The Finnish Light Art Society FLASH contributes to Oulu’s year as European Capital of Culture with a major showcase of contemporary Finnish light art. The fifth FLASH Light Art Biennial presents works byestablished artists alongside emerging talents, highlighting the diversity of the Finnish light art scene. 

Last Saturday, the Castillo de Mata Museum was transformed into a space for open creation and contemporary dialogue with the opening of REBEL WALLS. Urban Stories, an exhibition project promoted by Las Palmas de Gran Canaria’s bid to become European Capital of Culture 2031, LPGC’31, which supports urban art as a legitimate and transformative cultural expression, capable of fostering a collective identity.

The open call “Magazia’32 – Treasury for Ideas,” announced by the Burgas-2032 Foundation, gathered nearly 250 conceptual projects. Amid tremendous interest and proposals received from over 20 countries across four continents, the process has concluded for gathering creative and artistic ideas, and educational, partnership and community projects, for inclusion in the cultural program with which Burgas, supported by the region, will apply for the title of European Capital of Culture in 2032.

MedSEA is an international project that focuses on socially engaged art practices as tools for empowering communities in remote areas of the Mediterranean.

Cáceres 2031 Launches International Call for Rural Labs for Artistic Residencies in Rural Extremadura. The pilot project will select European and international artists to undertake residencies in Extremadura during 2026

An institutional delegation comprising representatives of the 2025 European Capitals of Culture – including the Mayor of Gorizia, Rodolfo Ziberna; the Mayor of Nova Gorica, Samo Turel; the director of ECoC projects in Chemnitz, Josephine Hage – took part in a day of meetings and institutional activities in Skopje in recent days, with the aim of sharing the results achieved and making expertise and experience available to support Skopje’s bid for the title of European Capital of Culture 2028.

In October 2025, the results of the ECoC 2030 competition for cities from non-EU countries were announced — it emerged that Lviv had not been awarded the title.

EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee has begun accepting applications for this year’s (April–March 2027) travel support program, “Mobility Support.”

The Oviedo CUP joins the bid for Oviedo to become European Capital of Culture 2031 with an initiative that goes beyond sport and reinforces one of the project’s core values: “amabilidá” (kindness) as a collective principle.

In 2033, following the successful experience of Matera 2019, it will once again be Italy’s turn to designate the European Capital of Culture. The call for applications from the Italian Ministry of Culture has not yet been published and, in all likelihood and in keeping with tradition, is expected to be released six years in advance, meaning sometime between the end of this year and the middle of next year.