In conversation with Ricarda Ciontos, Artistic Director of the NORDWIND Festival
Today, the NORDWIND Festival is the largest platform for contemporary art from Scandinavia and the Baltic region in the German-speaking world. Founded in Berlin in 2006, the festival has taken place every two years since 2007, with the next edition scheduled for December 2026. What began as a small showcase of Nordic art has evolved into a transdisciplinary, internationally connected platform bringing together dance, theatre, music, performance, and discourse.
In cooperation with the Hamburg-based production house Kampnagel, NORDWIND presents artistic positions from the Nordic countries alongside transglobal collaborations. Political, historical, and social questions lie at the heart of the program—topics that extend far beyond a purely geographical perspective.
I spoke with artistic director Ricarda Ciontos about her curatorial approach, restrictive funding logics within the cultural sector, and why the transdisciplinary focus works so well at NORDWIND.
The NORDWIND Festival began as a showcase of Nordic art in Germany and is now a transdisciplinary platform. What do you do differently from other festivals?
I think what sets us apart is that we genuinely connect institutions and the independent scene. Not only within Germany, but internationally. This is, of course, challenging, both financially and logistically.
NORDWIND does not see itself as a short-term project; we think long-term. Our goal is to build relationships with artists over many years. We are, and remain, a discovery platform. That’s why we don’t work exclusively with established names, but deliberately seek out new artistic voices. This mindset has shaped the festival from the very beginning. It was never about exploiting a well-trodden European field. It was always about building something of our own. Today, we have a very distinct artistic signature.
NORDWIND takes place every two years. What can we expect in 2026? Which themes will shape the next edition?
Over the years, NORDWIND has increasingly developed into a politically and activist-oriented platform. I’m interested in how artists respond to the major challenges of our time. In December 2026, the festival will therefore address issues such as disinformation, fake news, and truth. Questions of truth and lies, including in the visual realm. This also brings artificial intelligence into focus: what can performing arts achieve in times of AI? It will definitely be very political.
It was important to me to move away from a purely geographical framework. While the focus remains on the Nordic countries, it is always embedded within a global context. Within that context, we urgently need to ask: what does culture mean today, and which questions is it confronting?
How do you perceive the German view of the Nordic countries?
In Germany, there are many stereotypes. The Nordic countries are often overly romanticized: everything is imagined as clean and “hygge,” with cinnamon buns and the happiest people in the world. This is a romanticized perspective that is also linked to financial projections.
There’s often an assumption that they make art just like we do here in Germany. But that view falls short. If you really go north, you quickly realize that it has very little to do with how art is made in Germany. The approaches are different, the aesthetics are different. That’s precisely why our tandem residencies are so important to me. In these programs, German and Nordic artists work together. From rehearsal residencies, long-term collaborations emerge that function beyond clichés.
What is your personal connection to the Nordic and Baltic countries?
In terms of background, I don’t have a direct connection. I come from Bucharest. However, Nordic literature and film have always interested me. It was only through my own experiences on site that I truly understood how different the artistic approaches and aesthetics are. These encounters changed my perspective and inspired me to think beyond a purely urban point of view.
NORDWIND stands for a cross-disciplinary program of theatre, music, dance, and performance. What curatorial approach do you follow?
I’m interested in a fundamental question: what kind of art does our time need? Not: what exists? But: what is truly necessary? I look for artistic voices that are genuinely driven by what they do. The art form itself is secondary. What matters is this inner urge, something we actually need.
In contrast to the widespread attitude that art constantly has to justify itself, along the lines of “no one needs us, we’re not system-relevant,” I strongly believe that culture is indeed needed. More than that: art can move things that many other fields cannot. The cultural sector needs to become much more aware of its own power and act confidently from that strength, rather than from a perceived weakness.
Since 2006, you have given a stage to more than 1,500 artists. Is there something that stands out in your memory?
The topic of sustainability is very close to my heart. There are artists I have worked with over many years. One of them is Erna Ómarsdóttir, who led the Iceland Dance Company for a long time and works internationally.
At the same time, discovering new artistic positions is central to NORDWIND. When artists we presented early on, such as Vegard Vinge or Ida Müller, later take over major institutions or gain institutional visibility, a certain pressure of expectation arises. Funders then expect you to constantly “discover” new talents.
Funding is a central issue for festivals. How is NORDWIND financed?
Our funding is a classic patchwork model. Around 60–65 percent comes from public funding, including the City of Hamburg, the Council of Ministers, and Nordic institutions. This base is what allows us to begin planning at all. Additional components include private and municipal foundations, accounting for about 10–15 percent, sponsorship from the private sector at around 8–10 percent, and travel costs that artists apply for themselves.
No festival can survive on sponsorship alone. Public funding is essential. Above all, what I wish for is greater planning security. Not only from Hamburg, but also from the Nordic countries. I recently discussed this with representatives of the Nordic embassies as well.
Where do you currently see the biggest problems in cultural funding?
The central problem is the lack of sustainability. Funding commitments often come far too late, which makes everything extremely exhausting. Without confirmation, you can’t plan a program, make binding commitments, or properly promote the festival. At the moment, we know that the festival will take place in 2026, but we don’t yet know on what scale. This means that cultural practitioners are constantly trapped in application cycles.
Many funding institutions mistakenly believe they always need to support something new. What we actually need is stability. Otherwise, people are just constantly chasing after the next application and never really get to work.
How do you organize your communication work?
Communication at NORDWIND is always a mix of internal and external efforts. A large part runs through the host institution, Kampnagel. My experience is that it doesn’t work optimally when a festival relies exclusively on the communication structures of a venue. A production house like Kampnagel has its own year-round program. A communications department with limited resources cannot focus exclusively on a festival for weeks at a time.
That’s why it’s important to me to involve at least one or two external press professionals who accompany NORDWIND in a targeted way. For future editions, I would like to see a stronger and more independent branding of NORDWIND. Of course, a festival cannot and should not compete with a venue that presents programming 365 days a year. But precisely for that reason, the strategic question becomes: what story do we tell about NORDWIND, and how do we tell it? What content do we communicate, what attitude, what self-image? These questions will play a central role in the next edition.
