Launched in November 2024, the wonderful bilateral initiative titled Routes to solidarity (Drumuri spre solidaritate) set out to bring us closer together! This project aimed to strengthen the creative friendship between Reactor de creație și experiment from Cluj-Napoca and Para Film & Teater from Norway, through the artistic exploration of two beautiful, unifying concepts – community and solidarity, in the vibrant cities of Cluj-Napoca and Oslo.

Between November 2024 and February 2025, we celebrated two fantastic exchanges of experience, from Romania to Norway and vice versa, focusing on the inspiring ways cultural management is done in both countries. Three brilliant cultural workers from Romania (Doru Taloș, Alexandra Caras, Alexa Băcanu) and two from Norway (Rose Aker and Martin Thomas) enjoyed networking and a rich cultural program in their partner's country, where they had the exciting opportunity to better understand production frameworks, share wonderful best practices, and build lasting connections with potential future partners and collaborators!

The bilateral initiative also sparked some magical artistic teamwork! Two artists from Romania (Petro Ionescu – director and playwright, and Adonis Tanța – performer and music coach) spent two lovely weeks in Oslo, hosting a workshop with young Norwegian artists. The joyful result was presented to the public under the title Solidarity og fellesskap—a beautiful collective process where participants used music and devised theatre methods to explore community and solidarity, weaving together personal stories and powerful collective events.

Meanwhile, in Romania, three talented Norwegian artists (Rose Aker – actress, Martin Thomas – director, and Øystein Stene – playwright) explored online communities formed by "Incels" and hostility towards women. During an engaging week in Romania, they reached out and connected with women living here who work in videochat, as well as with men who use these platforms. These eye-opening insights came together in a compelling lecture-performance – Lonelyfans/Incelistan – followed by an open discussion with our wonderful audience at Reactor.

From February 10th to 13th, Reactor hosted a spectacular showcase, featuring six of the venue's most recent and beloved productions, welcoming artists, journalists, and cultural operators from Romania and abroad! This exciting four-day program also included a lively networking meeting, a warm, open discussion about solidarity in the arts, and a guided tour of Cluj's independent cultural spaces. We were absolutely thrilled to welcome 16 international guests (from Norway, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, France, Italy, and Slovenia), 20 guests from across Romania (Bucharest, Târgu Mureș, Sibiu, Arad, Timișoara, Oradea, Satu Mare), as well as local professionals and our passionate Cluj-Napoca theatre-goers!

The showcase was also generously supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute, the French Institute in Cluj-Napoca, and the German Cultural Center Cluj-Napoca. Thank you to our wonderful supporters!

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The bilateral initiative Routes to solidarity is proudly funded through the EEA and Norway Grants – National Bilateral Fund under the RO-CULTURA Programme, within the bilateral initiatives call "Bilateral cooperation for the development of contemporary art," with a non-reimbursable value of 598,010.66 lei (120,181.41 euros). This exciting journey took place between November 2024 and February 2025 in the beautiful cities of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and Oslo, Norway.

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The EEA and Norway Grants represent the inspiring contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway towards a green, competitive, and inclusive Europe! They have two grand goals: reducing economic and social disparities in Europe and strengthening the wonderful bilateral relations between the donor countries and 15 EU countries in Central and Southern Europe and the Baltics. These three donor countries cooperate closely with the EU through the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement. Between 1994 and 2014, the donors provided EUR 3.3 billion through consecutive grant schemes. For the 2014-2021 period, the EEA and Norway Grants amount to EUR 2.8 billion. Discover more details on: www.eeagrants.org and www.eeagrants.ro.

The RO-CULTURA Programme is implemented by the Ministry of Culture through the Project Management Unit and has the wonderful goal of strengthening economic and social development through cultural cooperation, cultural entrepreneurship, and cultural heritage management. The Programme budget is approximately 34 million euros. Find out more details on www.ro-cultura.ro.

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