Take P-ART

Special thanks

All the schools that took part in the Take P-Art Project!

Convitto Nazionale Umberto I
Istituto di istruzione superiore statale "Luigi Lagrange"
Istituto comprensivo Umberto Saba - "Duccio Galimberti"
Scuola secondaria "Umberto Saba"

all the boys and all the girls, the teachers and the trainers who made the art workshops possible.

Texts and graphics by
Beáta Mészárosová and Stephan Wenninger.

Torino, 2019

Introduction

Definition of the project Take P-ART

Filmmaking as a tool of non-formal education
Stephan's approach to filmmaking with young people
Non-formal educational film projects
Activities and methods

Theatre as a tool of non-formal education
Beata's approach to theatre with young people
Non-formal educational theatre projects
Theatral activities and exercises

Feedback from participants

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Index

Introduction

To contrast the different forms of violence which spread among adolescents via social media in a Europe seeking to end xenophobia and shadows that recall a tragic past, there is a need for new movements, approaches and instruments of intervention. The project that is presented here illustrates one of the possible procedures: proposing art as a mean of inclusion and experimentation with rewarding and positive relationships to prompt forms of participation and change. Carried out with the help of two young people taking part in the European Voluntary Service (EVS), Beata, from Slovakia and Stephan, from Austria, the project represents an original proposal for collaboration and intercultural exchange for the adolescents involved. Art, in this case in the form of film production and theatrical expression, serving as a mean of non-formal education, helps to express emotions and experiences in depth, to experiment with empathetic and solidary relationships and to develop participatory and social skills.

The adolescents involved have had the opportunity to reflect on the behaviours and language present on social media, to get to know experiences like those of Syrian war refugees, to test themselves and to take action, deepening their understanding of the effects of violence and the potential of peace in concrete situations.
If it is true that “beauty will save the world”, perhaps experiences like this one can show us the way…

Angela Dogliotti

Definition of the project
Take P-ART

Non-formal education and art are a well-established binomial. In the context of multiple margins, access to Art is already a result in itself, which allows the development of multiple intelligences in young people, the knowledge of certain phenomena through a different language, the promotion of the idea of beauty and of the idea that beauty is a human right. But with Art we also mean the possibility of PRACTICE it by young people, the possibility to express themselves more profoundly, with languages that do not always take into account the verbal aspects, develop technical skills, work with others, develop an idea of social change, denounce, present their creativity to the local community, build bridges of dialogue and inclusiveness.
In short: art as a methodology but also art as a content of non-formal education especially with young people and adolescents who are facing economic, social, cultural obstacles, etc. The Take P-ART project!

involves two EVS volunteers, respectively from Slovakia and Austria, motivated to deepen the theme of the relationship between art and non-formal education, to interact with young people from complex backgrounds and to live for 12 months in Italy in Turin (from September 2018 to the end of August 2019).

The "Take P-ART!" Project aims to:
- Promote the voluntary work of two young people on the relationship between art and non-formal education in a context of intercultural exchange and joint commitment between young people and youth workers from three different European countries (Slovakia, Austria and Italy)
- contribute to the development of a sense of solidarity, the development of social skills and the promotion of active participation in the society of young Europeans;
- support the two European volunteers in the development of professional skills, in a context of nonformal learning, both in the educational sphere (skills of conception, facilitation of evalutation of educational activities) and in the artistic one (technical skills for the realization of artistic products but also of choice and use of different

artistic means with youth targets difficult to reach) that improve their employability;
-develop non-formal and inclusive educational approaches in a transnational exchange context that take art into account as a means and content of youth work;
- have an impact on the Turin youth community: by activating groups that use the artistic medium to express needs and ideas for change, using different artistic tools to make complex themes accessible to young people, multiplying learning opportunities through the artistic medium for young people belonging to disadvantaged groups ;
-create opportunities and space for the creation, conception and entrepreneurial skills of young EVS volunteers to be enhanced and accompanied.

Results:

-Take P-ART! will involve, through the action of EVS volunteers, at least 25 young people in the production of a drama on a social theme of their interest;
-Take P-ART! thanks to the activities of the volunteers will allow the development of an Ebook that will review the use of films in non-formal educational activities to convey complex social content;

-Take P-ART!thanks to the educational activities made by the evs volunteers will reach at least 500 young people from marginalized areas of the city using art both as a means of learning and as an expression of creativity and will of change itself;
-In the context of Take P-ART! the two EVS volunteers will be able to plan and organize two events on their own initiative that deal with the theme of the relationship between art and non-formal education aimed at young people and all citizens;
The EVS volunteers are not alone but act in a youth network and local volunteering that will, thanks to the EVS job, contribute to the increase of the educational offer on the territory and its quality, characterized by the use of art (as content and medium).

Film as non-formal education

Stephan's approach to filmmaking with young people

Ever since I was a child I have been fascinated by filmmaking. To this day taking the mere idea of a story to the big screen has a magical appeal to me, and making it happen step by step - writing, directing and producing a film – strikes me as one of the most complex but also genuine forms of artistic expression. I have found that almost all young people conceive film as exciting, since film is an art form that is easily emotionally intriguing and relatable and therefore often plays part in the search for identity which adolescents are going through. This excitement alone allows teenagers to open up to new topics and emotions and to deal with them in an artistic way: filmmaking. Guiding teenagers through every step of making a film, without losing this excitement, needs engaging methods of dealing with the subject. Non-formal education with filmmaking harbors difficulties not foreseen by a lot of people.