On 16-17 October 2025, the Forum of Associations of Cultural Centres of the three Baltic States – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – took place in Riga (Latvia). This was the first meeting of the ongoing project “The Power of Culture”, partly funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Nordic Culture Point, which brought together 15 members of the cultural community from each partner country. The main objective of the meeting was to approve the statutes of the Baltic Network of Cultural Centre Associations (BNCCA), thus marking the beginning of a new phase of cultural cooperation, which opens up wider opportunities for Baltic creators and cultural workers to work together, to build dialogue and to achieve common cultural policy goals.
The initiator and administrator of the project is the Lithuanian Association of Cultural Centres, partners: the Latvian Association of Cultural Centres, the Estonian Association of Cultural Centres. The project is partly funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers (Nordic Culture Point).
The Baltic countries share a common history, cultural experience and the challenges we face in today’s world. Cultural centres are spaces where communities come together, where citizenship is formed and creative ideas are born. So it makes sense that members of the cultural community of the three Baltic States have gathered at Riga’s Mežaparks Grand Stage, the main venue for the Song Festival.
The Forum began with welcoming speeches by the President of the Lithuanian Association of Cultural Centres, Romas Matulis, and the Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Association of Cultural Centres, Dace Jurka, and a remote greeting by the Director of the Latvian National Centre for Culture, Signe Pujāte. The speakers stressed that this historic meeting is a sign that from now on the cultural centre sector in the Baltic States will work together to build consensus on a common voice in European cultural policy and at national level. Presentations were made by the chairpersons and/or representatives of each national association (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia), presenting the scope, objectives and activities of the internal network. On 16 October 2025, representatives of the three Baltic associations – R. Matulis, President of the Lithuanian Association of Cultural Centres, D. Jurka, Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Association of Cultural Centres, and Ülle Välimäe, Chairman of the Board of the Estonian Association of Cultural Centres – officially signed the BNCCA Statutes, which opened up a legal basis for the cooperation between the countries. In accordance with the statutes, the BNCCA Board of 9 members, 3 from each country, was elected for a 3-year term. Krista Vīndedze from Latvia was elected BNCCA Chairperson.
The next partner meetings are scheduled for spring 2026 in Estonia and Lithuania. Each meeting will bring together representatives of local cultural centres, artists and experts developing the project theme, and will continue discussions on the interaction between culture and politics, the impact of culture on citizenship and resilience.
The project activities will continue until 30 June 2026. For more information visit https://lkca.lt/
Information provided by Lithuanian Association of Cultural Centres Romas Matulis, mobile +370 687 30 484, e-mail romas.matulis@gmail.com.
