Homelands places of belonging: trainings

INTERCULTURAL ARTISTIC CO-CREATION

Homelands, places of belonging is a community co-creation project for and by refugee and newcomer artists, led by the International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and its partners. 

Newcomer/refugee artists collaborate with partners from the socio-cultural sector and engage in a process of artistic co-creation with the local community. A colourful mix of projects will arise in the 3 regions with the notion of “HOMELANDS” as a common thread: an artistic research on what it means to feel at home, to belong to a place, a city or a community.

The Homelands project promotes social inclusion by creating a sustainable dialogue between Belgian citizens and newcomers/refugees through one of the most powerful tools of each culture: ART.

When talking about Homelands we often highlight the artists and their partners who are at the hearth of the project, but an important part of the project is the continuous training  around intercultural artistic co-creation and the involvement of international experts in co-creation. Indeed, the artists and their partners receive intensive training and advice from the International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation’s Artist Ambassadors as well as external experts. Co-creation has become a fashionable concept, increasingly put forward not only as a tool to involve audiences but also to foster inclusion.  Within co-creation, the participants do not just participate in what already exists, but they become decision-makers within the artistic processes, within the design and implementation. Co-creation is, by nature, inclusive and multicultural. In co-creation, people meet each other and share ideas through creation something together, and this is when unexpected outcomes emerge. One of the outcomes is that institutions become embedded within the communities it reaches and the cultural diversity it reflects. However, co-creation is not improvised, it is an art. An art that needs to be supervised, followed and learned by co-creative professionals and this is what we propose through the Homelands project.  Refugee and newcomer artists but also their partners from the socio-cultural and education sectors receive throughout the project several training sessions including one-week artistic residency in order to acquire the necessary tools to undertake intercultural artistic co-creation projects with local communities.

The trainers of the project are International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation artist ambassadors or artists specialized in the art of co-creation and who share the values of the Foundation and the project.

Here is a glimpse into the heart of these trainings. 

INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS

As said, it is necessary to have experts to start a process of co-creation with local communities, especially when this co-creation is intercultural. Within our network, we call upon artist trainers with a strong expertise who will train the refugee and newcomer artists and their partners from Belgian cultural and educational centres throughout the project. 

 

IYMF Artists Ambassadors 

 
The International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation is fuelled by continuous collaboration with artsts from all cultures. Our Artists Ambassadors are the spokespersons of the values embodied by Yehudi Menuhin and promoted by IYMF: creativity, inclusion, sharing, respect for diversity and transmission. Their objective is to promote the emergence of creativity and encourage the inclusion of vulnerable target groups through the practice of the art. Theu engagement encompasses art teaching through the MUS-E program, art laboratoties, international exchange and trainings. They benefit from initiatives under the patronage of the Foundation such as artists residencies and international collaboration projects. 

 

Andor Timar

Andor has first graduated as an actor in Budapest in 1994. He then worked in theatre, film, and voiceover projects. From 1999, he continued his entertainment career by directing and producing video and stage productions. Besides his artistic activities Andor is an Executive Coach with a demonstrated history of working in the management consulting industry. He is skilled in Non-profit Organization, Negotiation, Coaching, Film and Event Management. In addition, as a strong human resources professional graduated from Academy of Executive Coaching in London. Andor has been delivering training courses for all generations since 1993.

Raul Iaza

Raúl Iaza was born in Argentina, he lives in Italy since 1986. He developed his musical career in the field of choral and instrumental Early music in Argentina. In Italy, he graduated in Recorder at the Civica Scuola di Musica in Milan; and postgraduate in the Accademia Chigiana of Siena. From 1999 to 2013 he was National Artistic Coordinator of Mus-e Italia Onlus, a project affiliated to the International Yehudi Menuhin Fondation. From 2005 to 2006 he directed in Coro Hispanoamericano of Milan. In 1994 he began his theatrical career, founding the La Madrugada Theater. He directed all the shows of the company, until 2010. Since 2000 he has collaborated in several projects with Odin Teatret (Denmark): he was assistant director of Eugenio Barba for Salt (2002), Andersen's Dream (2004), Don Juan at Hell (2006) and The cronic life (2011); he worked on the training pedagogy with Torgeir Wethal, creating with him the Fuga on Training, work demonstration on the actors' trainer. From 2007 to 2017 he directed Regula contra Regulam, the Educational project of the Grotowski Institute (Wroclaw, Poland), working in a pedagogical tandem with several guest teachers. Since 2010 he is a founding member of Regula Teatro. As director he directed all productions and co-productions by Regula Teatro. As an invited director he has directed: Korean Butterfly's Land (2010, Nottle Theater, South Korea); En surco ajeno (2012, Comedia Cordobesa, Argentina); Diotima (2017, La Puerta Estrecha, Spain), and others. As a pedagogue he regularly collaborates with various institutions, theaters and festivals all over the world.

Ilse Wijnen

THE TRAINings