A year-long initiative led by Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre fostering cultural exchange between the Nordic Region and Canada. Working with partners across Canada, Nordic Bridges will present multidisciplinary contemporary art, culture, and ideas throughout 2022.

Featured Programming Partners:

Alianait Arts Festival / ᐊᓕᐊᓇᐃᑦ ᑕᐅᑐᕋᓐᓈᖅᑎᑦᓯᓂᖅ

IQALUIT, NU

Known as the world’s circumpolar stage, the Alianait Arts Festival takes place in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada in late June each year. These Arctic days have 24-hour daylight, a time of great celebration! Alianait sets the spotlight on Inuit and other circumpolar artists while bringing together exciting world-class musicians, circus acrobats, dancers, storytellers, actors, filmmakers and visual artists from across the globe.

Art Gallery of Ontario

TORONTO, ON

The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) is one of the largest art museums in North America. The AGO’s collection ranges from cutting-edge contemporary art to European masterpieces; from the vast collection by the Group of Seven to works by Indigenous Canadian artists; and with focused collections in African art. The AGO presents wide-ranging exhibitions and programs, showcasing diverse, underrepresented artists. 

Art Spin

TORONTO, ON

Art Spin presents exceptional contemporary art in unexpected spaces to create unique public experiences. Acting as urban explorers, curators and creative collaborators, Art Spin commissions site-specific art projects in overlooked and under-utilized spaces. They recontextualize the built environment as a platform for contemporary art and temporary public art programming.

Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland

ST. JOHN’S, NL

The works of Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland have played across the country to high acclaim and have garnered Jillian Keiley (founding artistic director) the 2004 Siminovitch Prize for directing and Robert Chafe (Artistic Director) the 2010 Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama. The company has developed a unique brand of choral stage work, the goal of which is deeply rooted in the theatrical possibilities of ensemble performance.

Dancers of Damelahamid / Coastal Dance Festival

WEST VANCOUVER, BC

The Dancers of Damelahamid is an Indigenous dance company from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia with a rich history of masked dance that inspires a compelling performance. Through dramatic dance, captivating narrative and elaborate regalia, the Dancers of Damelahamid transform time and space and bridge the ancient with a living tradition.

DesignTO

TORONTO, ON

DesignTO is a non-profit arts organization that produces Canada’s leading (and largest) annual design festival, celebrating design as a multidisciplinary form of creative thinking and making, with over 100 exhibitions and events forming Toronto’s Design Week each January.

Harbourfront Centre

TORONTO, ON

Harbourfront Centre is a leading international centre for contemporary arts, culture and ideas, and a charitable not-for-profit cultural organization on Toronto’s central waterfront. Harbourfront Centre provides year-round programming, supporting a wide range of artists and communities, and inspiring audiences and visitors with a breadth of bold, ambitious and engaging experiences while fostering national and international artistic exchange between disciplines and cultures.

Hot Docs

TORONTO, ON

North America’s largest documentary festival, conference and market, each year Hot Docs screens over 200 outstanding documentaries from across Canada and around the globe to audiences of over 220,000. Year-round, Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood offers first-run documentary programming and film series, author talks, Curious Minds lectures and more.

Inside Out and re:Naissance Opera - Nordic Bridges

CALGARY, AB · VANCOUVER, BC

Inside Out and re:Naissance Opera are coming together with Calgary-based company Artistic Sign Language to develop work for Nordic Bridges.

Inside Out is a Deaf and disability theatre company in sunny Calgary, Alberta, equally invested in artistic excellence, community development and deepening our cultures’ accessibility.

Mundial Montréal

MONTRÉAL, QC

Mundial Montreal is North America’s World Music Summit.

National Arts Centre

OTTAWA, ON

The National Arts Centre (NAC) is Canada’s bilingual, multi-disciplinary home for the performing arts. The NAC presents, creates, produces and co-produces performing arts programming in various streams – the NAC Orchestra, Dance, English Theatre, French Theatre, Indigenous Theatre, and Popular Music and Variety – and nurtures the next generation of audiences and artists from across Canada. The NAC is located in the National Capital Region on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation.

Nuit Blanche Toronto

TORONTO, ON

Toronto’s sunset to sunrise celebration is the largest contemporary art event in North America. Since its inaugural year in 2006, Nuit Blanche has featured over 1,400 artworks created by more than 4,900 artists.  The all-night event traditionally features up to 100 projects sited in the public realm and includes year-round artist talks, podcasts and Nuit History, an online archive of past projects. Upcoming event dates for Nuit Blanche Toronto are October 2, 2021, and October 1, 2022. Please visit the Nuit Blanche Toronto website to enjoy free year-round programming.

The Power Plant

TORONTO, ON

The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is Canada’s leading non-collecting, public art gallery dedicated to presenting contemporary visual art from Canada and the world. Since 1987, The Power Plant has been on a mission to create an open culture and community for people to be face-to-face with thought-provoking contemporary art and ideas. We have a culturally-diverse audience whose lives and communities we seek to enrich through encouraging exploration of self and society. More than a gallery, The Power Plant is a community hub that caters to adults, youth, and children through broad and unique programming. It is a window into a diverse range of ideas and perspectives from artists which will in turn inspire our audiences and provide unlimited personal discovery.

TOHU / Montréal Complètement Cirque Festival

MONTRÉAL, QC

Located in Montreal, TOHU is a place for dissemination, creation, experimentation and convergence of culture, environment and community involvement. It has become an example of sustainable development through culture.

TOHU contributes to make Montreal an international leader in circus arts through its dedicated venue and its festival: MONTRÉAL COMPLÈTEMENT CiRQUE. This exhilarating festival takes place each year featuring 10 days of circus shows and events for its ever-growing audience.

Toronto International Festival of Authors

TORONTO, ON

The Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA) inspires and empowers book lovers with a breadth of bold, ambitious and accessible literary experiences. As Canada’s largest literary festival, the charitable organization provides engaging opportunities to meet, hear and learn from the world’s best contemporary writers and thinkers, and to celebrate the power of stories. Since 1974, TIFA has presented over 9,500 authors, including 22 Nobel Laureates, who represent diverse perspectives and a range of literary genres for all ages.

Toronto International Film Festival

TORONTO, ON

TIFF is a not-for-profit cultural organization with a mission to transform the way people see the world through film.