YOUTH LEADERSHIP CULTURAL EXCHANGE
The final event in the EU Cultural Partnership Project: WAKE UP
Bridport Dorset, UK
24 April – 2 May 2012
SIMPLY HUMAN is the final event in the two year EU partnership programme “Wake Up” developed by Opera Circus. “Wake Up” is partly funded by the EU Cultural Grant Programme 2007 – 2013 and is about developing cultural partnerships and youth leadership activities through theatre and music.
Srebrenica
A group of 20 people from Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be visiting Bridport for this cultural exchange and training programme. The group includes 15 young cultural leaders from Srebrenica, Suceska, Bratunac and Zvornik. The project will involve young people from the Youth Centre, BACStage and Sir John Colfox School in Bridport, The Thomas Hardye School, Dorchester and bsharp, in Lyme Regis.
Bridport
“The British Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina has previously worked with Tina Ellen Lee and Opera Circus in supporting their activities in Srebrenica. Their work in Srebrenica has been a success and has been widely recognised. We welcome this visit to the UK and hope it will prove equally successful.”
HM Ambassador Nigel Casey, British Embassy, Sarajevo..BiH.
The week of activities will include everything from a Jurassic Coast walk and boating in Lyme Regis, to shadowing local artists and a pizza at The Bull Hotel. BAC are hosting a day of International Youth Theatre Performance on 28th April which will include Teater Mimart from Belgrade, Fetus from Srebrenica, Thomas Hardye’s A level drama group and BACStage, Bridport’s Youth Theatre group.
Teater Mimart from Belgrade
Fetus from Srebrenica
BACStage, Bridport’s Youth Theatre group
Niki and Marc from Stuff & Nonsense Theatre Company at the Lyric are leading a workshop on children’s theatre and puppetry.
Niki and Marc
A discussion about democracy and the Unicef Rights Respecting programme led by David Powell will be held at the Town Hall with the Mayor of Bridport, Sir Graham Watson MEP for the South West, pupils from Sir John Colfox school and youth representatives from Bridport’s proposed Youth Council. There will be meetings with the local Rotary and Town Councilors. Sir John Colfox School is also hosting a visit with a lunch cooked for the group by their students. The Rotary Club of Bridport have invited a small group who are involved in the Rotary in Srebrenica to meet with them at their monthly meeting and have very kindly also donated some funds to the visit.
“The UK is strongly committed to building sustainable peace and stability in
Bosnia and Herzegovina and attaches great value to organisations such as Opera Circus,
which make a vital contribution to lasting reconciliation.”
Edward Llewellyn, Chief of Staff, 10 Downing Street.
The full programme can be found by clicking on the following link PROGRAMME
Brain Child – Neuroscience Conference
On Monday April 30th there is a conference on Neuroscience called Brain Child, run by Dorset County Council, with key speakers Professor Nigel Osborne, Edinburgh University and Dr. Paul Howard Jones, Bristol University. This will be at the Electric Palace, Bridport. A group of the young visitors from Srebrenica have been invited to the House of Commons for a tour and a screening of the film that was made about their lives by local film maker Robert Golden. The film is called “Candles Against the Night”
Nigel Osborne
“Wake Up Partners”
The partners include THE INSTITUTE OF MUSIC FOR HUMAN AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT as part of the University of Edinburgh with the composer Nigel Osborne, TEATER MINART, an established physical theatre and mime company in Belgrade, Serbia. Teater Mimart was one of the first alternative theatres in ex-Yugoslavia and was formed in 1984. MUSICIANS WITHOUT BORDERS, is an international organisation based in the Netherlands. They use music to reduce the effects of war trauma and to connect people across cultural, political and religious borders for peace and positive change.
Musicians Without Borders concert, Alkmaar, Netherlands;
WAKE UP’s first event, May 2010
We are also delighted that the following friends and colleagues are taking part in the project, Milena Nikolic the President of the Youth Council and Director of the Youth Centre, Nedeljko Simic, Associate Professional for the Municipality for Returnees, Nada Markovic, President of Rotary and Persa Lazic.
During the two year programme of Wake Up, associate partnerships have developed, most importantly the Youth Council and Youth Centre, the Children’s Music Theatre and the two youth theatres, B-Smisao and Fetus in Srebrenica.
The evaluation of this visit will be used to explore future long term cultural and arts programmes with the youth of Srebrenica and Bridport.
Opera Circus project in Srebrenica
With many thanks to the following for their support and help in making Simply Human possible:-
Arts Council England, Awards for All Big Lottery, DepArture Arts and Dorset County Council, West Dorset District Council, Sir Graham Watson, MEP, Mayor of Bridport and Bridport Town Council, Dorset Vehicle Hire, the All Party Committee on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Houses of Parliament, Organisation for the Security and Cooperation in Europe, BiH, (OSCE), British Council BiH, British Embassy, BiH and Serbia, the Bosnian and Serbian Embassies UK, Peter Hitchin and Symondsbury Manor, The Bull Hotel, The Electric Palace, Bridport Arts Centre, The Lyric, Bridport, Youth Services and the Youth Centre Bridport, The Rotary Club of Bridport, Fivepenny Farm, Beeline Taxis, Bsharp in Lyme Regis, BACStage, The Thomas Hardye School, Sir John Colfox School, The Director of the High School Centre, Srebrenica, The Dialogue Centre, Srebrenica and many others….
Further information about the Neuroscience Conference
Further information about Simply Human and Opera Circus
“This work programme has been funded with support from the European Commission. This document reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein”
