Spanning the summer with diverse, inclusive (and often free) contemporary art: Harbourfront’s Laura McLeod talks Nordic Bridges 2022

Led by Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, Nordic Bridges is an ambitious, year-long national initiative which fosters cultural exchange between the Nordic Region and Canada, and is supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers. Working with partners across Canada, Nordic Bridges supports the presentation of contemporary art, culture and ideas. A specific mandate of the initiative is to remove barriers to access – which means that many events and presentations are free of charge.

And with summer vacation right around the corner, audiences are about to find even more programming to choose from with Nordic Spotlights, which are a part of Nordic Bridges. Here, Indigenous voices and stories take centre stage, with Sapmi/Finland’s VILDÁ, Sapmi/Norway’s ISÁK and Greenland’s Nive and the Deer Children bringing international Indigeneity to the forefront of Harbourfront’s summer programming.  

Other Nordic Spotlight presentations at Summer Concerts include renowned artists and emerging stars GusGus and Vök (Iceland); Nordic Council Music Prize winner Eivør (Faroe); leoblu (Åland Islands), who will be making her North American debut; and Sara Ajnnak (Sapmi/Sweden). 

Nordic artists are also part of the Summer Music in the Garden series, with no fewer than 18 in-person concerts offered free of charge most Thursdays at 7:00 pm and Sundays at 4:00 pm at the Toronto Music Garden from June 21 to August 28, 2022.

Laura McLeod, Director of Cultural Engagement Harbourfront Centre & Lead Producer, has provided visionary leadership to Nordic Bridges, and SesayArts Magazine had the pleasure of speaking with her about the scope of the initiative, as well as the key programming pillars of: artistic innovation, accessibility and inclusion, Indigenous perspectives, and resilience and sustainability.

SM: Can you tell us about Nordic Bridges? The sheer scope of the initiative is magnificent! I’m curious to learn how it came about, and how you and Harbourfront Centre came to be the lead producer and presenter.

LM: Thank you! When Harbourfront Centre was awarded the opportunity to create Nordic Bridges 2022, we made the call to extend the programming support to over 20 Canadian arts partners (from theatre and dance companies, to literary and music festivals), rather than keep the programming to Toronto alone. This increases how many audiences and artists can experience Nordic-Canadian collaboration in action, and how many artists can create and tour their work. 

Nordic Bridges follows recent initiatives at Southbank Centre in London, England, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Our initiative is founded on key programming pillars of artistic innovation, accessibility and inclusion, Indigenous perspectives, and resilience and sustainability, to spark meaningful dialogue between Canadian audiences and artists while highlighting Nordic innovation.

We hope that Canadian artists, through their connections with Nordic artists, go on to share their work in the Nordic Region, and that the investment we’re making into legacy projects through knowledge sharing and development will inspire artists and audiences for many years to come.

SM: Do you want to speak a little about the developmental process of Nordic Bridges? How long did the planning take, and what went into curating the program? Did the pandemic shutdown affect the planning and timing of Nordic Bridges at all?

LM: We recently welcomed Nordic delegates, ambassadors and artists to Harbourfront for an official celebration, as our January party was postponed due to rising COVID cases. To celebrate in person felt like a real win, considering our team has been working for several years to bring Nordic Bridges to life, and as it was initially scheduled for 2021. That said, the extra time gave our artists more scope, especially for those creating new work, and collaborating with artists across the world. At this point heading into the summer, we’ve programmed amazing work across Canada, with much more to come.

SM: The accessibility of Nordic Bridges is important and appreciated – and something that everyone should know about. Would you like to talk about the elimination of any financial barrier to make many of the presentations free of charge and open to all?

LM: It’s important to the team that Nordic Bridges programming is accessible and inclusive for both artists and audiences, and that’s why many programs are free, and/or available online. It aligns with the core goal of the initiative, to create memorable experiences and facilitate meaningful connection.

For Deaf and disabled audiences, access to programming is offered in ways that include, (but are not limited to): audio description, assistive listening systems, sign language interpretation, transcription and captioning, and the use of Braille or accessible print formats for printed materials such as program guides or artwork labels. A highlight of Nordic Bridges is a collaborative performing arts exchange between Deaf theater artists from Sweden invited to mentor the core creative team of a new opera work-in-progress from Inside Out Theatre Company and re:Naissance Opera.

For those in Toronto, I highly recommend checking out the work of Jenni-Juulia Wallinheimo-Heimonen, which deals with disability politics, aesthetics of assistive devices and gender issues related to disabled women. Her free presentation currently at Harbourfront is part working artist’s studio and part exhibition space of her most notable recent mixed media work alongside pieces created during her Nordic Bridges Artist-in-Residency.

SM: With so many presentations to choose from, it is difficult to know what to see and experience. Do you have any tips on what you consider to be ‘unmissable’, especially for families? 

LM: The best thing about Nordic Bridges is encountering new sounds, sights, textures and ideas: we encourage audiences to explore a genre or event they wouldn’t normally explore–put yourself out there and you won’t be disappointed.

Many of our programming partners have family-friendly offerings coming up this year, including the TOHU circus festival in Montreal, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and of course there’s always lots of free family activity available all summer long at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. 

SM: The final word is yours. What question do you wish I had asked you that I didn’t (and what is the answer)?

LM: How is this initiative different to anything Harbourfront Centre has done before?

From the get go the budget for Nordic Bridges included ways to make it as sustainable as possible: something that we think needs to be a high priority for any in-person events, especially those that involve artist travel.

Some of the actions that Harbourfront Centre through Nordic Bridges is taking to offset the any negative environmental impact include partnering with the Iceland Carbon Fund (ICF), which offers carbon offsets through tree planting in Iceland, and partnering with Fort York Food Bank to distribute any leftover food from Toronto events to their centre. We’ve also eliminated single use plastics for on-site events, and our main website, Nordicbridges.ca is a participant in the climate initiative “CO2 neutral websites”. 

You can also check out our ongoing series of free online Nordic Talks, which touches on this and other big picture ideas around the future of work and creation. 

For more information:  visit NordicBridges.ca or follow @NordicBridges and #NordicBridges on all platforms. 

Enter to Win: Nordic Bridges with Inspired by Iceland North America are running a year-long contest offering trips for two to Iceland. The contest is open to residents across Canada, and contest details are available in English and French. 

© Arpita Ghosal, SesayArts Magazine 2022