Creative industries and culture play a crucial role in boosting local and national economies. The recent festival-themed “Illuminate. Amplify” in Cahul showcased the importance of young creatives exchanging experiences between Moldova and abroad to foster innovation at home.
The event featured four clusters and attracted international guests, municipal representatives, program beneficiaries, and hundreds of art and culture enthusiasts interested in immersive experiences and local development. The organizers hosted the festival as part of EU4Culture, a four-year project funded by the European Union.
The first part of the festival focused on two panels that presented the cultural development strategies of the cities of Cahul and Orhei, both beneficiaries of the EU4Culture project. Participants shared their experiences of international mobility and discussed their cultural projects.
“For four years, through this program, we supported the municipalities of Cahul and Orhei in developing their cultural development strategies. The Municipality of Cahul received a grant of 300,000 euros to implement the activities outlined in its strategy. At the same time, we supported four non-governmental organizations that contributed to the implementation of these strategies and provided assistance to 51 mobility beneficiaries—professionals from the cultural and creative sectors—through internships, study visits, conferences, and other relevant international activities,” stated Constantin Vlas, national coordinator of EU4Culture in Moldova.
In the second part of the festival, participants enjoyed an impressive digital experience—on the surface of B.P. Hasdeu State University, music and sensory elements created a captivating combination. Everyone present was delighted by the music of pianist Marcel Lazar and the students from the “M. Cebotari” Music School in Cahul.
The festival featured two special guests from Georgia: Aleksi Soselia and Rati Baramadze (RTNH). The digital artists combined their creative skills to offer a unique artistic experience with immersive visual installations and hypnotic, experimental sounds.
Later, at the Nicolae Botgros Palace of Culture, everyone present enjoyed a blend of poetry with visual and auditory art in the “Digital Poetry” cluster. The event concluded with a mix by the festival’s third special guest, DJ KorneJ, a co-founder of Radio Plato and a music journalist originally from Belarus, a light show, and laser projections.
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With a budget of €7.85 million, EU4Culture is a four-year project funded by the European Union to support the cultural and creative sector. It focuses on non-capital cities and localities in the Eastern Partnership countries. The project is implemented by the Goethe-Institut (Lead), Czech Centres, the Danish Cultural Institute, and the French Institute in Georgia.
In the Republic of Moldova, Cahul received a grant for the implementation of its Cultural Development Strategy, while Orhei developed its strategy and carried out specific actions with the support of EU4Culture. The project also assisted 51 professionals from the cultural and creative industries through internships, study visits, conferences, and other relevant international activities. Additionally, it supported the non-governmental sector by funding innovative intersectoral projects that contribute to cultural and creative strategies in Cahul and Orhei.