Description (EN): BRIEF SUMMARYThe CBC Incubator project aims to establish a joint common space in the Romanian-Hungarian border area that connects cultural institutions, artists and cultural professionals, primarily in the field of theatre art. The project facilitates mutual understanding, stimulates creativity, contributes to the enrichment of our cultures and strengthen the close links between them through cultural exchanges and joint artistic creation, resulting in the promotion of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue. The common Romanian-Hungarian Cross-border Cultural Incubator for Performing Arts promotes the mobility of artists and professionals in the cultural field and the circulation of artistic expressions beyond national borders, thus it directly contributes to the sustainable use of the common cultural heritage in the eligible area. The cultural incubator will also play an important role in supporting and nurturing creativity – the basis of social and technological innovation and an important driver of growth, competitiveness and jobs. Improving partnership in performing arts has a direct and measurable effect on the touristic attractiveness of the border region, contributing to the increase of visits to the area – both during the cultural activities planned within the project and after project completion.The project requires strong cross-border teamwork from the partners: without the partnership, they would not be able to create the optimal conditions and ensure the physical environment necessary for sustainable cultural cooperation. This applies both to the renewed cultural facilities and the cultural services provided jointly. The developed building in Debrecen is a dedicated Romanian-Hungarian cross-border cultural centre, whereas the Szigligeti Theatre also aspires to a stronger cross-border role.OBJECTIVESOverall objective: to strengthen the attractiveness of the border area by creating, using and promoting common cultural values in performing artsSpecific objectives: increasing cultural mobility in the border region; strengthening the joint cultural image of the border regionJUSTIFICATION – COMMON CHALLENGESThe Romanian-Hungarian border area has a very important role in performing arts: it can be considered as a “contact zone” where various traditions, approaches and initiatives mingle. All county seats have at least one theatre with high-quality performances. Performing arts is a very important element of the common cultural heritage, but it has been artificially divided by the border. Unfortunately, there is no cultural meeting point in place that would provide appropriate infrastructural and professional background for protecting, developing and sharing common values of performing arts. While theatre performances create a unique opportunity for getting to know each other's culture, cooperation between theatres operating in the border area is rare and non-formalized. This limited level of interconnection hinders not only the mobility of cultural professionals, but it also significantly reduces the number of cross-border theatre-goers. Failure to better use these common values is a missed opportunity in terms of attracting tourists to the area.MAIN OUTPUTSThe outputs can be divided into 2 categories:1) the RENEWED CULTURAL FACILITIES that provide ideal venues for cross-border cooperation in the field of performing arts;2) the JOINTLY IMPLEMENTED CROSS-BORDER CULTURAL AND PROFESSIONAL EVENTS AND DOCUMENTS that broaden the relationship between Romanian and Hungarian cultural stakeholders in the long run.1) The partners will implement 2 infrastructural interventions:- Romanian-Hungarian Cross-border Cultural Incubator for Performing Arts in Debrecen (4796.22 m²), the main function of which is to provide a theatre hall and other rooms necessary for cross-border cooperation in the field of performing arts;- modernized theatre technology of Szigligeti Theatre to establish a space more suitable for creating and hosting Romanian and Hungarian joint and guest performances.2) The delivery of joint cross-border cultural activities will be coordinated by the Csokonai Theatre with the active contribution of the partners and the involvement of cultural organizations/professionals from the whole border region. Approx. 70 joint events will be organized; 8 written documents and 12 videos will be published during the implementation period (e.g. workshops and training materials for amateur theatres, amateur theatre festival, exchange of 16 performances, theatre archive, “actors and their languages” workshop, translation workshop and translated textbooks, “2 countries – 2 theatre cultures” conference, interactive exhibition of theatre arts).The outputs and activities clearly contribute to the programme’s output indicator: the increase in the expected number of visits to these supported sites of cultural heritage will be 18,428 in the year after project completion.FINAL BENEFICIARIESAll outputs target the following stakeholders as final beneficiaries of the cultural facilities/services provided by the partners:- cultural professionals use the incubator and the renewed Szigligeti Theatre as well as their services for creating new performances, learning new methods and sharing knowledge relating to performing arts;- the general public can be defined as consumers of common cultural values – they are different groups of tourists, local inhabitants and the population of the entire Romanian-Hungarian border region.EXPECTED CHANGESAs a result of the activities, conditions for protecting, creating and promoting tangible and intangible elements of the joint cultural heritage will be improved. These advantageous changes contribute to the tourist draw of the developed cultural facilities and even of the whole border region. Consequently, a joint and integrated tourism destination will be created, attracting more visitors both internally and also from outside the eligible area, which is ultimately reflected in an increased number of visitors/visitor nights and the strengthened tourist industry of the border area.INNOVATIVE CHARACTERThe project has various innovative elements:- There is no other cross-border cultural centre explicitly focusing on performing arts in the EU – our facility can serve as a good practice for cultural cooperation in other cross-border areas.- Brand-new training materials/methodologies will be designed, tested, and disseminated by the partners and other experts. The innovativeness is reflected both in their target groups (e.g. complete training materials dedicated to amateur theatres) and their topics (e.g. “actors and their languages” workshop).- The centre – as an incubator – will not only host performances and training courses, but also nurture related research and cultural innovation activities.
Read more Achievements (EN): As part of the subproject ZWEI LÄNDER – ZWEI Theaterkultur, a trilingual study volume with a selection of the technical materials of the held conferences entitled Two Countries, Two Theatre Cultures was created.
As part of the project, we have set ourselves the goal that the training material will contribute to the development of the amateur theatre sector in the region beyond the Romanian-Hungarian border and have an impact on community education and local public culture.
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Expected Outputs (EN): The project activities will result in the improved attractiveness and utilization of intangible elements of the joint heritage created by performing arts. The RO-HU Cross-border Cultural Incubator for Performing Arts, as a newly-established facility, attracts a large number of cultural professionals, tourists and inhabitants from the border area. The combination of these values and their joint promotion – together with the physical improvements – contribute to the formulation of a joint and integrated tourism destination, attracting visitors both internally and from outside the eligible area. Higher number of tourists will result in an increase of visitor nights and thus contributes indirectly to strengthening the area’s tourist industry. The protection, creation and dissemination of cultural values is also important from the perspective of sustainable development and growth.
The CBC Incubator project will make numerous positive impacts:
- Strengthened cross-border cooperation between cultural institutions involving artists and cultural professionals;
- More effective cultivation and promotion of common cultural-theatrical heritage among the general public;
- Improved attractiveness of the RO-HU border area through developing joint performing arts;
- Mutual acquaintance and understanding of the cultural heritage in RO and HU;
- A higher level of employment through generating job opportunities in the creative industries.
All the above statements justify that the current joint initiative of Debrecen, Csokonai Theatre and Szigligeti Theatre represents a result-oriented project that directly contributes to the relevant programme output indicator (increase in the expected number of visits to supported sites of cultural and natural heritage and attractions): at least 18,462 additional visitors in the new and renewed institutions for the year following project completion – obviously, some of them will stay overnight in Debrecen, Oradea or their surroundings.
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