Story Time
Connecting People with the Power of Art (2016-2018)
Project Number: 579292-CREA-1-2016-1-HR-CULT-REFU
We build our worlds through stories. We need narratives to make sense of the world, we even weave the myriad of our own experiences into a story about who we are and where our place in the world is. Stories, legends and fairytales, build our moral framework and teach us the rules of coexistence. Stories we heard as children are deeply engraved into our unconscious and have impact on how we think, act and dream. Stories, literature – good literature, that is, also make us better able to connect with our fellow human beings. And stories we heard as children made us for the first time understand what others feel, how they think, how they are motivated.
The main aims of this project are:
- To foster the access to and the knowledge of the culture of the refugees in the host society, mainly for children and youth through stories from the countries of refugees
- To help children-refugees to access the European culture while still not speaking the language of the host countries through European children’s stories published in Arabic
- To foster the integration of refugees and eliminate the fear of the “other” through participation of children and youth in common illustration workshops and other events for the public
- Create new works of art, which arise from the dialog between artists from different cultures and represent new interpretations of traditional motives as well as question our values in the light of the migrant crisis
Bringing together 5 organisations with distinct experiences, working in different fields of art and education, all highly competent in their fields, provides an excellent opportunity to create innovative contents, bring art into different aspects of education and take education into account when creating art - all together in order to help the integration of migrants into host societies and create a more open society, which is ready to accept new cultures as a part of Europe.
Exhibition "In/On the Way":
Story Time emphasizes the significance of knowing the cultural histories of various nations and milieus, for it is precisely this knowledge that represents the first common point on the way towards under- standing other cultures arriving in Europe with migratory flows. The invited artists will reinterpret cultural histories and cultural contexts from both European and Arabic worlds. They will emphasise questions related to postulates such as humanity, peace, war, good and evil, and, at the same time, they will interrogate the role of the individual and thus also the individual’s responsibility towards fellow human beings. The invited artists will convene workshops in pairs. In the workshops, they will use dialogue to develop new interpretations of traditional motifs in the light of the migrant crisis. Although some of the presented artworks touch upon global issues, most of the participating artists approach the topic from the individual’s position and experience of the present situation. The artists will present their working methods and the issues they have been tackling as well as the starting points for the newly conceived works, which will be included in the Story Time exhibition (12. 10., KGLU), which will be on display under the umbrella title of In/On the Way.
Landhaushof
Herrengasse 16, A-8010 Graz
April 13 - April 20, 2018
Evangelische Pfarrgemeinde Graz-Heilandskirche
Kaiser-Josef-Platz 9, A-8010 Graz
May 14 - May 28, 2018
Free entry!
