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For many independent cultural organizations in North Macedonia, this question comes after years of creating programmes, building audiences, and responding to the needs of their communities. As their activities expand, so do the demands behind the scenes: coordinating people, managing finances, defining responsibilities, documenting processes, and planning beyond the next project.

Spanning four areas — Performing Arts; Research, Critical and Alternative Cultural Practices; Community and Public Space Cultural Practices; and Youth Empowerment and Inclusive Creative Production – the projects bring different artistic practices, communities and perspectives into the same conversation.

One of the biggest differences the organizations describe is having the opportunity to focus on themselves, not only on the next project. Several organizations also spoke about something less tangible but equally valuable: time.

Less than a month after my visit, the places where I had watched films, attended theatre performances, exchanged ideas, and formed friendships – were damaged, destroyed, or no longer exist.

Instead of offering a standard training model, the programme supports cultural organizations in developing the capacities they identify as most important for their own future. The first completed grants show just how different, and how practical, those learning journeys can be.

By: Ryan Prout

Heartefact’s NEW network, which brings together the most important playwrights from Europe, has launched an action of visibility and solidarity with Ukrainian artists…