Strengthening dialogue in Roma settlements with the help of new type of artistic workshops

In today’s Hungarian society, integrated communities are scarce, consequently cooperation between the Roma and non-Roma communities is even harder to find. In villages where there is no common workplace, community activities are rare, education is segregated, or actually the whole village is only inhabited by Roma, it is immensely hard to build bridges between the two separately existing worlds. People living in remote settlements have very few opportunities for gaining access to cultural goods. In the meantime, there are new artistic, cultural initiatives that have proven in the past years to have the ability of reaching these excluded communities.

While planning the project, beside problems deriving from employment hardships, infrastructural insufficiency and the lack of basic social welfare structures, we had to face the lack of community programs that would give an opportunity to ’spend time in a useful way’. According to our experience, even if there was a community center or common space, cultural programs available in these settlements are usually only about passive reception, instead of active participation, and Roma-non- Roma cooperation is not often to be seen.

In the settlements that we reached, we started new types of art programs, the aim of which was to activate the communities, draw members closer to each other. By these programs we try to convince local communities, leaders and institutions that common art activities can build hope and give an opportunity for new, sustainable and cooperative communities to evolve, and new cultural traditions to be created. Through this, new prospects can become available for these communities.

Roma and non-Roma pupils between the ages of 6 and 16 are our most important target group in all of the villages taking part in the programme. Apart from them, we also take efforts to include adults that are excluded from social discourse and local discussions, who are usually uneducated, unable to leave the village on a regular basis, but who would be willing to participate actively in a program like this. One of our highest priorities is to create mixed groups throughout the activities, making Roma and non-Roma work together.

We make video and photo documentation of all the activities that take place between fall 2016 and spring 2017. Each activity set consists of 9-10 occasions, that means twice a week 4-5 hours of occupation for those taking part. As part of the process in the villages, we choose local helpers and prepare them for the community work that is needed to be done between the activities and following the actual project period. This enables our other goal, that is to maintain these initiatives with the help of cultural public workers and outside mentors, even after the project period has finished.

Art activities by form: photography, film, drama-and forum theatre, motion, circus, literature/creative writing/poetry/slam poetry, story telling, landart, stencil, community music/conductor game.

Locations: Babócsa, Bakonya, Báta, Bolhás, Homrogd, Ináncs, Kazár, Karancslapujtő, Kővágószőlős, Kálmáncsa, Szuhogy.

Art works created in the project

Short films

Music

The village, where i live (acoustic version, Give Youngsters a Voice!, Homrogd)

The village, where i live (electronic version, Give Youngsters a Voice!, Homrogd)

Recycled voices of Bakonya (NatureArt, Bakonya)

Photos

Financial background of the project

Through EGT Funds and Norwegian Funds Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway contribute to the reduction of the inequalities of society, and to the strengthening of bilateral relations with the beneficiary countries in Europe. These three countries closely cooperate with the EU through the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement. During the 2009-2014 period the EEA Funds and Norvegian Funds grants reached 1,79 billion euros. 97% of the whole sum is from the Norvegian contribution. Beneficiaries of these grants are NGOs, research centers and higher education institutions, and entities of the public and private sector in the 12 recently accessed EU countries, plus in Greece, Portugal and Spain. There is a wide cooperation with the authorities of the donor states. The main areas of support are environment and climate change, research and scholarships, civil society, health care and children, gender equality, justice and cultural heritage. The current project receives funding through the tender called Fostering of the Roma-non- Roma intercultural dialogue.

The fostering local dialogue in Roma villages with new types of art programs receives 120.205,75 EUR of fund from Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norvegian Funds. The budget of the whole project is 134.138,63 EUR.

DONOR

www.eeagrants.org, norvegalap.hu