Live Art, Make Art, Think Art
Engagement with art represents one of the few areas in society where people come together to share experiences even when they have very different worldviews. Unity and variety in art are often discussed together, because ultimately an artwork must contain both unity and variety to be a successful work of art, and there must be balance between the two. Cultural exchanges have a significant role in bringing people from every religious, economic and social background together and helping participants in integrating better in their societies, using creativity to fight against various problems, improving their competences and languages and skills of teamwork and cooperation multinational teams.
This YE held from 20th till 30th of June was focused on addressing the problems of youngsters with fewer opportunities using art as the main tool. The overall aim was to activate youth putting them out of their comfort zone and then show this results to the others through art.
Participants from Cyprus, Israel , Armenia and Spain were involved in the project.
During this youth exchange they explored and learned different types of art, craft, photography, as well they found out about the problems that youth have in partner countries and tried to expose them to the society. The more people are aware of these problems, the more exposure they get and the faster we can solve them.
Through this project participants had the chance to learn more about differences in modern and traditional art, shared their creative ideas and made art by themselves while getting team building skills and re-discovering forgotten cultural characteristics.
At the same time the participants had the chance to learn a bit more about Cypriot culture in a city game.
Project was funded in the frames of Erasmus+ project.
Thanks to all the partners who made this project happen: Dione Youth Organization, Kyriat Noar Kyriat Shmona, Fundacion Aspaym Castilla Y Leo.
At the end participants created different magazines(magazine) including information about their sessions and art workshops.
Below is what our participants share:
Nare Tadevosyan
When it comes to risks and adventures, I always stay back and don’t take the chances and the opportunities. As the summer was already approaching, I wanted something fun and fresh which could expand my horizons in many areas. Right at that moment, the Erasmus+ project popped up called “Live Art, Make Art, Think Art” held in Cyprus. I instantly applied for the program and that was the best decision I could ever make. The amount of fun we had was unimaginable. In terms of informal education, we were able to dive into different cultures’ perspectives and mentalities. Despite our gender, age, and background differences, we could see ourselves discussing a lot of serious topics and analyzing the situations. Regarding the sessions, as the title already suggests, it included all forms of art such as painting, photography, sculpturing, and so on. My advice for the newcomers would be not to overthink and not to hesitate to take the chance and go for it. This will definitely not be my last program as it was a challenging experience that changed my way of thinking.
Ala Ghazaryan
I always heard a lot of stories about Erasmus+ projects and for me it was unreal that I’ll be able to become a part of it . But…
I got accepted to this project and couldn’t imagine that I would like it so much. I learned not only how to live with art, but also made art by myself. And one thing that I understood is that We Are Art.
I broke a lot of stereotypes about participant countries and their people. I learned so many things from different, cultures, traditions, problems etc. It was amazing!!
I miss those days so much and I’m thankful to the participants, and trainers for making my first trip to Erasmus world so great!
Once Erasmus, Always Erasmus
Meri Muradyan
Erasmus changes lives. Yes, it has changed mine since the first day of the project. Being part of the project “Live Art, Make Art, Think Art” helped me to improve my knowledge in art and also replenish this list with a lot of new skills . It was the best way to get this kind of experience in an international area. I want to mention that all the topics of the project were so much efficient to make my daily work more colorful and creative. More then 10 days I lived with participants from different countries, and this intercultural communication and skill sharing between participants made this project more productive and practical. This project had a lot of positive impacts on my life’s quality and became a new source of motivation, a way to make myself more educated and open-minded!
Gohar Tadevosyan
Everybody knows about the American dream. But let me tell you about one that is more tangible yet challanging. Erasmus dream! If you want to become your better self, this kind of experience is extremely important. It took only 10 days to become more emphatic, accepting, caring, open-minded. These are qualities that one should always work on. I have always assumed that I am a resident of Universe and that there are no borders between countries, creeds and nationalities. The project helped me consolidate that belief. The main language that we communicated with was Art and regardless of all the differences, it somehow made the cultural barrier disappear. Thanks for the final proof!
Susanna Grigoryan
This Erasmus was one of the most unexpected journeys of my life. Everything, starting from the road till the venue was extraordinary. As an art project, a lot of stuff was very creative, like making sculptures from everything we could find. The outdoor activities were unlike any others: refreshing with a lot of fun. We had sessions in the pool, at the beach and the photography session which allowed us to wander and discover more about the city and Cypriots. We even created our Erasmus+ newspaper “The sun, the beach and Erasmus+ and us”, which was later printed and hung near the sea as an open art gallery. One of most memorable parts of the project was, of course, the trip day, during of which we had a lot of crazy moments, took thousands of pictures and created dozens of unforgettable memories. The attractive nature, delicious cuisine and warm-hearted natives, amazing teammates and participants made this project special for me. In addition, after many years finally I met one of my close friends, whom haven’t seen for a long time. And that’s one of Erasmus+ project’s uniqueness: giving opportunities to discover new people and to reunite with friends!
