Under construction

Description

Katerina Pejoska and Kostana Banovic led this project, called 'Under Construction'.

'Under construction' consisted of multiple phases. Firstly the youth was introduced to each other over the internet using different multimedia techniques, one of which were audiovisual pieces of art that have been made from scratch. 'We used media to let them tell their story: Who am I, where do I live, what does my world look like.'

Thereafter the participants went to each others' country to find out what democratic citizenship means, and what it does for them. Kostana explains: 'The aim of this project was to give underprivileged youngsters a possibility to make their voice heard. Girls and boys with different cultural backgrounds have engaged in a discussion within the group, as well as with a similar group in the other country. They became more conscious of the other and of another culture by introducing them to a parallel world somewhere else in Europe. All of this to become aware of what democratic citizenship means locally as well as internationally'.

Effects

Prior to the project, Katerina and Kostana had been warned by local youth workers that the selected young people were rather difficult. When the project started, the youth was taught how to handle a camera to get artistic shots and what the effect and impact of music can be. Their motivation showed by the amount of questions they posed and the fact that they started exploring themselves. Katerina: 'In the beginning when they were making short video clips, you could see them becoming more certain of themselves as they got more aware of and open to what happened around them. The youth workers were very pleasantly surprised and proudly said that the most insecure young people were now blooming, and that the other group members became friendlier.'

You can find more information on this project on www.underconstruction-online.eu