Nordic Currents is a new international cultural programme launched by the Nordic Council of Ministers to bring Nordic art and culture to neighbouring European countries in 2027 and 2028. With a total budget of €800,000, the initiative will support projects developed jointly by European cultural organisations and Nordic partners, with the aim of creating collaborations that continue beyond the programme itself.
Nordic Currents will bring Nordic culture across Europe
The Nordic Council of Ministers describes Nordic Currents as more than a conventional cultural festival. Instead, it has been designed as an open platform through which organisations can develop different kinds of cultural projects.
These can include performing arts, music, literature, film and exhibitions, as well as cultural programmes and interdisciplinary projects. Activities must be publicly accessible and meet the programme’s artistic requirements.
The initiative is aimed primarily at established organisations in Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom, although these countries are not presented as an exhaustive list.
Projects can take place in one European country or involve organisations in several countries. Most activities, however, should take place in the country where the applicant is based.
All eight parts of the Nordic Region must be represented
Nordic Currents also places particular emphasis on presenting the Nordics as a single cultural region, while reflecting the diversity within it.
An applicant must work with at least two partners from different Nordic countries, which must remain actively involved throughout the project. But the final cultural programme has a broader requirement: it must include artists or other cultural practitioners representing Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland/Kalaallit Nunaat and Åland.
This makes participation from all eight parts of official Nordic co-operation an explicit condition of the programme, rather than leaving representation to individual projects.
According to the programme guidelines, projects should combine cultural events for local audiences with professional exchange. Network-building, knowledge-sharing and other forms of development within the cultural sector must therefore form part of the proposal.
Culture is also being treated as a form of European co-operation
The programme has been launched at a time when Nordic governments are increasingly connecting cultural policy with democracy, resilience and international co-operation.
The Nordic Council of Ministers says Nordic Currents is intended to strengthen relations with neighbouring European countries while the continent faces geopolitical change. Trust, openness, artistic freedom and democratic values are among the principles that will be considered when projects are assessed.
This approach is consistent with the Nordic governments’ broader cultural policy for the second half of the decade, which gives culture a role in strengthening social cohesion, democratic participation and resilience.
Nordic Currents is therefore not conceived simply as a way of exporting Nordic cultural productions. Its stated objective is also to create long-term professional relationships between Nordic and European cultural organisations, increasing exchanges of skills and knowledge between them.
Up to €800,000 can be awarded to a single project
Organisations will be able to request between €100,000 and €800,000. As the entire Nordic Currents budget is €800,000, the programme could ultimately fund anywhere from one to eight projects.
Projects must also secure co-financing from local, national or other sources to be eligible.
Applications will be accepted in English between 1 October and 1 November 2026. Proposals will then be examined by a professional committee and expert reviewers on criteria including artistic quality, Nordic connections, public accessibility, democratic values, organisational capacity and the potential for lasting collaboration.
The selected projects are expected to be announced in May 2027 and must take place between 1 June 2027 and 1 June 2028.
With Nordic Currents, the Nordic governments are using culture as another field in which the region can present itself collectively abroad. The relatively small programme is built around an ambitious requirement: projects should not only show Nordic culture to European audiences, but create networks connecting all eight parts of the Nordic Region with cultural organisations elsewhere in Europe.
