Start: 2016
End: 2018
Partner: EUROPEAN ALTERNATIVES LIMITED LBG (UK) Non-governmental organisation/association/social enterprise
PERPETUUM MOBILE RY (Greece) Non-governmental organisation/association/social enterprise
ASOCIACION CULTURAL COMENZEMOS EMPEZEMOS (Spain) Non-governmental organisation/association/social enterprise
ATHENSYN (Germany) Civil Society Organisation
STATENS MUSEER FOR VARLDSKULTUR (Sweden) Museum
Action: Creative Europe Refugee Integration Projects
Summary:
Rebuild Refuge Europe proposed artistic and cultural activities bridging refugees and migrants and locals in Finland, Greece, Sweden, Germany and Spain, all converging to TRANSEUROPA Festival in October 2017 in Madrid, where the results of the project have been presented to an international and local audience of artists, cultural actors and activists and providing more opportunities for co-creation of solutions and actions.
Activities included artistic and cultural workshops in refugee camps and inside the city in Athens, storytelling workshops in Gothenburg and Malmö, Artists residencies in Germany, Finland and Greece, Exhibitions of works in Athens and Madrid, Books presentations throughout Europe and beyond, the realisation and diffusion of online artists and cultural actor’s talk shows on arts and migrations, in the form of Art Real videos, as well as interviews. They took place in prestigious institutions such as for instance Matadero (Madrid) and SAVVY contemporary in Berlin and at high visibility artistic events such as Athens Biennale and the Documenta in Athens in May 2017 as well as in venues that are not pin pointed as cultural venues and more informal settings such as refugee camps or community-run spaces such as Ingovernables (Madrid) for instance.
The projects outputs include 3 exhibitions, 2 in Athens and one in Madrid, 33 short storytelling videos of locals and migrants in Sweden, who tell the story of their hopes or gaps in their lives (iHopp and Mind the Gap), 10 video interviews with artists, academics and social activists related to the issue of arts and migrations, a general festival video and a trailer, a print magazine and a journal (all available online), 3 online talk shows on arts and migrations with artists and social actors migrants and local, one Transeuropa Festival, which atmosphere and content can be seen in a Festival Trailer and in the final video of the Festival.
Results are demonstrable at multiple levels: from bridging locals and newcomers (deep face to face exchange between locals and refugees, building of trust relationships), helping refugees with contacts with locals, showcasing co-creation of cultural work in exhibitions to a large audience of local and international artists as well as refugees and migrants, working with organisations from several different backgrounds and as a learning platform that foster respects and understanding for the values of diversity and openness.
Prestigious recognitions have been awarded to the results of the project, notably I Hopp videos were among the finalists for the Anna Lindh Foundation Euro-Med Dialogue Award (December 2017) and on 18 May 2018 it was presented at an event by the NGO Committee on Migration, organised together with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as a side event to the 4th round of negotiations on the Global Compact for Migration, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York (USA). The event highlighted eight good practices implemented in five different regions of the globe, which are aimed at combating xenophobia and promoting the social inclusion of migrants and refugees in their host communities, including #iHopp.
The partners are committed to continue together their efforts to promote the results of the project and to co-elaborate activities that build on acquired experience and propose a continuation to Rebuild Refuge Europe.