opened theatre gallery Zajc, first of its kind in Croatia.

Source: Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc