Gothenburg - kick off (2018)

This kick-off edition of Mind the Gap programme brought together a unique partnership between the World Culture Museum (Gothenburg) and Rosetta Arts (London) in the framework of the Tandem Europe programme. Both organisations were keen on elevating voices from minority groups in Gothenburg and London where both organisations are located. 

ADDRESSING SOCIAL GAPS THROUGH VISUAL ARTS

Today, local communities in Europe have fewer opportunities to meet individuals from other culturally-diverse communities, since the society is not structured to enable interaction across cultures, disciplines or generations. We believe that arts can facilitate dialogue and integration of newcomers by bridging gaps and improving mutual understanding with the native communities.

ACTIVITIES

Digital storytelling and civil courage workshop in Gothenburg 

In April 2018, the World Culture Museum in Gothenburg brought together local community members and newcomers to share stories about gaps in their lives. We aimed at creating a dialogue space for people from different cultural backgrounds to promote active citizenship and address gaps in our daily life.

Kiriaki Christoforidis led a storytelling workshop with the participants who later on filmed their stories about society, gender, generation, and identity gaps. 

We had a workshop on civil courage in collaboration with the Anna Lindh Foundation network member, Vardagens Civilkurage. By using role play, we explored how small acts and techniques can make a difference in our daily lives. We also had a storytelling workshop with Kiriaki Christoforidis. We filmed stories of different gaps in our lives related to society, gender, and personal challenges between the reality and the dreams.

Participants: Amjad Eshmawi, Khaled Alesmael, Rolf Sossna, Linea Kornum Rask, Rama Almett, Reham Abdul Salam, Ali Wassouf, and Abdulla Husseini.

Mindful Arts Workshops 

In March, the Anna Lindh Foundation network in Sweden organised two lunch seminars on Mindful Arts in collaboration with networks members: Tillt (Gothenburg) and STPLN (Malmö). During these workshops, Sanaz Amidi (CEO, Rosetta Arts) demonstrated how we can use visual arts to enhance our well-being and feel more present.

This kick-off phase of Mind the Gap programme was organised in the framework of Tandem Europe, an initiative developed by European Cultural Foundation and MitOst e.V.. together with Fondazione Cariplo with additional financial support from Robert Bosch Stiftung and Stavros Niarchos Foundation. It is implemented together with 4iS (Aveiro), COMM'ON (Athens) and Ideas Factory (Sofia).