Opening many new doors

The Bergen International Festival wishes to convey culture to as many people as possible and is constantly working to reach new audience groups. For a number of years, The Kavli Trust has supported this work through, among other things, ticket gifts and support for free outdoor events and the multi-faceted initiative Festspillkollektivet.

'The Kavli Trust is proud of its long-lasting collaboration with the Bergen International Festival to make culture more widely accessible. Our support is part of the Kavli Trust's goal that as many people as possible shall have access to experiencing, performing and creating culture. Culture is important for good quality of life and mental health, and it is an essential part of being included in the community. The fact that people from our entire society are present in the audience also enriches cultural life, says CEO of the Kavli Trust, Inger Elise Iversen.

Activities for nursing homes and prisons

In 2017, Festspillkollektivet was launched through the support of the Kavli Trust and works throughout the year to arrange activities for people who, for various reasons, find it challenging to seek out the city's cultural offerings. Among other things, the collective has held events in nursing homes, day centres, prisons and asylum reception centres.

‘Some people are for various reasons prevented from visiting different cultural arenas, especially during the pandemic, and many people have felt lonely and isolated. We think it's great to be able to contribute to bringing cultural experiences to people through our collaboration with Festspillkollektivet, says Iversen.

Creating cultural experiences together

Despite the challenges caused by the pandemic, Festspillkollektivet is currently working on several projects, such as a choir and songwriting course together with Papillon, a multicultural meeting place for young people. The participants take part in workshops that are currently conducted digitally before culminating in a concert with both music composed by the participants themselves and rehearsed material.

This year, Festspillkollektivet is also collaborating with the dance company Carte Blanche to develop workshops and performances for people on the autism spectrum and people living with dementia. Other projects this year are the club concept Jungelen, which will visit venues for young people who face challenges in everyday life and the Multicultural men's group, and concerts on non-traditional stages with Åse Britt Jakobsen and Bjørn Tomren.

In Festspillkollektivet, several participants get the opportunity to gain experience from the music industry by managing the programming and production of their own events together with the Bergen International Festival. The artists involved also learn a lot from collaborating with other people and organizations than they usually do.

'The Bergen International Festival wishes to contribute to as many people as possible having good cultural experiences in their lives. Festspillkollektivet is a great way to create something together with people who themselves cannot seek out cultural offerings, says festival director Anders Beyer, and adds:

'We are incredibly grateful for the many years of support from the Kavli Trust. It means that we can invest heavily over time in projects such as Festspillkollektivet, says Beyer.