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Connecting Creative Youth in Africa and Europe
This May, as part of the EU-funded ArtXchange project, 20 artists from Africa and Europe will meet in Rome for a 6-day workshop leading to the co-creation of a final event to be showcased at Palazzo Merulana on Sunday 8th of May 2022 from 12.00 to 20.00.
The artists’ residency will also be an opportunity for a series of events exploring the subject of integration through art, creativity and cultural enterprise.
5 May h.11.00am
Press conference
5 May h. 5.00pm
Panel by CISP
Culture, social coesion and employment. The experience of Agadez – Niger
6 May h.5.00pm
Panel by CoopCulture
GoDown | Merulana. Cultural and creative enterprises between innovation and sustainability
8 May from h.12.00 to 5.00pm
Performance-installation INTO THE MIRROR
20 African and European artists in the footsteps of Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Third Paradise
All events will be held at Palazzo Merulana, Via Merulana 121, Rome. FREE ENTRANCE
Exploring the role of arts in the society, both from a personal and collective perspective, the artists will devise a performance-installation entitled Into the Mirror - 20 African and European artists in the footsteps of Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Third Paradise.
Inspired in part by the work and philosophy of Michelangelo Pistoletto and his Third Paradise and using the context of Rome as an inspirational ground, Into the Mirror relies on different artistic methodologies such as Body Mapping, Dance, Storytelling, Poetry, Music, Photography, Videos and Digital Art.
The process of co-creation enables artists to inscribe new and often omitted perspectives on their position and their role to play in this world, encompassing visions to explore meaningful participation in a more harmonious world. The process and production of these engaging works make the union possible between life and art where proximity and diversity are privileged.
The 20 artists between 20 and 35 years old and coming to Rome from Kenya, Somalia, Italy, Sweden, Spain and Turkey will be guided by facilitators and creative directors Maïmouna Jallow, Xavier Verhoest and Lorenzo Romito (they too, like the artists, of heterogeneous origins and experiences) who will use an experimental approach, putting together different methodologies and artistic disciplines offering opportunities for artists to create together new configurations of the world as a multi-layered space, a place where life experiences can be explored and translated artistically.
The event is organized within the project “ArtXchange: Connecting creative youth in Africa and Europe, co-funded by the European Union and part of the AU-EU Youth Cooperation Hub. The program focuses on enhancing the inclusion, empowerment and connection of youth in the creative sector in Africa and Europe by promoting collaboration, capacity building and exchanges.
ArtXchange is implemented by the International Committee for the Development of Peoples (CISP), in partnership with four partners from Kenya, Somalia, Italy and Sweden (Godown Arts centre, Somali Academy for Science and Arts, CoopCulture, Nätverkstan Kultur).
The project aims to achieve 3 key outcomes in its duration including: