- Act!
Project “Act!” was implemented in Timisoara, Romania, by the Intercultural Institute Timisoara, in partnership with Timis County Teachers Training Office and with Association Casa Plai, with financial support from the Municipality of Timisoara, between May and November 2016.
The purpose of the project was to build the capacity of highschool pupils and teachers to constructively articulate their needs related to the problems they are facing, through forum theatre.
In the first phase of the project, a previously constructed forum theatre play was performed in 10 highschools in Timisoara, by a group of highschool pupils. After the forum, in each highschool a workshop was organised, to familiarise pupils and teachers with forum theatre. In the second phase of the project, a new group was formed and a new forum theatre play was developed. The new play, called “Hat!” (meaning something like “Gotcha!”) spoke about the use of drugs in schools by the pupils and the teachers’ need to intervene positively.
The project brought forum theatre to over 700 pupils in Timisoara, in 10 highschools and created an online community of over 200 people interested in forum theatre as a method of promoting solidarity through art and integrated communities.
- NICeR
Project NICeR (Nouvelle approche pour renforcer l’Intégration Culturelle des jeunes Réfugiés) is a European Commission co-funded project coordinated by CIOFS-FP Italy and developed in partnership with organisations from seven countries (including Intercultural institute Timisoara) with the aim to elaborate a new approach to the integration of refugees at the local level.
In the framework of the project, local artistic performances will be organised in the first half of 2017, involving groups of young refugees and non-refugees who will work toghether to create various artistic shows.
In Timisoara, AIDRom is coordinating the production of Timisoara Refugee Art Festival (TRAF), which will unite 30 young people (15 refugees and 15 non-refugees) who will work together in smaller groups to create a forum theatre play, a music concert, an exhibition of photography/paintings, a movie projection, a live installation re-creating the route of a refugee (in a smaller scale, of course) and maybe other forms of art, all under the frame of solidarity with refugees in Europe and worldwide. In the preparation of the festival, the group will participate at the beginning of February in a 7-day winter camp where they will be introduced to several artistic methods of expression.
The festival is growing fast, as many local artists and activists have put forward their voluntary support to the cause and their willingness to contribute to such an initiative.