Russian democracy advocate Yulia Navalnaya is the international keynote speaker at Kulturmødet Mors, which opens Thursday in Nykøbing Mors. Her appearance is part of a new, more international program built with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
DR reports that guests at this year’s Kulturmødet Mors meet a far more international program than in previous years. The festival’s director, Caspar Ryttergaard, attributes the shift to a new collaboration with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The stated aim is to give Danes a better understanding of what is happening elsewhere in the world.
Navalnaya is scheduled to speak on Thursday evening. She is the widow of Russian opposition politician Aleksej Navalnyj, who died in a Russian prison camp in 2024. According to DR, Ryttergaard says the program touches on serious agendas, including freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and artistic freedom in Denmark.
Ryttergaard also told DR that culture is central to people understanding one another. He said the festival cannot discuss art and culture only in a Danish context, and that the international program brings the world inside.
Program and scale
A Kulturmødet Mors press release distributed by Ritzau on August 10 confirms Navalnaya as the international keynote speaker. She will deliver a keynote and then take part in a conversation on democracy, culture and resilience. The organizers describe the session as part of a strengthened international program built around global voices.
A separate program announcement from the organizers states that the festival runs from August 20 to 22 in Nykøbing Mors, with more than 500 program items and free admission. The themes this year are listed as Demokrati & Opbrud, Forandringskraft, Kunstnerliv and Fremtid & Forretning. The organizers say more than 37,000 guests took part in 2025.
Tidende reports, based on the same press release, that Navalnaya is expected to speak about the defense of democracy and authoritarian tendencies. The outlet specifies that Aleksej Navalnyj died in a prison camp in Siberia in February 2024. It also notes that former prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen will join a conversation on European security, international alliances and geopolitical change.
The European Commission Representation in Denmark is promoting the session under the title Globalt udsyn: Yulia Navalnaya. It describes her as a prominent voice for democracy and human rights, and says the conversation will address her experience with authoritarian forces and current challenges facing Europe.
According to the organizers’ press release, the international part of the program was strengthened this year to highlight democracy, freedom and human rights. The release frames the focus as a response to a world marked by war and upheaval, and points to the role of art within it. The festival continues through Saturday.
