The d@rts consortium partners gathered on 2-3 July 2024 in the city of Bodø, Norway, one of the 2025 European Capitals of Culture, for the project’s first Consortium Meeting.

d@rts stands for dialoguing@rts, its mission being to advance cultural literacy for social inclusion through dialogic arts education.

Using the post-colonial insight that culture is necessarily heterogeneous, d@rts hopes to build dialogues and co-create physical and digital actions with diverse groups and communities.

Arts education and diverse population

This three-and-a-half-year, EU-funded research and innovation project explores the question of how arts education can be made more accessible and tailored to the needs of an increasingly diverse population.

The underlying research approach is based on the conviction that cultural participation, self-determined artistic practice and the development of cultural competencies can strengthen social cohesion.

Researchers and practitioners from all partners used the opportunity of the meeting to present the work so far to each other, to exchange ideas and to jointly develop strategies for further work on the project.

‘Tangle / Untangle’ was the motto of a joint artistic exercise that took place on the first evening of the meeting and was inspired not only by the ideas of improvisation theatre, but also by the light of the midnight sun.

Cultural Literacy and different contexts

‘Tangle / untangle’, however, could also have been the motto of some lively debates about the meaning and significance of the term ‘Cultural Literacy’, which on the one hand is a key term of the project, but also turned out to have very different meanings in different contexts and languages.

However, the dazzling complexity of the term was by no means seen as a disadvantage, but rather as an opportunity – not least as a chance to question conventions and to decolonise our habitual approach to culture.

The meeting was also attended by manymembers of the Advisory Board, whose presence and feedback was extremely valuable.

The d@rts project is led by Nord University in collaboration with the Universities of Cologne, Hildesheim and Lüneburg, University of Verona, Puntozero, University of Jyväskylä, Kulturanova, Makerere University, University of Auckland and the Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen (AEC).

Stay tuned for updates and the next events by visiting the dialoguing@rts website.

About d@rts

dialoguing@rts – Advancing Cultural Literacy for Social Inclusion through Dialogical Arts Education

How can performing arts education, in formal and non-formal contexts, reimagine cultural literacy as a dialogical practice that enhances social cohesion and inclusion? This is what the innovation and research project d@rts wants to find out.

• The project is part of Horizon Europe’s Cluster 2 («Culture, Creativity and Inclusive society»).
• Project start and duration: 01/2024, 42 months.
• Grant: 3 mil. EUR
• Consortium: Norway (Nord University), Belgium (AEC), Germany (Universities of Cologne, Hildesheim and Lüneburg), Italy (University of Verona and Puntozero), Finland (University of Jyväskylä), Serbia (Kulturanova), Uganda (Makerere University) and Aotearoa/New Zealand (University of Auckland)
• Total number of partners (including associated partners): 27
• Coordinating institution: Nord University, department of Arts and Culture
• Project leader: prof. Jens Knigge (Nord University)
• Project manager and contact person: associate professor Runa Hestad Jenssen (Nord University)