Chinchorro.org

The project is a global exchange platform for all kinds of artists and creative people. At the moment participants of over 30 countries are working actively in this project, so the cultural diversity is as big as the number of different languages, customs, traditions and beliefs can be found.

• The group

is open for everyone interested, specifically for anyone that normally can not be reached through traditional, regional youth work (especially foreigners, migrants, outsiders, disadvantaged or disenfranchised youngsters is the folk we want to address). The majority of the members are aged between 16 and 25. The group is using art as a tool to express their beliefs, thoughts, personal opinions, dreams or fears. The four main partners of Chinch2 (which is coordinated by the Euro-Trainings-Centre in Munich) come from Germany, Denmark, Turkey, Slovakia and of course Austria (the original founder Bandi Koeck and super-active guys from RosesOverRainbow, the mother of Chinchorro). We have over 100 members from more than forty countries who hopefully participate again in this second edition. As the group emerges and works, there is usually word-of-mouth momentum that brings with it new contacts and new ideas. A very important item for the whole process of the project is its openness to all and transparency to everything! The project has a start and end date with information about the participants, so that we have a better understanding of the person, the season of life that person is in and the culture in which that person relates. At the end of the project it is our goal to place the best artwork and products into a book format that enables us all to understand our unity and diversity better.

• The Goals

of this project all follow the same basic premise: To support and encourage youth, especially disenfranchised youngsters, to develop their talents and interests. Every type of development needs an overall direction. Those creative youth who join us have the opportunity to gather experience and ideas from other creative young people throughout Europe and many other countries, in a fashion which encourages them to think deeply about where they are coming from, what they believe, and as a result of those beliefs, to determine where they are going to. As the global conversation causes us to understand one another globally, it helps to shape us personally, and therefore, helps us to understand the future of Europe as it pertains to youth culture and beliefs. Of importance is the medium (an interactive web platform), and the products (all created art works as well as a book about youth culture in Europe and the world). The book-CD will continue to motivate and encourage the youth involved in a fashion that will help us to achieve our basic premise.

• The Effects

on a local scale can be done in different ways. We want to promote the project through local and available mediums (newspapers, magazines, community papers, radio, television, flyers and posters), as well as, through personal contacts, word-of-mouth, and interviews. This means that schools are made aware of the project, as music clubs, art clubs, museums, art festivals etc. The effect on those participants is heightened awareness of youth work and support on a regional wide, as well as, European-wide level. The disenfranchised find support and inclusion. They have the opportunity to present their thoughts and ideas through the arts on a level that previously has not been possible.

• The European dimension

is included in all stages of the project. Through the medium of the internet, we can cross cultural and geo-graphical boundaries easily. It is important for our future that youth find one another and come together in a way that generates a shared understanding of culture, traditions, and priorities. It is also important - as we continue to forge ahead in the future, and especially in an age wherein beliefs too often divide us - that we learn to share a mutual respect for one another. With mediums which so often express more than words - we can discover understanding on many levels. This has often been the role of art in the past, and is becoming the emerging role of the visual arts in the future. Art isn't just a measure of expression; it can be a tool for communication too. It is also helpful that while we express ourselves best in our mother tongues, the international language of English enables that communication to occur on the level of language as well. And so this project would allow youth to communicate on a deep level, through mediums with which they are most comfortable, about the issues that matter most.

Written by : Evelina KVARTUNAITE

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For more information, please go on:http://www.chinchorro.org/chinchorro/index.php