VIRTUAL GALLERY

Act & Art Closing Event in Ljubljana

On January 26th, the Act & Art project hosted its closing event at the Center Rog in Ljubljana, Slovenia. This event marked the culmination of a two-year initiative coordinated by the APIS Institute across five European countries. The project partners Association Odnos, Center Rog, EDI from Belgium, EFTA from Turkey, Green Muse from Germany, Les Créatives de Demain from France, aimed to promote social inclusion of young migrants and refugees through the development of innovative nonformal educational approaches and creative engagement in youth work. Katarina Kromar from Association Odnos presented the needs assessment report that served as a basis for the development of international training for youth workers who wished to further develop their knowledge about hte potential of using creative medium for social inclusion of vulnerable youth.

Photography Workshops For Asylum Seekers With Abdelhakim

Abdelhakim Asnabla, a youth worker originally from Morocco, led a series of photography workshops for young asylum seekers in Ljubljana. Using photography, Abdelhakim taught participants aged 18-27, who came to Slovenia from countries like Algeria, Morocco, and Burundi, techniques for capturing portraits and moving subjects. Over the course of several sessions, he guided them on key skills like composition and camera settings while fostering an inclusive space for the refugees to express themselves creatively. His workshops equipped these vulnerable youths not only with valuable technical abilities but also newfound confidence in their artistic talents.

Dance Workshops for Women With Diverse Backgrounds With Hana

Hana Alhadi, a youth worker with a multicultural background, facilitated creative movement workshops for women with diverse backgrounds in Ljubljana. Bringing her passion for dance, she led the diverse group of participants aged under 30 in exercises focused on self-expression, stress relief, and empowerment. The women, who came from countries spanning four continents including Venezuela, Egypt and Ethiopia, benefited from the opportunity to connect with one another through improvisational movement and relax their bodies and minds. Hana encouraged the women to intuitively explore dance as a means of fostering community and gaining self-awareness. Her workshops provided a judgment-free space for these migrants and refugees to process emotions and experiences creatively.

Clay Workshops for Refugees With Rok

Rok Oblak, a multi-talented artist, inventor and designer, led hands-on clay workshops for 8 young migrants and refugees. Using the tactile artistic medium of clay. Rok guided participants in crafting functional items through basic clay craft techniques. Coming from diverse cultural backgrounds, the participants learned by observation as Rok demonstrated ceramic techniques step-by-step visually. Without relying on verbal instruction as there was no common language, he managed to teach practical skills and pass knowledge of working with clay. These workshops not only equipped the participants with new capabilities but also provided a space for creative nonverbal intercultural exchange and connection.

Embroidery Workshops with Rahima and Ahmad

Rahima Haidari and Ahmad Ahmadi, originally from Afghanistan, co-facilitated traditional Hazara embroidery workshops for a group of 9 young migrant and refugee women in Ljubljana. Drawing from their cultural roots, they taught the participants basic Hazara specific embroidery stitches over multiple sessions, guiding them to create useful decorative pieces. Rahima and Ahmad managed to bridge understanding between the workshop participants who came from diverse countries including Iran and Turkey. Through this decorative handicraft, rich in Hazara heritage, these youth workers transmitted ancestral knowledge while fostering connections rooted in shared refugee experiences.

Selfcare Workshops With Malgosia, Islam and Valeriya

Bringing their diverse backgrounds ranging from Poland and Ukraine to the Middle East, Malgorzata Paprotny, Islam Abuamra, and Valeriya Koval co-created a self-care workshop for young migrants and refugees. Blending knowledge about wellbeing, psychology and creativity, these youth workers guided 12 vulnerable participants aged 16-30 in creative activities focused on stress management and emotional regulation. The refugees who joined, hailing from countries like Ukraine and Syria, learned practical relaxation skills while making vision boards and personalized boxes to store takeaways. Their collective effort provided a supportive space for these youths with traumatic pasts to process difficult emotions, connect with peers, and gain resilience techniques

Macrame Workshops for Refugees With Katja

Katja Bubnič, a creative youth worker, led macramé workshops to teach a group of 8 young asylum seekers aged 18-30 the macrame art through knotting and ornaments making. Using cords and semi-precious stones, she guided participants from cultures spanning Africa, Central America, and beyond in crafting personalized necklaces. Katja created a relaxed atmosphere of trust, knitting new bonds as well as ornaments. As they learned new knots and wrapped crystals with cord, the participants gained both a new skill, new confidence and a space for self-expression. Some even discovered promising entrepreneurial pursuits in the handicraft. Katja’s workshops supported the creative potential of these vulnerable youths, boosting their confidence while bringing vibrancy to their new European home.

Zero Waste Brooches Workshop With Olga

Olga Senatorova, a creative facilitator from Kazakhstan living in Slovenia, facilitated a felt-making workshop for 10 displaced individuals aiming to transform recycled materials into personal creative expressions. Guiding refugees from countries like Burundi and Ukraine, she taught the basics of felting crafts over multiple workshops held at the community art space RogLab. With an emphasis on imagination over instructions, Olga encouraged these vulnerable participants aged 18-30 to repurpose old clothing and fabrics into one-of-a-kind brooches. Her open-ended approach supported the self expression of participants and brought people from vastly different backgrounds together through hands-on creativity. Olga’s workshops sparked inspiration for these youths while providing a judgment-free space for them to shine.

IKIGAI Workshops With Karla Varela

Karla Varela, a professional youth worker from Chile living in Slovenia, facilitated creative entrepreneurship workshops for 14 young migrants and refugees in Ljubljana. Blending creative expression with business mindsets, she guided participants aged 17-30 from diverse backgrounds in activities focused on identifying their passions and developing ideas. Ranging from Colombia and Burundi to Ukraine, these young people gained exposure to design thinking techniques while making vision boards representing their “entrepreneurial capital.” Karla forged connections among migrant communities in Slovenia by leading collaborative exercises with an emphasis on group learning. Her innovative workshops allowed these youths wrestling with displacement to map out their ikigai or “reason for being” while planting metaphorical seeds for their empathetic business ventures of the future.

Empathy Through AI: Understanding Refugee Issues Workshop - EFTA

As part of follow-up and multiplier activities, EFTA has hosted a workshop with 16 youth workers from local to implement the workshop ‘Empathy Through AI: Understanding Refugee Issues Workshop’. In this workshop, on the first day the participants were introduced to the project, its outputs and then specifically into AI tools as part of the next day’s workshop. After being introduced to AI and creating visuals using prompts and AI tools, the participants have worked in groups to create AI generated images using their imagination, empathy and prompts.

Follow-UP Activity in Mainz by Green Muse!

On August 23rd, a follow-up activity took place in Mainz, Germany, involving nine local youth workers. The primary objective of the workshop was to enhance the understanding of migration-related terms, which are often abstract and challenging to grasp. The activity kicked off with an interactive discussion where participants shared their insights on migration terms. Together, they identified the most commonly used keywords in the field. Subsequently, participants were grouped and tasked with selecting three keywords for in-depth exploration.

Follow-up Activity in Nice!

Les Créatives de Demain has hosted 2 activities with a total of 15 youth workers from Nice. The activity focused on increasing the effective communication and empathy skills of the youth workers to help them increase their capacities in working with vulnerable groups! We implemented the ‘’The Beauty of Diversity: A Station Art’’ workshop with the youth workers in 2 separate groups. Youth workers’ capacities to implement activities with disadvantaged groups such as refugees was increased through the workshops and they collaborated with peers to transfer know-how and experience from each other.

Follow-up Activties by European Development Institute in Collaboration with Koning Kevin vzw and Youth Center Leuven in Belgium!

The activities we conducted were designed to engage and empower children and teenagers who are new to Belgium, particularly those with a refugee background. The overall goal was to introduce them to youth work in Belgium, which might not be well-known to them, and help them develop essential social skills for better integration and a sense of belonging. A total of 3 workshops were held on 29.03.2023 07.04.2023 and 09.04.2023!

Dissemination in Toulouse, France by Les Créatives! - 28 February 2024

On 28 February 2024, a dissemination event at the premises of Ecole Horizon Linguistique (address: 2 Chem. du Pigeonnier de la Cépière, 31100 Toulouse, France) to introduce the outputs and the Project Act&Art was held successfully with a total of 8 participants. The participants of the activity were the students of the Ecole Horizon Linguistique which is a Language School for international living in France and help them with social integration and adaptation.

Dissemination Event in Nice, France by Les Créatives - 29 February 2024

On 29 February 2024, a second dissemination and introduction event was held in Nice, France with 7 participants. The event was held with internationals living in Nice and locals’ attendance. This group consisted of mostly academics from different departments of Côte d’Azur University. From departments such as the students department, social studies, project department.

Green Muse - Act & Art Dissemination in Düsseldorf!

The Act&Art for Positive Social Change event held on 1 December 2023 in Düsseldorf gathered 21 participants to explore the project’s objectives, outputs, and training program.The event aimed to introduce the Act&Art project and share the project results and outputs with relevant stakeholders and actors. The event in detail is as follows according to the Agenda.

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