Europe is becoming more culturally diverse. The enlargement of the European Union, deregulation of employment laws and globalisation have increased the multicultural character of many countries, adding to the number of languages, religions, ethnic and cultural backgrounds found on the continent. As a result, intercultural dialogue has an increasingly important role to play in fostering European identity and citizenship.
Alter Ego is a EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture) project and one of the seven flagship projects within the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. Young people (aged 14-18) from 22 countries were invited to take part and create a portrait of themselves and their alter ego: someone from another cultural background.
These submissions went into competition with online voting on the submitted works. In each country a jury of artists and media professionals, with an emphasis on known artists of a minority or migrant background, then selected two finalists.
The aim of the Alter Ego is to promote intercultural dialogue and cross-cultural understanding. The competition and wrap-around activities encourage active European citizenship among young people through collaborative art projects
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On February 25th EUNIC Brussels kicked off its EUNIC Club series at the British Council Brussels with a debate on Intercultural Dialogue in schools. It was an excellent occasion to celebrate ALTER EGO, EUNIC's flagship project of the Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008. The evening was moderated by Lone Leth Larsen, the Director of the Danish Cultural Institute and Martin Hope, Director of British Council Brussels. Many came to share their knowledge and viewpoints on the promotion and the implementation of Intercultural Dialogue. Different models were presented: Johan Boucneau, from the Integratiedienst of the city of Genk spoke about ID practice of the Flemish community while Patrice Michiels presented the French community programme Language and Culture of Origin. Mihaela Calin gave a prime example of integration practices in European Schools. The debate continued afterwards around food and drinks with the last visitors leaving at a late hour. The exhibition that served as a colourful backdrop to the evening left the British Council Brussels to be flown to Vilnius the next day. The exhibition will continue touring throughout Europe before reaching its final destination, the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. |
Over 1,600 young people uploaded their alter ego submission onto the website. The diverse set of participants came from the following countries:
The website homepage currently shows the 44 winners (two per country). These winners teamed up in Denmark in November 2008 for an intercultural art workshop and training with 14 high-profile European artists.
The works generated during the workshop and the competition will be part of a virtual and physical exhibition travelling across Europe.
The virtual exhibition will show the outcome of the workshop and will be offered through a USB-stick given to schools, and through the project website (www.alterego-europe.eu). The material will be usable in educational contexts and will also be gathered on a weblog linked with the new EUNIC website (www.eunic-europe.eu).
The physical exhibition will be shown in 5 cities (incl. Berlin, Brussels and Prague) and is co-ordinated by Goethe Institut Brussels. It includes:
•15 to 20 lightweight standing panels (2x1m)
•A video report of the workshop week
•Digital material gathered on USB-sticks
In addition to the 1,600 works submitted, more than 50,000 votes for submissions were received.
The products of Alter Ego will serve as concrete practical examples and case studies for teachers' kits in tens of thousands of European schools, as well as in the activities of all the partners in this project: cultural institutes, youth organisations and networks as well as community organisations.
The finalists will use their acquired experience to act as ambassadors of intercultural dialogue in schools, cultural and community centres as well as in political and government institutions.
Media partnerships cover all three stages of the project: competition and selection of finalists, the Intercultural Workshop and the process of dissemination covered by local, national and European TV and radio networks.
For more information, please see the Alter Ego website.
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