NATO Association of Canada’s 2020 Virtual Art Fair

Welcome to the NATO Association of Canada’s 2020 virtual art fair!

This summer, the NATO Association of Canada is very excited to present various performances from each NATO member state in order to celebrate art as a powerful way to promote NATO’s message of peace, prosperity and diversity. We hope you enjoy seeing the selected works!

Denmark – Musikfilm Festivalen

The Copenhagen Music Film Festival is a celebration of movie soundtracks of all sorts, anything from hip hop to classical music, presented by the Danish Film Institute. For its 8th edition, the festival featured more than 25 films as well as 20 special events. From September 11th to 20th, 2020, visitors could enjoy various performances and screenings paying tribute to great musicians and cinematographers.

Italy – Festivaletteratura

The Festivaletteratura is an annual cultural event that takes place in Mantua. Since 1997, the festival gathers authors, poets and artists from all over the world for readings, concerts, guided tours as well as various other performances. This year, the festival took place from September 9th to 13th, 2020. Some of the performances were broadcasted on the radio and can also be watched later from home on the festival’s website.

Latvia – The White Night in Riga

The White Night is an annual celebration of modern culture that took place in Riga from September 5th to 6th, 2020. For its 15th edition, the festival featured various performances, including music, cinema and videography. Artworks were also accessible to visitors as they were incorporated in the Latvian capital’s urban environment. The White Night 2020 presented 20 different local and international projects that amazed visitors.

The United-Kingdom – The Edinburgh International Festival

The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual celebration of the performing arts in Scotland’s capital. For the first time in 73 years, the festival was cancelled due to the global health crisis. While waiting for next year’s edition, the festival offered on its website and its YouTube channel an hour-long film featuring famous artists from previous editions and celebrating the spirit of the festival, as well as a video series of various artistic performances. These videos featured dance, opera, music and theatre, and were available until the end of August!

France – The Opéra de Paris’s 3e Scène

The 3e Scène is the Opéra national de Paris’s digital space dedicated to artistic creation and experimentation. Created in 2015, this platform was designed to fuse various art forms such as filmmaking, photography, music, theatre, and choreography. Meant to be shared with all the art lovers, the 3e Scène is accessible from anywhere in the world for free. Visit the 3e Scène at  https://www.operadeparis.fr/3e-scene 

The United-States – The Battery Dance Festival

The Battery Dance Festival is New York City’s longest-running free public dance festival. This year, the Festival went virtual for its 39th edition. The performances were broadcasted from August 14th to 22nd on YouTube. Themed evenings included works from the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas, as well as pieces celebrating the resiliency of New York City and the Festival itself.

Albania – Engaging Tirana’s Communities in Public Art and Policy

Engaging Tirana’s Communities in Public Art and Policy is a project by EkphrasisStudio. In collaboration with the Tirana municipality and the Albanian Ministry of Culture, this project’s main objective is to raise awareness about art in public spaces and engaging Tirana communities through participative activities. Also supported by the UNESCO International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD), Ekphrasis Studio launched the first digital Public Arts Map for Tirana, locating most notably sculptures, installations, murals, monuments in the city. Among them, this sculpture entitled “Reja” or “The Could”, a unique architectural piece created by Sou Fujimoto. For more information, visit http://harp.al

Germany – The Berliner Philharmoniker Digital Concert Hall

Each season, the Berliner Philharmoniker Digital Concert Hall presents around 40 concerts broadcasted live and that can also be viewed at a later date in the concert archive. The archive already contains hundreds of recordings with all the great artists of classical music, as well as documentaries and bonus films.

Greece – Live-stream of the play “The Persians”

“The Persians”, an ancient Greek play written by Aeschylus was live-streamed from the ancient theatre of Epidaurus, a UNESCO World Heritage site, on July 25th, 2020. To commemorate the 25th centennial of the Battle of Salamis, Aeschylus’ drama was broadcasted in Greek with English subtitles. Supported by the National Theatre of Greece and the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports, this performance was part of this year’s Athens and Epidaurus Festival that had to adapt to the challenges posed by the pandemic.

Canada – The 2020 Montreal International Jazz Festival

This year, the Montreal International Jazz Festival took place from June 27th to June 30th in a special all-digital edition. Live performances were recorded at l’Astral, a music-hall in downtown Montreal, and were broadcasted on the Montreal Jazz Festival YouTube channel.