December 27, 2020 – Rijeka and Galway were European Capitals of Culture in 2020, but the spread of COVID-19 hampered the implementation of their planned programs.
Fortunately, the European Parliament and the Council decided to amend Decision no. 445/2014/EU on establishing a Union initiative for European Capitals of Culture from 2020 to 2033.
This Decision enables the cities of Rijeka and Galway to extend the Capital of Culture title until the end of April 2021, while the upcoming Capitals of Culture will take over their confirmed titles from 2022.
This decision is of great importance for the current and future capitals of culture because the planned events due to the pandemic had to be canceled or postponed, and the organizers could not capitalize on the preparations made. With this extension, the capitals are being offered another chance to achieve their goals in a way that will be both health-safe and culturally enriching.
HRT reports that this is the first time in history that the ECOC project lasts longer than one calendar year, and the next ECOC titleholders will have to postpone their projects for a year.
Rijeka 2020 believes that the title extension certainly has a symbolic meaning, but even before the decision was made, they warned that it brings with it problems:
“First of all, there are problems with time because the extension is proposed until the end of April next year, and we know that the most interesting season for us starts from Easter. On the other hand, of course, this extension of the title does not come with additional funding,” says Irena Kregar Šegota, director of Rijeka 2020.
Before the decision, Minister of Culture and Media Nina Obuljen Koržinek believed that Rijeka would not benefit greatly from the extension:
“In these circumstances, we kept a level of funding that was possible, of course not in full because the program was radically reduced, as well as the number of employees, but I think we managed to provide the funds needed for implementation,” said Minister Obuljen Koržinek.
Director Kregar Šegota announced that she would prepare the program with what they have at their disposal:
“We will finish and conclude the program directions that we have implemented this year, we are thinking about some additional programs, and we must definitely prepare a program that will conclude the year, a kind of closing program,” said Kregar Šegota.
Two excellent exhibitions can still be seen in Rijeka – the Balthazargrad exhibition at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the Fiume Fantastica exhibition at Export Drvo.
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