NordSync Forum 2025 in Mo i Rana – Collaboration Across Borders

This autumn, professional artists, producers, and leaders of volunteer cultural organizations from across the Barents region gathered in Mo i Rana for the NordSync Forum 2025, exploring the theme “Collaboration between professionals and amateurs – for cultural outreach, audience development, and recruitment.”

Over two inspiring days, participants shared experiences, exchanged ideas, and developed new partnerships that will lead to future projects across the region. The forum highlighted how collaboration between professional and volunteer cultural environments can create new audiences, strengthen local cultural life, and open new sustainable pathways for artistic production in sparsely populated areas.

The discussions and workshops sparked creativity and enthusiasm, showing that cooperation across levels and disciplines is one of the most promising ways to build a vibrant and resilient cultural landscape in the North.

The two-day program featured lectures, workshops, project presentations, and concerts, focusing on how cooperation between artists and volunteers can strengthen local cultural life and inspire new forms of participation.

 Keynote Speaker: Ekaterina Bespalova – professional actress, director, and theatre pedagogue.
She studied at the State Theatre Academy in St. Petersburg, graduating with distinction, and since 2010 has been based in Norway. Bespalova has worked extensively as an actress, director, teacher, translator, and producer, and has taught at Tromsø Kulturskole and Kulta.

In 2023, she received both the Frilansprisen and the Barents Art and Culture Award for her outstanding contribution to international cultural collaboration in the Barents region.
Her collaborations include Davvi – Centre for Performing Arts, Ferske Scener, Haugen Produksjoner, UiT’s Theatre Department, Samovarteateret, and many others.

Watch Ekaterina’s lecture here:

Introducing NordSync Lab – Turning Ideas into Productions

This season, the NordSync Project launched a new initiative – NordSync Lab, a creative workshop where ideas are transformed into interdisciplinary productions ready for the stage. The concept was introduced during the NordSync Forum 2025 in Mo i Rana, and the very first Lab took place right after the Forum.

NordSync Lab #1 brought together professional musicians, actors, and members of volunteer cultural organizations, including Rødøy Orkesterforening, Nordavind Ensemble, and KammeRana.
Under the guidance of Ekaterina Bespalova, theatre director and actress from Tromsø, the participants developed and presented a short performance combining live music and physical theatre.

The Lab format encourages collaboration across experience levels, age groups, and artistic disciplines. Its goal is to strengthen connections between professionals and local communities while creating sustainable productions that can be performed on different stages across the Barents region.

We are thrilled with the results of the first Lab and look forward to developing more productions in upcoming Labs in Mosjøen, Lycksele, and Umeå in 2026.

Here are some pictures from our first Lab:

NordSync Lab – where creativity meets collaboration.

Program for NordSync Forum – Mo i Rana, October 25–26, 2025

📍 Location: Hotel Helma & Rana Culture School
🗓️ Dates: October 25–26, 2025
📡 All sessions will be streamed live on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@NordSyncProject.

👉 Subscribe now to our channel to receive updates and join us online for this inspiring meeting point for artists and cultural workers across the North!