The Giufà Project is a collector of artistic creations of various genres (prose, music, visual art, physical, social and community theatre), multicultural experiences and inclusive theater pedagogy that utilizes Giufà's stories: a character-bridge among some of the Mediterranean cultures.
Giufà is a character of folk stories found in many countries that are washed by this sea: for us it is a symbol of the one who travels to seek freedom, with nothing in his pocket but his stories to tell.
Cross-border/international
Italy
Albania
Member State(s), Western Balkans and other countries: France
Member State(s), Western Balkans and other countries: Other
The municipality of Sarteano, Salve, Torino, Bridport (UK), Lewes (UK), Bashkia Korçë, Le bausset
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Nuova Accademia degi Arrischianti Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Francesco Last name of representative: Pipparelli Gender: Male Nationality: Italy Function: Board Member Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Via della Villa Town: Sarteano Postal code: 53047 Country: Italy Direct Tel:+39 393 522 5730 E-mail:info@arrischianti.it Website:https://www.arrischianti.it
The Giufà Project is a result of the collaboration between artists, young people and creative organizations from all over Europe in order to explore the pressing issues of our time as migration, trying to give an artistic answer to the questions raised by the mass movements that are happening all over the world right now, the need for critical thinking. The project is a product of The Complete Freedom of Truth (TCFT), a youth program by Opera Circus which offers artistic and cultural exchanges, residencies, and opportunities to young people across Europe – and it was commissioned by Glyndebourne as part of an ongoing process which mainly aims to provide access to opera to as many people as possible, but evolved quickly. The Nuova Accademia degli Arrischianti from Sarteano, Italy, joined these partners and contributed to the project with the production of the show “Nelle Scarpe di Giufà”, community theatre workshops, meetings and initiatives to develop the project. Migration has become a major political topic and it's shaping political decisions across the world. Europe in particular is living a cultural crisis since the Old Continent is trying to find a way to include and support the migrants coming from the Middle East and Africa into societies that are still trying to adapt to the effects of globalization. Each country and community is approaching the matter in its own way but at the very core of the matter, the question is the same for everyone: How can we include new people without losing our identity? How can this process be of mutual enrichment?
Nevertheless, migration is a human phenomenon, a part of the human condition: we have always travelled: wandered, explored, traded, or escaped. When people moved, they took with them their stories, mixing them with local traditions and thus, creating something richer.
With Giufà we have found a tangible expression of the continuous human movement: this project is our way to keep stories moving in the 21st century.
Iclusion
Community building
Intercultural Exchange
Non-formal education
Art
We believe that small, daily actions in terms of sustainability are the key to minimizing the footprint that each individual has on the environment. Our project has as one of its core values sustainability and despite being primarily a project about youth empowerment, inclusion and intercultural dialogue, we strongly believe that it is always worth having conversations about climate change. We consider that when working we need to raise awareness; part of our work is about critical thinking on the vital matters of our time. Not only do we do that via talking, but we also try to set a practical example, since we work mainly with youth, migrants, and refugees (for instance most of our costumes are recycled and come from fair trade, sustainable clothing approach).
We work in multiple countries simultaneously and in case of a meeting, the online ones over the in-person are preferred. Concerning travel, even though we are well aware of the impact that flying has, it is crucial to guarantee air transport in some cases. After a careful analysis, we have gotten to the conclusion that one of the biggest strengths of our project is the mobility of the team. In order to guarantee mobility and to respect the environment, we first opt for trains or buses, and in case of a flight purchase, if the airline adheres to a “compensation scheme”, we pay the fee.
For the accommodation, our preferences are always directed towards hotels that have the green certification and are close to the working environment.
In order to cut food waste and promote healthy, sustainable food we always buy local, seasonal products that have minimal packaging and try to cook ourselves as much as we can. We prefer plant-based food and we explain our choices to the participants to raise awareness about the impact that meat and dairy products have.
Concerning single-use plastic reduction during the workshops, we use washable glasses, cutlery, plates and napkins and we take turns in doing the dishes.
Being a theater project, composed of professional (and nonprofessional) actors, writers, directors, and musicians, we have a strong view of what is beautiful and meaningful. With this project, we found a common idea: we had to do something to describe the complexity of the human heritage, architecture, design, and visual taste, as well as sociolinguistic and the soundscape one has in its cultural background. This translated into a community project that builds on three main pillars to promote this “heterogeneous yet coherent” initiative, since diversity is our aesthetic:
-Gather, research, and promote the valorization of cultural heritage, of traditional stories and tales as tools to understand the roots of the Mediterranean the MENA region reaching wherever the character of Giufà has been found (expanding to other places where it has been brought by travelers and migrants over the last 800 yrs). This is to understand different points of view, identity and personal aesthetic taste.
-Support the development (providing tools, activities, and spaces of open discussion) of a common artistic experience, with the Giufà workshop. This allows the creation of a shared practice, leading to a group identity, with self-built values (facilitated by the team), that ultimately generates a new, unique artistic outcome, influenced from the previous groups that wore some of the costumes or used some bits of the scenography. Each one of the steps is linked with the others and with a dignity of its own.
-Allow the “planting words” process: our final objective is the artistic and human development of the participants without the necessity of a facilitator (if not requested). Independent thinkers are proactive, and aware of their backgrounds and the structures that they might have inherited. The same goes for aesthetic taste: acknowledging the background one has, and then deciding to embrace it or take a step away from it, but with a deeper awareness and a critical thinking approach.
Inclusion is the core of our project, as the theme is welcoming diversity and supporting the development and cooperation of different identities and ideas. It aims to help in the creation of a society in which every member feels part of something greater and is heard, understood and actively engaged. Storytelling and the arts are an extraordinary tool of self-analysis and growth, as stated by Prof. Biagioli (UniFI) in her book "The pedagogical meanings of writing and the story of oneself"; this is why we consider it one of the most inclusive tools to build critical thinking and the learning process, especially for the youth, marginalized, disadvantaged. We work with non-formal, horizontal, participative artistic approaches, which means that the project becomes a shared one.
Both in terms of content and formal level, inclusion and accessibility are vital to us: we welcome participants from any background, with or without experience in projects, arts, or theater. As stated in The Inclusion and Diversity Strategy (DG EAC of the EU Commission) "the strategy of inclusion and diversity aims to embrace and celebrate diversity so that difference becomes a positive source for learning rather than the cause of competition and negative prejudice” (p.8); The encounter of diversity is the basis of the project, which makes the multitude of experiences, artistic languages, and contexts of origin of the participants, its actual strength. The origin of our project was in fact conceived by a team of Italian, Portuguese, English, Romanian and Bosnian artists, with different backgrounds and ages. In terms of affordability, the activities offered to the participants are generally free of charge made possible through the volunteer work of the teams’ participants. Costs are covered by open calls for funding or by public institutions which also guarantee the venues; we also work with the teams in terms of accessibility for disabled people (physically and mentally).
The project is in constant dialogue with the participants and aims to create a safe space where they can freely choose whether and how to participate, proposing new activities, modifying others, thus stimulating the creative process. We also encourage participants to develop their own version of Giufà, or recreate and replicate the play in their background of origin (for instance with the training course we are building an Erasmus+ partnership). Some examples:
-in 2017 it was used inside a Reception Centre for Migrants in Cetona, Italy, to overcome the distrust between the children of the town and the hosted migrants coming from different African countries. Children and migrants began to play together, exchanging skills and knowledge. 6 years later, all the migrants involved in the project were employed and obtained a residence permit, while the children, who became teenagers, continued to play together in the football field in front of the centre.
-in 2018 it facilitated the integration of some migrants hosted in the town of Salve, IT, within a multigenerational community linked to the local ARCI (Italian Cultural Recreational Association); in the same year a theatre workshop was conducted in Rondine-Cittadella della Pace, IT, in which 26 youngsters from all over Italy spend a year studying together conflict resolution and the promotion of active citizenship;
-in 2021 it promoted the values of inclusion, respect for the rules and active participation in the summer camps organised by the project L'Elba del Vicino, for disadvantaged children of the island of Elba;
-in 2022 it is used during a theatrical workshop within the school G. Papini of Castelnuovo Berardenga, IT, for 20 pupils, 80% of whom are second-generation migrants.
The project has stimulated the birth of new realities, especially at the youth level, lastly in Korça, Albania where young participants were, after the initial experience with the program, included in the programming of the city theater.
The Giufà Project is a multilingual artistic project active since 2018 (but the first seeds date back well before) that has demonstrated the effectiveness of its methodologies: the victory of the European Charlemagne Youth Prize and the collaboration over time with various theatres, associations and institutions across Europe demonstrates this.
Artistic workshops, meetings with local communities, schools, centres for migrants have helped develop an operating methodology that, starting from the stories of Giufà and the technique of the SCT, allows the creation of a space of encounter, inclusion, dialogue and exchange. It also aims to involve and leave a mark in the institutions on a local, national, European and international level. The dialogue with citizens, civil society, and NGO’s can really benefit the institution, and is always a good way to reduce the distance between the citizen and the policymaker, supporting the creation of trust between the parties. Over time we have carried out many workshops and meetings in disadvantaged areas: (Battle, UK, 2018), (Island of Elba, IT 2020), (Barriera di Milano, Turin, IT 2022) (Korçë, AL). This work always requires assistance from the municipalities, the local cultural actors, as well as institutions, whose support allows the project to exist.
What we found in fact, having the opportunity to work on a wide territory, ranging from England to Albania, from both, events for only artists (Reseo Conference in Brussels, 2019) to meetings in schools or in hosting centres for migrants, is that to encourage dialogue, well-being and active participation of citizens (especially if young and/or disadvantaged) it is necessary first to create a comfort zone for dialogue, to stimulate curiosity and the desire to get involved; give voice to their ideas and needs, to their dreams and aspirations.
In every context the project has developed it’s activity has gained precious feedback, in order to improve and deepen its impact.
The project is composed of various operational tools, both at a technical and content level. At the technical level, the methodologies of social and community theatre are at the core, using the theatrical language at the service of intergenerational and multicultural groups' creation and working with them: being a large container, community theatre includes various artistic disciplines (music, bodywork, visual arts, writing...) that can all be directed to the objectives set after a careful analysis of the participants. In addition, participants are actively involved in the training, encouraging peer-to-peer education and the exchange of skills: this facilitates the training process and allows participants to learn more deeply and actively the technical tools provided, also increasing their self-esteem and organisational capacity. These operational tools have been developed in the years of work and constitute our methodology: it is a set of activities, games, and exercises that derive from theatrical pedagogy, the technique of community theatre, from physical theatre and performance parkour, selected because intuitive, fun, preverbal and group-building. All this to encourage an approach that can affect groups who do not speak the same language and who do not have skills or performative experiences: In essence, it is an inclusive path that proposes a range of possible ways to interest the recipients, stimulate their curiosity and assist them in the creation of a group. Over the years, this methodology has proved to be very flexible and effective, since it allows the creation of thought, awareness over one’s identity, supporting the creation of an expressive way to share it. The operators of The Giufà Project have worked side by side with the local youth workers, training them in the methodology used: at the same time, following their advice, the educational path has been enriched and refined, in view of the constant work in progress needed in non-formal education.
The way the project has developed its methodology and framework is peculiar because it draws out material from a common archetypal figure from the Mediterranean countries and through a series of multidimensional and multidisciplinary activities promotes intercultural and intergenerational dialogue. It is the result of multiple years of work with artists, writers, musicians, social and youth workers and researchers in order to bring a holistic approach. The dialogue is then used as a tool to promote the examination of the self and Others (the new, the diverse, the unknown) and further discovery of cultural heritage (especially cross-generational and trans-national).
The discovery of immaterial cultural heritage is then intertwined with the re-discovery of the material cultural heritage, through the valorisation of parts of the environment that are usually unexploited and/or neglected by the locals (the show/sharing at the end of the workshops is usually performed in areas of the city/town that have a historical and architectural value, but are overlooked by the community), (Elba Island, IT Korça, AL) in order to reacquaint and to regain the sense of belonging in the society.
The project is in continuous research for stimuli from the participants and allows and asks them to be an active part in it, not only to receive the formation and information from a teacher-student perspective, but a horizontal and participative one: every participant can bring a new story of Giufà, propose a new activity or modify parts of it, a new path in which the final sharing can take place. In doing so, the educational process is immersive and engaging, creating the basis for active citizens which are dynamic parts of their societies.
Since its inception, The Giufà Project has made replicability, adaptability and fluidity some of its main features: the project has evolved and transformed, improving, through a number of workshops, events, meetings and shows, travelling from Italy to Portugal, UK, Belgium, Albania and France (soon to be more). Every experience, from those in the centres for migrants to those in schools, or in the peripheral communities, to those in stable theatres, has brought new knowledge and suggestions, which have built what we can now define as its methodology. Based on the technique of social and community theatre(SCT), it aims to use theatrical language to help communities to progress in terms of inclusion, social change, proactivity and to be enriched by them: the project has developed its own particular methodological process, alongside the SCT the language of physical theatre, so as to overcome language barriers and possible misunderstandings resulting from them. It privileges all those languages that allow different ways of communicating (physical, image and shadow theatre, music, storytelling): generally, prefering to show, tell, act, or sing rather than say. Products of this process are street theatre performances (which reach the audience without it choosing to enter a theatre), theatre workshops, multiethnic dinners, animated tours inside the historical centres of the peripheral countries, original music and reworkings of popular and traditional music (from songs of Italian migrants to klezmer music, Albanian folk music), video presentations, small narratives of shadow theatre.
All this has been metaphorically put inside the suitcase of Giufà by the many artists, facilitators and mediators who generously helped us develop the project, and made it available to the communities who will participate in its new steps, as a witness that passes from hand to hand in time and space, connecting those who carry it, to the common roots of the peoples of the Mediterranean.
The Giufà Project is based on theatre and storytelling, proposed as two pillars for the construction of inclusive social relations and non-formal education: the game, appealing to the common experience lived by children, allows the young as well as the adults to lower their defences, reduce the level of stress, identify in a community that does not judge but participates, potentially hiding or identifying with a character in a role-playing dynamic. At the same time, the game can unconsciously convey important concepts, such as gender equality, inclusion and respect for the rules: the pedagogical value of the game, already recognized by Montessori, can be extended to the teenager and even the adult, adapting the type of game to the stage of evolution of the person (J. Piaget, La formation du simbole chez l enfant, 1959): The methodology of The Giufà Project, therefore, includes games drawn from theatrical pedagogy, non-verbal, more or less complex, to adapt according to the context of the intervention and the participants.
Through the creation of a safe space in which all participants feel part of a group that welcomes and supports everyone, without distinction, offering food for thought on the topics mentioned above, participants are initially presented with artistic tools that can be implemented and declined within the social fabric in which they live and work. The malleability of these tools allows each participant to further develop the techniques or to create new ones more appropriate and more harmonious with the environment in which they want to make their contribution, thus giving life to generativity. For years, the team has been conducting workshops that aim at training and enrichment of not only professional but also youth workers, activists, and leaders of disadvantaged groups. Tackling both directly and indirectly the various target groups where the action of empowerment and “voice-creating” powers are more impactful.
Since we already mentioned the sustainable approach of the project, we won’t repeat it here. The needs on which the project aims to have an impact are linked to three macro areas: inclusion and acceptance, critical thinking and self-awareness, and art and dialogue. These three directions of work have been identified as needs to be met because the project design team has repeatedly had to deal with these issues in community work.
The first theme-inclusion and acceptance-is currently at the heart of government agendas both of the nations that initially receive the migratory wave, and of countries that have a high rate of emigration (migratory flows from Africa, the Mediterranean route to the UK, the Balkan one to Germany, or even the most recent: the emergency of the war in Ukraine) All this is added to the internal European mobility that connects people from different backgrounds, with different expectations and needs.
The second theme-critical thinking and self-awareness-is focused on supporting participants in the formation of critical citizens, able to develop their own ideas, change them, adapt them and be able to undertake lifelong learning paths: the citizens of tomorrow. All of this fits into the framework of the Member States and the Union to build the future: this is why we believe that our small contribution to the next generation of citizens also means conscious exposure to diversity, to the encounter with others and to the support in the capacity to reflect on one’s own identity.
This is where the third theme-art and dialogue-comes into play. Using art and expressive tools as a neutral ground for dialogue, a conversation opens that leads to questioning what you give for granted, and consequently reflect on identity, its connections with the outside (culture, traditions, environmental influences, history, etc). The project allows a conscious vision of this process, at the same time fostering a greater understanding of their identity and cultural traits
The impact of the project has been acknowledged, as said, by many municipalities, NGO’s, theatres that have chosen and invited the team in their communities. An important recognition of the work done so far is undoubtedly the victory of the National Charlemagne Youth Prize 2022 for Italy and the special support of the president of the EU Parliament Roberta Metsola for the performance in Korça, Albania, as well as the invitation at the RESEO Conference 2019 in Brussels about Authentic Artistic Collaboration.
For the future, the project has in program workshops in the Jean Giono school in Le Beausset, France, in collaboration with the municipality. It will involve both the students of the school, the associates of the twinning committee with Cetona, IT, and the local band. It is also planned to continue activities in Korçë, Albania, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Tirana, the local theatre and high schools: as a result of the project realised in July 2022 a podcast series was born on the impact that project had on the young participants and that has been confirmed for the next year as well.
IT is worth mentioning the fact that we are applying for a KA1 to fund a training course in Italy on the methodology (going in the portfolio of the Valdichiana application as Italian Capital of Culture 2026). We have proposed a session to present the methodology at the EYE2023, and at the same time, the contacts with the other winners of the ECYP continue, in order to create an Alumni Network of winners to promote and disseminate best practices and expertise among the winners of the award, in order to promote the core values of the EU. Mention should also be made of the 'When Traditional Education meets Non-Formal' event held in Brussels in November 2022 where we went as a part of our (parallel to the field work) theoretical reflection on the methodology developed (a peer-reviewed article is being written for the scientific journal Teatro e Antropologia).
We keep in consideration the framework and we keep evolving the project. It's going to be a part of our Erasmus Training course thanks to the experience of one of our partner, which we hope is going to support us in developing a new hybrid approach with theatre that also embrace sustaiability.
