PROJECT

ABSTRACT

ABC (Arts/Borders/Communities) – The Alphabet of Love is a major project consisting of a complex program of actions aimed at developing cross-border and multidisciplinary artistic activities, with the aim of experimenting with and improving cultural and social practices and methodologies, focusing on the concept and practice of hospitality. It is coordinated by Eufonía (Italy), in collaboration with Instytut Im. Jerzego Grotowskiego (Poland), Aykart (Tunisia), University Institute of Dance "Alicia Alonso" with the specific name of the Dance Foundation of the same name, which hosts the Spanish Delegation of the World Organization for Performing Arts/UNESCO, the presidency of the IDC/UNESCO and is a member of the Executive Council of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chair of Universities and Higher Centers of Higher Artistic Education, affiliated with the URJC (Spain), JU Muzeji i Galerije Podgorice (Montenegro), AVR Lab of the Department of Innovation Engineering of the University of Salento (Italy). The project has been developed in Italy, Spain, Tunisia, Poland and Montenegro for more than 3 years.

 

The value and culture of hospitality, in its many forms and traditions, is the foundation of this project, which develops a rich system of actions based on three fundamental pillars: 3) the creation of an international trilogy of theatrical performances featuring performers, dancers, musicians, and extended reality experts from all over Europe, inspired by three classic works by the Greek playwright Aristophanes; 1) the circulation of the three international productions presented in renowned theaters and important archaeological and heritage sites in five different countries, and the creation of five Spatial Augmented Reality installations in the cities involved in the five countries; 2) the creation of five International Host Labs in five countries, consisting of a seven-month program of in-person activities and hospitality for foreign artists and artistic works.

 

Artists are part of a community in dialogue with the people, they have voices that come from afar, linking the past with the present and creating a dialogue for the future, a voice, an alphabet of love, that can contrast the cycle of violence.

 

The project will develop its main activities in several target cities that are at the heart of its transformative power: in San Cesario and Lecce (Italy), in Le Kef, Maktar and Dougga (UNESCO headquarters) in Tunisia, in Oleśnica (Poland), in Peguerinos (an enclave in the Sierra de Guadarrama in Madrid), San Lorenzo de El Escorial an enclave within the Monte de Abantos, in Fuenlabrada, Móstoles and Madrid Capital (Spain) in Podgorica (Montenegro) and as a guest country in Spain, Kenya.

 

Background and objectives

 

The overall objective is in line with the Programme's objective of "safeguarding, developing and promoting European cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage" with regard to inclusion, diversity, gender equality, and environmental sustainability.

 

1 objective. Strengthen the creation and transnational circulation of European works and artists, enabling artists, operators, creatives, playwrights, digital technology experts, local and immigrant communities to live a extensive hospitality experience, welcome and be welcomed, and develop complex creative processes, skills and knowledge, provoking experiences oriented towards the Conflict transformation, interculturality, the promotion of diversity and responding with resilience to current social problems.

 

2 objective. To safeguard, develop, and promote European cultural, linguistic, and dramatic diversity and heritage by carrying out activities in five countries: three European Union countries (Italy, Spain, and Poland), one candidate country (Montenegro), and one neighboring country (Tunisia). Artists from all these countries participate.

In ABC (Arts/Borders/Communities) – The Alphabet of Love, the communities of each population involved will share and create their own stories. phylloxenia, as its etymology suggests (the love of the stranger), is at the heart of the project's construction. Inspired by ancient rituals of hospitality, when in ancient Greek philosophy and culture the concept of protection and friendly treatment of strangers was considered of utmost importance, the project engages communities with the tools of the performing arts, not only exploring elements of their own cultural heritage, but also welcoming and receiving other cultures.

 

In this process, community members have the opportunity to interact with different cultures and share their own stories. Communities are at the heart of the International Host Labs. (IHL – International laboratories for each guest – international workshops). Furthermore, artists will explore, inspire, and participate in this life experience. The project focuses on the concept, value, and philosophy of "hospitality," and will implement an impressive program that will become a grand experience based on these three main pillars:

 

• A major international theatrical production, coordinated by Eufonia (ITALY), in collaboration with AVR Lab – Innovation Engineering Department, which will consist of a trilogy which will include 3 international theatre productions with the participation of artists from all over Europe and Tunisia (this pillar is aimed at achieving Specific Objective 1 “Creation and transnational circulation”).
• An international touring program for the production in five countries, dedicated to hosting the production, followed by a conference and five Spatial Augmented Reality installations in significant locations.
• The realization of 5 International Host Labs (ILHs) in Poland, Montenegro, Tunisia, Spain and Italy, each lasting 7 months (2 months of audience engagement actions + 5 months of implementation), coordinated by the local partner and consisting of a program of:
  1. Artistic activities with communities, 3 Open Space Technology meetings (technology in open spaces), 5 community laboratories lasting 5 months, 1 citizen production lasting 5 months, 6 local artistic performances.
  2. Hospitality activities with international artists and productions (1 International Drama Residency, with the hospitality of foreign playwrights, 2 international residencies coordinated by international companies/artists, 5 intensive international workshops, 6 international shows – “Strengthening the circulation of international productions”).
  3. A final three-day Arts Fest, consisting of demonstrations of work carried out with local communities and support for small, spontaneous projects by or suggested by citizens.

 

The activities are correlated, evenly distributed, and spread over time, oriented toward social inclusion, with significant involvement of local communities. Regarding the point No. 1, the theatrical trilogy (3 international multilingual theatre productions) to be produced, based on the joint work of a group of international artists, will be performed in the 5 countries involved.

 

The first of the trilogy will be presented in Italy and Montenegro, the second in Spain and Tunisia, and the third, towards the end of the project, in Poland and Italy. The embrace of cultural and linguistic diversity is at the heart of the project's activities, a plurality of cultures and languages ​​that constitute the richness of our societies, countering the tendency of conflictual thinking that simplifies and reduces it to monoculturalism.

 

The cradle of cultural diversity is the path to openness to differences, to embracing diversity as our very nature. The mission of culture is to promote processes of recognition and promotion of plurality in all its forms. Activities aim to highlight the complexity of one's own cultural heritage and the intangible cultural heritage of the guest, who will be welcomed on a path marked by artistic and expressive freedom, exchange, interculturality and respect, and personal and communal growth.

 

A very comprehensive program will be implemented mobility of artistsEach IHL and program tour will host artists from the other four countries. This will allow project partners and artists to develop skills, initiate new and important collaborations, express their potential abroad, and develop their work and businesses in an international and intercultural dimension. During the Local Workshop, the city, the town, and the region become the focus of international activities.

 

Promote social resilience and enhance social inclusion through culture, particularly for people belonging to minorities and people belonging to socially marginalized groups, as well as intercultural dialogue. Activities will engage individuals and communities in theater, music, dance, and the visual arts, considering art as a primary vehicle for encounter, social inclusion, confrontation, respect, and the enhancement of diversity and sustainability. Participation and collaboration among partners, artists, cultural operators, communities, marginalized people, migrants, prisoners, and people with diverse abilities can give new, living meaning to ecological and intercultural performing arts practices and new sectors of intervention relevant to societies.

 

The project's international production trilogy focuses on theatrical works and masterpieces A Parliament of Women, Peace, Women in the Thesmophoria, by the ancient Greek comic playwright Aristophanes, works that in their completeness and complexity embrace the multiple facets of the project and concentrate it in a process of reflection on the search for social inclusion, justice and peace.

 

The ABC Project, The Alphabet of Love, is based on the conviction that artists must always be driven by a firm awareness that what they do is an action oriented toward sharing, plurality, hospitality, an action of resistance, capturing and transmitting the vital importance of those primary needs that nourish their work from the root. The Alphabet of Love allows us to deal with fear, overcome the fear of otherness; the power of creative exchange can make people feel together in that special place that is the theater, which is not disconnected from everyday life. An Alphabet of Love, which is not a banal declaration of intentions, but rather the deepest essence of the arts: the expression of feelings, free critical thinking, the catharsis of emotions, including violence.

 

Priorities

 

The cultural sector plays an essential role in leading progress toward a more sustainable future, addressing contemporary failings such as climate change and environmental issues. At the heart of ABC is the idea of ​​welcoming artists, communities, and "strangers" into our homes, rebuilding our "oikos," our cities, and also establishing different approaches to our relationship with the nature of our places. Nature is our home, which needs protection and a new way of listening to what it can teach us. To achieve this, the interdisciplinary knowledge of experienced artists, environmentalists, cultural practitioners, and engineers could be significant.

 

Participants will explore the cultural and natural heritage of the sites through the practice of Social and Community Theatre. Many of the planned performances will take place in site-specific, open-air venues with zero environmental impact, fostering artistic practices that seek out nature even in degraded landscapes, viewing the archipelago of leftover lands not as useless remnants but as a territory of vast potential. The project's environmental strategy is aligned with the European Green Deal for a more sustainable and inclusive future where communities play an important role in the co-creation of spaces.

 

The AVR group will play an important role in combining the advantages of technology in eco-activities, utilizing its significant experience in natural and cultural heritage, which creates a bridge between people and their environment and drastically reduces the impacts of props/scenery, “using” the environment as a natural set and making use of only props made of natural materials that are completely plastic-free. No loud music will be played in natural environments.

 

The goal is to harmoniously integrate performances into the natural environment with a zero-impact approach. The partners involved (Grotowski Institute, Alicia Alonso Foundation, and Aykart) inspire their own theatrical physical training activities with the idea of ​​Grotowski's Fountain Technique and Fountain Theatre, in relation to Zen, connected to the body, which is our primary, "natural" oikos, with actions and movements in nature. These techniques have two aspects: they are dramatic, due to their organic nature (and therefore performative), and they are ecological because they are "linked to the forces of life, […] the living world" (Grotowski).

 

Participating partners will create a green memo for internal and external greening (already experienced in other projects and which will become part of our ordinary behaviors (Greening the Creative Europe), with a list of eco-sustainable actions that participants will respect during the workshops, labs, and the tour: use of eco-friendly materials: participants will be required to use materials that are less harmful to the environment, such as recycled paper, bamboo, and natural fibers; reduce energy consumption: they are required to reduce energy consumption by turning off lights and electronic devices when not in use (rehearsals will be held whenever possible in natural, phone-free spaces), using low-energy bulbs, natural light when possible; all teams will be required to encourage sustainable behavior among crew and public by providing recycling bins and promoting green initiatives; educate themselves and each other about the impacts of their actions and ways to reduce the environmental footprint; implement recycling and composting; use eco-friendly transportation such as cycling, walking, public transportation; cohabitation to share resources; Use spaces also shared by the PPs to share resources; support local and organic food, favoring seasonal, zero-mile products; use digital platforms for promotion and distribution, reducing the need for paper and other materials; incorporate eco-sustainability topics where a specific focus on sustainable aspects is required.

 

Gender, inclusion, diversity and representation.

 

ABC focuses on the concept of hospitality. One of the pillars of European cultures (and not only, if we think of the great Berber and Arab Tunisian tradition) is hospitality. The Italian word "ospite" derives from the Latin "hospes," which in turn shares a root with "hostis," enemy: the former indicates a "favorable" foreigner, the latter a "hostile" one, but the Latin grammarian Sesto Pompeo Festus defined "hostes" as foreigners with the same rights as Roman citizens, giving the verb "hostire" the meaning of "to reciprocate."

 

Among the Romans, hospitality acquired a normative dimension through the formalization of the "tessera hospitalis," which indicated the names of the host and the guest: the former guaranteed the latter's right to enter Rome and receive the same treatment in return in the host city of origin. Through hospitality, ABC invites us to embrace diversity and promote equality. The situation regarding gender equality and diversity inclusion remains serious in all destination countries.

 

Combat violence in any social manifestation, discrimination in any form, especially when it affects fundamental human rights. The European Commission has implemented multiple mechanisms to combat social inequalities, and one of these is through the performing arts, combating the stereotypes that characterize certain social behaviors within a framework of respect for differences in pursuit of equitable integration among human beings that transcends ideologies and strengthens respect for the cultural traditions inherent to each culture.   

 

Participants will explore different experiences that will lead them to artistically cross boundaries and stereotypes, promoting inclusion and diversity within a framework of mutual respect.

 

• Gender balance, based on talent.
• Equal economic treatment for equal tasks among all genders.
• Inclusion, ensuring that all cast and crew members feel welcome and valued, and actively working to create a positive and inclusive environment. This includes providing training on issues related to diversity, inclusion, and unconscious bias, and ensuring everyone feels safe to be their authentic selves. We have planned each IHL to have a specific focus on social issues. There are planned collaborative performances celebrating the diversity of sexual identities and workshops with people with diverse abilities, and activities on mental health, functional mobility, or violence prevention for youth and adults with a specific target number of beneficiaries.
• Diversity by choosing actors and actresses from different cultural backgrounds who can bring new perspectives to the project.
• Representativeness and active listening, consultation, and partnership with organizations working to promote equality among people with functional or intellectual disabilities. Follower feedback ensures ongoing discussions with gender equality organizations.

ABC contributes to creating a project that reflects the diversity of the community and creates an inclusive and respectful environment that welcomes and values ​​the contributions of all.

 

The ABC is based on the methodology of Social and Community Theatre (SCT). It will offer an important path aimed at increasing practical and theoretical knowledge about it. Eufonia and the participating partners have been developing specific knowledge for the past 30 years or more, aimed at sustainability, social inclusion, gender equality, and conflict transformation through the arts. Research, exchange, and the development of SCT methodologies and practices aim to gain awareness and accountability for individual and collective choices, decisions, and actions regarding the problems and issues of local communities through artistic practice. SCT is a practice aimed at empowering community members, often people suffering from traumatic experiences, or in conditions of division and marginalization, who are addressed through theater practices. SCT sets pedagogical and educational objectives through different practices, such as the experimental practice of the theater laboratory.

 

It has a multiple characterization that materializes in a variety of theatrical and dance practices with the objective as the social reintegration of people with specific problems, the participation of generally marginalized groups, conflict transformation, the interpretation of relevant social problems in representations, and the empowerment of individuals/communities. The project will address all of this through 25 long-term community-based laboratories that will be implemented in the five target countries during the project's activities. It proposes an intersectoral methodology based on knowledge sharing, SCT practices with community-based actions, and targeted interventions at cultural/naturalistic sites.

 

ABC is based on the involvement of social agents working in synergy to develop large-scale interventions in the territory. SCT is a constructive, even transformative, intercultural experience that can have an impact on both people and artists. A team of European artists and professional operators, masters in SCT practices, and experts in Extended Reality, is involved in an innovative co-creation experience, based on the exchange of methodologies, where the performing arts express their transformative power and involve communities in this change. The project's methodology aims to reverse a trend: to welcome and not reject, to unite and not divide.

 

Artists will have an extraordinary opportunity for professional growth, learning, developing new methodologies, and connecting the arts with the social dimension. The intersectoral methodology will focus on the exchange of knowledge and practices of performing artists and the cultural heritage of both the host and guest countries. The multifaceted and intercultural group will work together in the project's Artistic Team and the XReality Team (Augmented Reality, etc.) to hybridize practices and innovate. The artistic team is made up of highly qualified international artists and SCT experts. It will be comprised of project partner organizations and selected artists, under the guidance of the Artistic Director, Prof. Fabio Roberto Tolledi, an SCT expert who has worked worldwide with these methodologies.

 

The Trilogy rehearsals are based on SCT, which includes in-depth physical work within a complex approach to the performers' bodies and their expressive capacities, and a strong sense of community. The methodology applied at the IHL will be based on highly intensive collaborative work aimed at the participation of local and international communities and artists. The external team adds value to the process through interaction with technological applications and augmented reality tools, with the aim of promoting the other countries that host these technology facilities and enhancing the technological contribution.

 

ABC aims to broaden the perspectives of artists through the SCT methodology according to which Theatre, dance and music are essential for building peaceful societies (psychoballet, drama therapy or music therapy)The process of sublimation in the performing arts is also essential in the elimination of violence. ABC involves a large number of associations, consortia, and networks, such as the International Theatre Institute (ITI), the Theatre in Conflict Network, the Committee for Artists' Rights, and the Prison Theatre Network, with international artists and operators making a significant contribution to increasing awareness of such practices.

 

The ABC Project Partnership.

 

Euphonia (Italy) It has extensive experience, developed over 40 years, and has been recognized by the Italian Ministry of Culture as an innovative theater company with extensive experience in managing international cooperation projects. It has led 15 Creative Europe projects (Culture 2000, Culture Program, Creative Europe) and has implemented international projects in more than 30 countries worldwide. It has significant experience in the field of social and community theater, as well as in conflict transformation through art and site-specific performances. Its artistic staff is internationally recognized and is called upon by many institutions from around the world to implement artistic and educational programs.

 

The Im Institute. Jerzego Grotowskiego (Poland) The Institute is an internationally renowned institution that combines artistic and research projects that respond to the challenges posed by the creative practice of Polish director Jerzy Grotowski, one of the most prominent figures in 1989th-century theater. The Institute emerged from the Center for the Study of the Work of Jerzy Grotowski (XNUMX). Its activities include: theater productions with the "Masters in Residence" project, a documentary theater program, and a residency program; the Research Program with an archive, a reading room, an Open Research University, conferences, and seminars; the Educational Program with laboratories, training courses, and workshops; the Publishing Program with theater magazines and a publishing house; and cultural events with concerts, performances, exhibitions, and meetings.

 

The Alicia Alonso Dance Foundation of the Rey Juan Carlos University (Spain) It is a prestigious institution that promotes education in the performing arts (dance, theater, and circus). It was established in 1997 and houses the Spanish Center of the International Theater Institute (ITI/UNESCO Spain). It offers three undergraduate degrees in Performing Arts, three postgraduate courses, and a doctoral program in the Arts. It stimulates artistic creation through various professional practice units, such as the Madrid Chamber Dance Company (now the Alicia Alonso Foundation Ballet), which has been active for 3 years, the Chamber Theater Company, and the Circus Arts and Techniques Group (Le Cirque Dance). It has participated in numerous international and Creative Europe projects in countries around the world. It has also won numerous important awards, such as the National Prize for Living Culture (3), which was declared the best Spanish Higher Artistic Education Institution. Its experience has extended to penitentiary institutions and special education centers for adolescents with intellectual disabilities.

 

U Muzeji i Galerije Podgorice (Montenegro) is a public institution that produces and organizes visual art exhibitions presented in various galleries in Podgorica and carries out activities in the field of cultural heritage, i.e., the collection, conservation, protection, and presentation of material artifacts originating from the territories of present-day Podgorica and its surroundings. Its mission is to enhance culture and the arts as vibrant means of contact and communication that explore and generate a plurality of cultural experiences, creating aesthetic sensations and producing new knowledge, exchanges, and social impact. It strives for a participatory society with multiple opportunities for rich cultural expressions through the development of practices in which cultural and social influences are intertwined.

 

AVR LAB – Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento (Italy) The LAB develops research activities mainly focused on virtual and augmented (extended) reality technologies in the performing arts, cultural heritage, education, and medicine. It is also dedicated to the design and development of advanced human-machine interfaces. It has developed applications of AVR technology for cultural heritage: archaeological site enhancement, virtual tours, and 2022D educational programs. It is one of the founding members of the European Virtual Reality Association and organizes the International Conference on Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Computer Graphics every year. The innovative applications and trends of AVR technologies, XNUMXD imaging, performing arts, and computer graphics in medicine, cultural heritage, and industrial sectors are some of the LAB's main activities. Since XNUMX, it has been working with Eufonia to develop extended reality practices for the performing arts.

 

The partnership includes Public and private organizations with significant experience and expertise in international cooperation projects in the performing arts with social impact in international, European, and local contexts. All of them have already developed successful collaborations on other projects. They deeply believe that intercultural dialogue and international cultural exchange are fundamental values ​​for raising awareness in civil society and promoting cultural growth. All of them have highly trained and recognized artistic and administrative staff: performers (theater, dance, music), researchers, ICC operators, experts in community-based artistic actions, cultural heritage experts, and AVR experts. This qualified group of artists and cultural managers, with skills and extensive experience in international artistic cooperation, will begin from the outset to engage in ongoing discussion on activities and exchange knowledge about methodologies and expertise.

 

Target groups and audiences.

The main target groups are:

• Theater performers, dancers, musicians: an intercultural call is launched for artists to connect with emerging and professional artists from across Europe and Tunisia, allowing them to participate in the co-production of the trilogy and the tour. They will develop their skills in SCT practices, social inclusion through theater, and new technologies for the performing arts. The project will enhance their professional opportunities and could lead to the creation of new international collaborations. Estimated number of beneficiaries: 90 artists.
• The artists and cultural operators involved in the partnership will have the opportunity to develop their knowledge and bring new, specific skills to their work. Estimated number of beneficiaries: between 60 and 80 professionals.
• Engineers, AVR (Augmented Reality) Experts: The project involves specialists, engineers, experts in digital technologies and AVR, programmers, and graphic designers in a series of activities designed to co-create with artists a new form of live performance through the contamination of Extended Reality techniques, holograms, video mapping, and virtual environments. The participation of these professionals will allow them to develop new applications of AVR technologies in the performing arts and open up new business models. A group of Spatial Augmented Reality experts will experience extensive mobility in four countries, including Italy, during the "A/B/C Tour" activity. The group will travel to seven different locations. It will be a great experience. Estimated number: 4.
• Visual artists, dancers, theatre actors and actresses, musicians, trainers, performers: each DIH welcomes a large number of artists who carry out all the workshops and performances. Participation of artists from the target countries and artists in difficulty or from countries at war will be encouraged. Estimated number of beneficiaries: 64*5 = 320
• Theater and dance students: In particular, those from Spain and Montenegro have planned a program of activities aimed at students of theater, dance, and dance-video theater. We estimate the participation of at least 20 students per laboratory*8 laboratories = 160
• Adolescents and adults with disabilities: The workshop-laboratory is an inclusive path that also includes specific social inclusion activities and theater workshops for children and adults with disabilities from specialized institutes and centers.
• Video makers participate in video theater activities and in creating project content for local partners. With five episodes of video reports in the A/B/C series, their role is very important. Estimated number: 5.

 

It is necessary to delve into the details of the activities of each country to obtain a precise view of the identified target groups: In Spain The Alicia Alonso Dance Foundation creates a link between the Rey Juan Carlos University of Fuenlabrada, Peguerinos, and nearby towns such as San Lorenzo de El Escorial. Students can work for five months to create their performances to be shown in Peguerinos. In fact, the Spanish partner, with Host Fest, will reach the town of Peguerinos and visitors through numerous multidisciplinary activities, involving the local population and artists of various ages and abilities, with the aim of promoting diversity and understanding. This is intended to bring about a transformation through culture in the town. Tunisia, the activity will transform the towns of Le Kef and Maktar. The citizen production is aimed at women victims of gender violence, as well as children. In Oleśnica (Poland), the first laboratory aims to involve local and migrant communities in Olesnica; the second, women who want to work in the field of performing arts; the third, playwrights, cultural actors, and activists in the field of social arts; the fourth, young theater performers; and the fifth, young children. The partner in Montenegro It is addressed to the prisoners of the Podgorica prison, the elderly in the Podgorica kindergarten, video and theatre students, visual artists, and the general public of Podgorica. In St. Caesarius, ItalyA diverse set of long-term workshops designed to engage a wide range of participants will be offered. “MigrArts” brings together migrants, refugees, local community associations, hospitality workers, university theater students, and young people; “Country Without Errors” brings together people of all ages and abilities; “New Media Theatre” brings together university theater students, theater schools, and innovative engineering students; “Community Sounds Archive” brings together a community-wide workshop, also connected to citizen production; and “The Hospitality Theatre” is open to citizens of all ages, inclusive schools, associations, and universities for the elderly.

 

ABC Project Design.

 

ABC (Arts/Borders/Communities) – The Alphabet of Love is a broad and complex European project that aims to create a comprehensive system of multidisciplinary, social, cultural, and intercultural experiences in the field of performing arts, based on the concept and practice of hospitality in its many facets.

 

• A great artistic project is being developed with the participation of performers, creatives, visual artists, innovation engineers, playwrights, musicians, and dancers from five countries (and beyond).
• A comprehensive international mobility system has been developed, with artists and operators moving to develop their work in five countries.
• A major international trilogy is being developed with artists and digital technology experts from all over Europe, and a production tour spanning five countries.
• The richness of European theatrical and dramaturgical diversity is promoted.
• A system of SCT (Social Community Theater) actions is being developed for social inclusion, to promote gender equality, and to welcome others from abroad, coordinated by local partners.

 

To achieve these results, we have based the project system on four fundamental pillars, which are the following:

• A major international co-production in three episodes (a trilogy), based on three plays by the great comic playwright Aristophanes: A Parliament of Women; Women at the Thesmophoria; and Peace.
• «A/B/C Tour» – From Agora to Extended Squares – Trilogy Tour and city shows with Spatial Augmented Reality installations.
• Promotion of European drama and International Drama Residencies.
• International Workshops and Laboratories (Host Labs)

 

The project's "pillars" are logically and chronologically interconnected, creating a journey with an international dimension. One of the main results It is a strong impact on the target cities/territories, through a broad system of activities. In each project country, four main sets of in-person activities are carried out, namely: 4) Selection workshop; 1) Local workshops/labs; 2) “A/B/C Tour” – From Agorà to Xtended Squares; 3) “Overviews” – Project dissemination showcase. These four sets of in-person activities are carried out with a gap of approximately three to five months between the selection workshops and the first activities, and nine months between each country and the remaining activities.

 

International Host Laboratories | IHLs

 

The International Host Lab (IHL) represents the ideal laboratory for the realization of a significant experience in hospitality and social inclusion with local and international artists, performers, musicians, dancers, visual artists, digital experts, playwrights, and cultural operators, all committed to significant work with the local community, in all its forms, and with specific groups. IHLs are periods comprised of a multitude of local and international activities centered on a territory, transforming it into a major community experience where many events take place and where the territory faces the challenge of welcoming its own community and foreign communities. The IHL is one of the main activities precisely because it is the space where the intercultural experience is manifested at the highest level. In each of the five IHLs, the "hospitality" of artists and operators from the five project countries is planned. Thus, the IHL is an international hospitality laboratory where numerous foreign artists and operators come and share experiences and artistic knowledge, and it is likely that some of them will meet again at the next IHL in another country. Each local Partner(s) coordinates the IHL in their country.

 

Therefore, the budget is available to carry out activities and support the hosting of artists from the other four countries. These artists may also be recommended by Partners or may be artists and companies from the Partners themselves (but in the latter case, only mobility support is provided). Each IHL lasts seven months, with two months dedicated to preparatory activities. The following IHLs are planned: in Spain – the city of Peguerinos, with possible other venues in the surrounding area and Fuenlabrada, from May to November 4; in Tunisia – the cities of Le Kef and Maktar, from October 7 to April 2; in Poland – the city of Olesnica, from March to September 2025; in Montenegro – the city of Podgorica, from August 2025 to February 2026; in Italy – the city of San Cesario di Lecce and the city of Lecce, from January to July 2026.

 

Each IHL consists of the following activities:

• 1 International Theatre Residency, which aims to promote knowledge of European drama. Its program includes a range of activities: (i) open classes with high school students, (ii) theatrical translation workshops, (iii) masterclasses for performing arts students, and (iv) meetings with local playwrights. Playwrights are also required to keep a diary documenting their experience at the IHL, which will be compiled into a publication.
• 2 international 10-day artist residencies (with artists recommended by members or directed by foreign members themselves).
• 5 long-term art labs lasting 5 months (minimum 4 meetings per month), with specific target groups from the local community.
• 5 intensive international performing arts workshops coordinated by international artists from the target countries (recommended by partners or coordinated by the foreign partners themselves).
• 6 local performances for the "Rediscover Our Treasures" section, coordinated by the local partner; 6 international performances for the "Hosting Art, People, Wealth" section, coordinated by international artists from the project's target countries.
• 1 community production with 5 months of preparation (recommended by partners or coordinated by the foreign partners themselves). Community theater work for the production of a community performance, coordinated by the local partner.
• A final phase: a three-day Host Fest featuring work demonstrations, performances during workshops, and citizen productions.
• A collection of data from the team of supporters (small data collection by the working group in charge of disseminating the impact of the activities)
• Recording and mapping missions in Spatial Augmented Reality for the “Tour A/B/C” (collection of materials, in person, during the DIH to carry out the SAR Installation at the subsequent facility).
• Online "Feedback" meeting with Followers. Activities will be monitored to ensure that all communication standards are respected and that all activities are fully implemented.
• Video Recordings (In each country, video documentaries will be produced: 5 documentaries on the 5 partners). The video report begins with the installation of the workshops, including interviews with organizers and participants to hear their perspectives on the importance and impact they have on their communities. Footage of the performances is also recorded, showcasing the talents of the participants and the reactions of the audience. In editing, the images will be carefully selected and stitched together to create a coherent and engaging story that accurately depicts the events and their impact on the community. This will include the addition of music, subtitles, and other visual effects to enhance the viewing experience and help convey the message. Each docu-video will be an episode in an audiovisual series about the project. Once the report is completed, it is published on the project website and through various channels, such as social media, websites, and online platforms, to reach a wider audience. The video report will also serve as a testament to the positive impact the seven months of activities had on the local community and provide a lasting record of the participants' achievements. A video will also be made of all the episodes in the trilogy, the complete video, and based on this, three trailers will be created, which will also be released and promoted internationally.