OARA - Office Artistique de la Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Name

OARA - Office Artistique de la Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Legal name

Office Artistique de la Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Website

https://oara.fr

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Performing Arts Support / Cultural Development Services

NAICS

Performing Arts Companies (7111), Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures (71141), Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures (7114)

akta.pro primary industry

Performing Arts Organizations (Theater, Dance, Opera, Music) (BPAGAHAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Performing Arts Centers & Presenters (Programming/Booking) (MPAGABAM), Artist Booking, Talent Buying & Agency Services (MPAGAAAF), Full-Service Artist Management (MPAIAGAA)

Keywords

• Regional cultural agency
• Performing arts support
• Artist residencies
• Cultural coproduction
• Live performance funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Bordeaux

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Public funding: OARA is primarily funded by the Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine (main funder) and also supported by the Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles (DRAC) de Nouvelle-Aquitaine. As an association loi 1901, it does not generate commercial revenue from ticket sales.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

OARA provides comprehensive support to live performance (spectacle vivant) in Nouvelle-Aquitaine through coproduction financing (~30 new creations per season), writing grants (€3,500 bourses à l'écriture for playwrights and composers), paid artist residencies (over 1,200 days annually across in-house MÉCA spaces and regional territories), and diffusion aids (touring subsidies and pre-purchases supporting nearly 3,000 co-produced representations per season). It also organizes professional encounters, artist salons, and the annual Rentrée de l'OARA gathering of 400+ cultural stakeholders.

Product overview

OARA (Office Artistique de la Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine) is the regional cultural development agency of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Council operating within the spectacle vivant (live performance) sector. It is not a technology product company; its offering consists of cultural support programs organized under several named initiatives and operational tools. The core programs include Coproductions (co-producing ~30 new creations per season), Writing Grants (bourses à l'écriture, ~30 grants of €3,500 per season for dramatic and musical writing), Residences (over 1,200 paid residency days across the region and at its in-house MÉCA spaces), Diffusion Aid (nearly 3,000 co-production representations per season), and Professional Encounters (seminars, colloquia, artist salons). Named special initiatives include METAscène (immersive visual and sound experience at the MÉCA), Objectif 13 (ecological transition support), and Démocratie (delegated theatrical production). OARA's digital tools include a professional portal (Espace Pro) for event registration, an online events calendar, published season programs via Calameo, downloadable communication and technical kits, and METAscène — a digital/artistic project using the ossia.io platform for interactive intermedia composition and spatial audio. The organization operates under entrepreneur of spectacles licenses (categories 1, 2, 3) from its 3,600 m² premises inside the MÉCA cultural building in Bordeaux.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Coproductions
• Bourses à l'écriture dramatique et musicale (Writing Grants)
• Résidences (Artist Residencies)
• Aides à la diffusion (Diffusion Support)
• Rencontres professionnelles (Professional Encounters)
• METAscène
• Objectif 13
• Démocratie! – Production Déléguée OARA
• Espace Pro (Professional Portal)

Quantifiable outcome

• 62 soutiens à la création, 370 compagnies & artistes soutenus, 2141 aides à la diffusion (2025)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature2 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• La CollaborativecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 July 2025La Collaborative unites five regional cultural development agencies: Agence culturelle Grand Est, OARA Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie en scène, ODIA Normandie, and Spectacle vivant en Bretagne. Created in 2016, it works on augmenting regional cultural policies, diffusing works, and supporting artistic teams. OARA participates in joint events including the Festival d'Avignon gathering and the BIS de Nantes. The collaborative also runs 'Objectif 13', a research-action initiative for ecological transition in live performance.
• ALCA (Agence du livre, du cinéma et de l'audiovisuel)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerALCA shares the MÉCA building with OARA and FRAC. They co-organize events including the European Heritage Days and professional programs. OARA partners with ALCA on residencies, such as at Chalet Mauriac in Saint-Symphorien for writing residencies.
• FRAC Nouvelle-Aquitaine MÉCAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFRAC Nouvelle-Aquitaine MÉCA co-hosts the MÉCA building with OARA and ALCA. They jointly organize European Heritage Days and other cultural events, sharing the venue's public programming.
• Région Nouvelle-AquitainecoreOthersPrimary funder of OARA. The Conseil régional de Nouvelle-Aquitaine established OARA as its cultural agency to augment regional cultural policy in live performance. OARA is installed in a building (MÉCA) provided by the Region.
• DRAC Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles)majorOthersDirection Régionale des Affaires Culturelles provides supplementary funding and institutional support to OARA, representing the national government in cultural policy implementation.
• SCRIME / LaBRI - Université de BordeauxcoreTechnology or IntegrationSCRIME (Studio de Recherche et de Création en Informatique et Musiques Expérimentales) at LaBRI collaborated with OARA on METAscène, using the ossia.io platform and ossia score sequencer developed at the university. Myriam Desainte-Catherine serves as scientific director. The project integrates 50-speaker spatial audio and 3 semi-transparent screens.
• ONISEPminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOARA collaborated with ONISEP to organize the Semaine des Métiers de la Culture at the MÉCA in March 2025, hosting 300+ secondary school students to discover careers in culture.
• Association Beaumarchais (implied)minorOthersOARA aligns its writing grant practices with Association Beaumarchais conventions for bursary amounts and usage norms in the French theatre ecosystem.
• Contrat Régional de Filière (CRF) des métiers de la Culture 2024-2028 contributorsmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner18 institutional contributors including Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, OARA, and cultural sector organizations signed the Contract for the cultural professions sector (2024-2028) covering axes of attractivity, skills, employment, and observation.
• HACNUM - Réseau national des arts hybrides et cultures numériquesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHACNUM co-organized a professional seminar at Festival Tek A(rt) 2025 alongside OARA and DRAC, focusing on hybrid arts and digital cultures.
• ALCA (writing residency partnership - Chalet Mauriac)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with ALCA for writing residencies at Chalet Mauriac in Saint-Symphorien (33), as well as La Maison des Écritures in La Rochelle (17) and La Métive in Moutier-d'Ahun (23).
• Festival Fest'arts - LibournemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner35-year-old festival in Libourne supported by OARA with 20 representations during the festival. A key arts de la rue festival in Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
• Festival Le nombril du monde - Pougne-HérissonmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBiennial festival since 1990 dedicated to arts of the word and storytelling, supported by OARA with 22 representations.
• Festival Musicalarue - LuxeymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner36th edition of festival with 70 music groups and 20 street arts companies, supported by OARA with 13+ representations.
• Fest. Imaginieul - Nieul (87)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPuppetry festival organized by association Aurora at Château de Nieul, supported by OARA with 16+ representations.
• Festival Petits et Grands - NantesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBiennial youth theatre festival in Nantes with OARA supporting 21 representations by Nouvelle-Aquitaine companies (out of 90 total representations).

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• DRAC Nouvelle-Aquitaine: State-level cultural administration that co-funds OARA and coordinates national cultural policy in the region. Not a direct competitor, but a key funder and governance counterpart shaping OARA's operating envelope.

Direct peers

• ONDA - Office National de Diffusion Artistique: National agency supporting touring of performing arts works in France. Direct functional peer in the diffusion-aid dimension, complementing OARA's regional mandate with national-level touring support.
• ARTCENA: National resource center for theater in France, focused on artist support, documentation, and sectoral analysis. Comparable in mission (advancing live performance companies) but operates at national rather than regional level.
• Agence culturelle Grand Est: Sister regional cultural development agency for the Grand Est region, co-founder of La Collaborative alongside OARA. Operates an equivalent mission of coproduction, residency, and diffusion support for live performance companies in its territory.
• ODIA Normandie: Normandy's regional office for live performance diffusion and support. La Collaborative partner with an identical toolkit of coproduction, residency, and touring aid for regional artists.
• Occitanie en scène: Regional cultural agency for Occitanie, fellow La Collaborative member. Directly comparable mission (coproduction, touring, professional encounters) and leads the cross-regional Objectif 13 ecological-transition initiative with OARA.
• Spectacle vivant en Bretagne: Bretagne regional agency supporting live performance companies. Fifth La Collaborative member, providing the same family of services to artists in its territory and joining OARA at joint events such as BIS de Nantes.

Broad incumbents

• FRAC Nouvelle-Aquitaine MÉCA: Regional contemporary art fund co-located in the MÉCA building. Not a performing-arts agency, but a peer institution sharing the venue and jointly programming European Heritage Days with OARA.
• ALCA - Agence Livre, Cinéma et Audiovisuel Nouvelle-Aquitaine: Co-located agency inside the MÉCA building alongside OARA. Broader scope (books, cinema, audiovisual) but adjacent mission and shared infrastructure; runs the Chalet Mauriac writing residency with OARA.
• Institut français: National operator for French cultural outreach abroad. Indirectly comparable as a public-sector cultural agency supporting artistic touring, including live performance, beyond France's borders.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/OARAquitaine
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCiHz0ukj5VJAOtkwfbjElvQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/169845186527769
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/oara-office-artistique-de-la-r%C3%A9gion-nouvelle-aquitaine
• Instagraminstagram.com/oara.nouvelleaquitaine

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about OARA - Office Artistique de la Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine