LEAD ORGANIZATION
Independent Theater Hungary

COLLABORATING PARTNERS
Rampa Prenestina (Italy)
The Roma Actors Association – Giuvlipen (Romania)
A. C. para La I+D Independiente Del Teatro Profesional En Andalucía (Spain)

Roma Heroes in the Streets of European Cities
June 2021 – February 2023

We, four Romani theater companies working in the fields of art and education in Budapest, Rome, Bucharest, and Seville, will bring theater and workshops to the streets of our cities. We will gather innovative methods such as open-air theater, street performances, themed city walks, and storytelling, and we will document the fundamental building blocks of these methods. These will be used in our artistic and educational work and inspire the efforts of other initiatives in these fields.

We will collect stories that highlight the role of Romani communities in the past and present of our cities, emphasizing the importance of inclusive, diverse, and democratic societies, while also underlining the dangers of segregation and authoritarian regimes. Based on these stories, we will create theatrical performances that will be presented in outdoor shows at public spaces relevant to the stories.

We will involve 4 young Romani and non-Romani artists from each country (ages 16-35) in the design and execution of the performances. They will also receive national offline and international online training. The performances will serve as multiplier events, reaching young people and cultural and educational experts, involving a total of 400 people (mainly aged 14-30, plus experts).

The performances will be video recorded to make them available to a wider European audience and future generations, as well as for non-formal educational methods.

SUL PROGETTO

In the second phase of the project, we will involve 4 peer trainers (ages 16-30) from both Romani and non-Romani backgrounds in each country. These trainers will receive both national and international training and will participate in the creation of the methodology, followed by the implementation of outdoor workshops. These workshops will include interactive sessions that incorporate videos of performances and other digital tools. These workshops will also serve as multiplier events in each partner country, reaching young people and experts. All partners will summarize their educational methods along with their theatrical works, videos of performances, and digital tools into their national intellectual outputs.

The young artists and trainers will gain successful skills and experiences in creative, interethnic, cooperative work, increasing their career prospects while also developing their attitudes towards inclusive societies based on active participation.

The attitudes of young people towards the Romani community and active citizenship will improve, and experts will gain new methods and inspiration for their work. Our activities and outcomes will reach 100,000 European citizens through (social) media and will help shape attitudes towards Romani communities – the largest and most marginalized ethnic minority in the EU – as well as develop non-formal educational and artistic practices in various fields. By highlighting the stories of Romani individuals and communities, along with the values of Romani dramaturgy and theater, Romani history and culture will become an integral part of European cultural heritage. We will empower Romani communities and youth, while also encouraging members of the majority to act as instruments of inclusion when they recognize that we all live in the cities of a common continent, where our interests are similar to those of others, especially fellow citizens, regardless of their background.

THE PROGRAM IS SUPPORTED BY THE ERASMUS+ PROGRAM OF THE EUROPEAN UNION.