FAIDRA – Family separation through immigration: dramatising anedoctal european history

Programme and call

Creative Europe – Call for European cooperation projects 2016

Short description

The project aims to tell, through documentary theatre, the stories of ordinary European families who have experienced immigration in different circumstances and periods of their country’s recent past. The separation and reunification, the adaptation to another culture, the rejection, the difficult search for a balance to reconcile work and family in two different countries and in a foreign context, the successes and failures, all this will be sewn together to create a joint theatrical performance, which will be staged in partner countries. In addition, the original documentation made available by the people involved will become the subject of a travelling exhibition on the theme of immigration and family separation, both for those who have been forced to live it, and for those who voluntarily decided to take up a life away from home.

InEuropa srl supports Teatro dei Venti in the management of the project.

Objectives

– develop the genre of documentary theatre using a variety of expressive forms such as acting, dance, stilts, storytelling, audiovisual and digital technology;

– create a multicultural artistic product that can circulate and be shared by a wide audience, following an audience development strategy aimed at specific target groups and the general public at European level, translating the products into 7 European languages;

– exploit the documentation collected during the project for educational purposes, addressing both young artists interested in documentary theatre and its artistic potential, and the general public, including students, who will learn more about intra-EU immigration, the social and European integration issues related to it and the interpretations and illustrations that art offers of this phenomenon.

 

Actions

The main activities of the project consist of:

– analytical research activities on the phenomenon of migration and family separation within 3 pairs of countries that have respectively sent and received migrants: Romania-Italy, Bulgaria-Greece, Poland-Sweden

– field research activities, interviewing immigrant communities and investigating the circumstances in which immigration took place and the positive and negative effects on their family life

– Theatre workshops in the 3 host countries (Greece, Sweden and Italy) involving immigrants in order to share their stories and create a draft story to represent.

– production of a joint show between the partners, formed by the stories produced by the 3 pairs of countries and united within a common scenario

– performance representation in Greece, Sweden and Bulgaria

– organisation of international seminars for artists and actors in all partner countries

– international exhibition on intra-European migration and family separation that collects all the materials produced in the initial research phase of the project. The exhibition will be mostly digital and therefore easily transferable and usable in different contexts (schools, municipalities, organizations, etc.).

 

Results

The main expected results are:

– improvement of the international cooperation and co-production skills of the artists involved and of their own skills in the following areas: documentary theatre, artists’ training and audience development. Increased opportunities for international mobility for artists and professionals to create a multicultural performance;

– Awareness raising and increase of public knowledge on intra-European migration and family separation, appreciation of the genre of documentary theatre and the social role of theatre as a tool to bring social issues to the attention and contribute to social cohesion;

– greater involvement of the public through innovative ICT technologies

– greater integration of migrant communities into the cultural activities of the host societies and their active involvement in the project activities.


Lead partner

CENTREDU – Centre of Higher Education in Theatre Studies (GR)


Partnership

The partnership is made up of 6 players from 6 different countries:

– Sagohuset Teater (SE)

– PRISMA (GR)

– Theatre of the Winds (IT)

– Pro-Rodopi Foundation (BG)

– Centrul Artemis (RO)

– Dobra Wolla Foundation (PL)

Duration

The project had a duration of 24 months (1 October 2016 – 30 September 2018)

Website

www.faidraproject.eu

Total Budget

The European grant received is €333 333,89

Funding body

European Commission – Directorate-General for Education and Culture