War and Party: Carnival (La Guerra y la Fiesta: Carnaval)
WHAT?War and Party is a project of social intervention through artistic expression. It is an encounter between a team of artists, psychologists, journalists, and communities of people who have been affected by war. As an outcome of this encounter all the participants create a street performance, which is based on personal stories and cultural expressions belonging to the community. The process and the performance will be the base to create a video and a written account to register the experiences of the encounter, which will be used as a memory for the community and as a testimony to be spread internationally. The first version of War and Party is subtitled Carnival, and is planned to be done in Colombia in 2008 with communities of refugees (“desplazados”) within the country.
WHY?Interaction between art and society: Art and society feed from each other are a product of each other, criticize each other, support each other and reconstruct each other. Art has the power to touch upon issues that have to do with human aspects, which are too abstract or too complex to be dealt with by, for instance, politicians, economists or lawyers. The field of art is the field of the subjective, of the imaginary, of the metaphorical, of the symbolic, of the sensitive, of the ludic and of the emotional.
As said before, War and Party is to be developed with people who have been directly affected by war. The target of the project in Colombia will be communities of displaced people (‘desplazados’ in Spanish), for whom the project War and Party: Carnival can be highly relevant in different ways:
- Restoration of cultural identity and personal memory: Feasts, carnivals and celebrations constitute a very important part of people’s ‘cultural baggage’; It is inscribed in people’s bodies and imaginaries, making it possible for them to reconstruct their original contexts in any part of the world. In the case of refugees or so called “desplazados”, the cultural baggage becomes their ambulant home in the middle of a forceful situation provoked by war. Acknowledging, valuing and exploring creatively their personal memories and cultural identity will help refugees to recover the dignity and the confidence. Dignity and confidence is needed for them to claim for their rights and to go through a process of healthy integration in their new situations. In the case of Colombia, the big cities such as Bogotá, Cali, Medellín and Bucaramanga.
- Public acknowledgement: The other side of the situation of internal displacement in Colombia is the citizens, or the people who live in the receiving cities. For them, the communities of refugees often cause uneasiness, paranoia, pity, fear, and other emotions that denigrate human dignity. Considering this, it is vital that the citizens not only acknowledge the arrival of these communities as a consequence of a social crisis, but also that they acknowledge the refugees as integral human beings with history, cultural heritage, potential, knowledge and an active search for justice and peace.
-The group dynamics within the communities: When refugees come to a country or a region from different places, they have very different backgrounds and ‘cultural baggage’ from one another. Despite this variety, joining individual forces can be important at the beginning of a process of incorporation into a new society and into a new system that might not be completely ready to welcome the new inhabitants. Doing a collective creation of a street performance, which talks about the different stories of refugees, is itself a group dynamic that contributes to strengthen the cooperative skills of these heterogeneous communities.
-Appropriation of public spaces and integration process: To perform in public spaces is a symbolic way of visualizing a right and a responsibility: the right to share the common wealth of society and the responsibility of taking care of it as well as participating in its positive transformation. In the case of forceful migration, public spaces usually become spaces of invasion and social chaos. War and Party contributes to transform this situation, using public spaces as spots for poetic expression and for communication between refugees and urban citizens.
-Integral Reparation, Historical Memory and International Diffusion: According to the report written by the Mission sent by the Swedish NGO Foundation for Human Rights 2007 to Colombia, the laws which legalize the demobilization process of the paramilitary in Colombia (illegal militarized groups in Colombia which are one of the main violent actors causing the phenomenon of ‘desplazamiento’ or internal fleeing) provide significantly more benefits to the criminals than to the victims.
The precarious support to the victims is visible in the practice, despite the different national and international laws that demand ‘reparation’ for the social, moral and material damages caused to the victims. This ‘integral reparation’ should include not only economical compensation, but also psychological support and spaces in which the victims can express and reflect upon what has happened to them. According to the report and to the testimony of some Colombian victims at the Human Rights congress in Stockholm 2007, it is of great importance for the victims to ‘take their pain seriously’ and to get public recognition and respect for their suffering. Psychological support and the ‘catharsis’ of the pain through artistic mediums are considered to be very valuable in this aspect of the process of ‘reparation’.
The victims believe that international awareness of their situation is of great importance and international law and opinion play an essential role in the defense of human rights in Colombia. The bridge between Sweden and Colombia is very appreciated by the victims. This bridge, however, has concentrated mostly on juridical aspects and it could be positively complemented by projects, which make emphasis on emotional aspects, personal memories and cultural heritage of the victims.
Another important recommendation mentioned in this report (Swedish ONG Foundation for Human Rights, Colombian Mission 2007) and at the Human Rights congress in Stockholm 2007, is to consider the aspect of ‘historical memory’ as part of the victims’ right to ‘integral reparation’. All kinds of documentation (including artistic documentation) related to the events occurred to the victims and to the processes they are going through at the moment, contribute to create a historical memory which helps to guarantee that these violent events do not occur again in the future.
WHAT FOR?
1. To put performing art forms into the agenda of activities aimed at the reconstruction of societies damaged and disintegrated by the internal war in Colombia.
2. To contribute to the strengthening of group dynamics within communities of internal refugees in Colombia.
3. To provide communities of internal refugees in Colombia with material and human resources aimed at the reflection, exploration and expression of their cultural identity and personal memories.
4. To influence positively the urban citizens attitude towards the communities of internal refugees (desplazados) in Colombia, thereby using public spaces as symbolic and poetic places of encounter between these two groups.
5. To increase the international awareness of the situation of the victims of the violence in Colombia.
HOW?Research, contacts and founding: In this stage the team starts researching on issues related to human rights, social intervention and community-based performance, focusing on the community targeted in every new place, in this case, Colombia. The contacts with the potential collaborative communities must start in this stage too, in order to know about their background, current projects, needs, interests and availability of time. This is also the stage for applications. Given that the members of the team reside in different countries, the project is conceived as an international cooperation. This stage started in September of 2007 and is in course.
Confirmation of participants, economical resources and planning: Once the participants and the economical resources are confirmed, the team proceeds to plan the activities and logistics together with the communities. This stage goes approximately from December 2007 to May 2008, for the version of the project in Colombia.
Physical encounter and artistic process: The team meets with communities in a particular place, in this case Bogotá, Cali and Bucaramanga. The working sessions start with the intensity that suits the communities involved. The process includes discussions, dance and music exchanges, storytelling and other artistic devises. All of these artistic devises are put towards a final montage, which will be oriented by the artistic team. The team counts on the professional support of psychologists, as well as writers and video-artists that will follow the process and create an artistic memory of it for the participants and for the international community. This stage is planned to be done in Colombia between June and July 2008.
Performances and Documentation: In this stage the participants perform in different public spaces, and the writers and video artists complete the material for documentation. This stage is planned to be done in Colombia, between July and August 2008.
Evaluation and projection: The team and the community evaluate the project, as well as the possibilities of giving a continuation to it. The team residing in Colombia will follow the contact with the community until October 2008.
Transition to the next version: A new team is created with some of the people who has been involved in the Colombian version of the project and with new members belonging to the new context, or country. Within the list of possible countries for the next version of the project, are the Balkan countries as well as other countries of Latin America.
Background and Context
Movimientos: War and Party is partly possible thanks to a dialogue between Sweden and Colombia, which started in 2002 with the cultural exchange project Movimientos. This project was represented by Dans i Värmland (Sweden) and by Ballet Experimental Contemporáneo BeC (Colombia), and it consisted of two stages in Colombia and two stages in Sweden. Some of the members of War and Party took part in Movimientos with the following roles: Sara Regina Fonseca as a dancer, choreographer, lecturer, educator and coordinator of the Colombian part; Aleksandra Rudnicka as a dancer, pedagogue, lecturer, choreographer and coordinator of the Swedish part; Eugenio Cueto as a dancer, choreographer, pedagogue, lecturer and artistic director of BeC; and Beatriz Helena Gil as a dancer, lecturer and workshop leader in dance therapy. Movimientos was financed by; the Swedish Institute, Region Värmland, Kulturrådet, Karlstads Kommun, the Colombian Ministry of Culture, the Colombian Embassy in Sweden and the Cultural Institute of Bucaramanga.
Corporación Ballet Experimental Contemporáneo BeC: BeC is the Colombian organization representing the project War and Party. BeC was founded in Bucaramanga Colombia in 1997 with the purpose of improving the situation of dance students, professional dancers, choreographers and dance researchers in the country. The activities of BeC include, among others, international exchange projects with England, Sweden and Mexico, the creation of several dance works, which have been shown in numerous national and international festivals, and the development of a pedagogical dance project called Yba-Su. The artistic director of BeC is Eugenio Cueto, who has extensive experience and studies in pedagogy and dance. Eugenio Cueto is currently directing the ‘Festival Universitario de Danza’ at national and international levels.
Fabel Kommunikation: Fabel Kommunikation is the Swedish organization representing this project ‘Kriget och Festen’. The entrepreneur Max Hugo Valentin and the psychologist Thomas Davidsson created the company in Sweden in 2002. The company uses visualization and experience-based methods in order to increase the understanding between people and promote positive transformations of attitude. Among others, Fabel Kommunikation has developed projects for Göteborgs Stadsmuseum, Systembolaget, Malmö Stad, Chalmers Entreprenörskola, Lerums Kommun, Hallands Länsmuseum, GR Utbildning, Tynnered Statsdelsförvaltning, Migrationsverket, Drivhuset, Borås Högskola, Vin & Sprithistoriska Museet and Polishögskolan.
Fundación Nuevo Arcoiris: This foundation is an ONG for human and social development. It was created in Colombia in 1996, within the frame of the execution of the commitments assumed in the final political agreement between the ‘Corriente de Renovación Socialista’ (Socialist Renovation Movement) and the Colombian Government, the 9th of April of 1994. The mission of the Fundación Nuevo Arcoiris is to contribute to the construction of a new social order in which peace, respect for the difference, equality, and social justice, are prevalent values. With this purpose, the foundation develops programs and projects of intervention in the fields of social, political, cultural, economical and environmental development. This foundation is going to mediate the encounter between the team engaged in War and Party and certain communities of internal refugees or displaced people in Colombia. The foundation and Ballet Experimental Contemporáneo have signed an agreement to carry out projects of social development in collaboration. The project War and Party is part of the agreement.
Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana: The Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana belongs to the private sector in Colombia, but it is recognized and accredited by the national educational system. The Social Psychology Research Group of the University has confirmed its interest in supporting the project War and Party (La Guerra y la Fiesta in Spanish). The support consists in covering the costs of the video documentation and in organizing a number of activities where the artists involved in the project will share publicly their findings and experiences by means of workshops, lectures and exhibitions.
The teamSara Regina Fonseca, coordinator in Sweden and artistic director: Sara Regina is Colombian. Her education includes a high school at the Colombian Institute of Ballet in Cali, a BA (hons) in dance theatre at the Laban Centre in London, a post-graduate course in Theatre Studies at the University of Stockholm and a Master in Dance Studies at the University of Stockholm (in course). She was coordinator of the cultural exchange project between Colombia and Sweden Movimientos, co-founder of Ballet Experimental Contemporáneo and artistic director of the company Triámbulo Ikebana in Sweden. Sara has been teaching dance as well as performing and choreographing professionally for more than seven years. She is currently studying, teaching and developing her own projects in Stockholm. Parallel to the practical development of War and Party, Sara Regina wants to link her master studies to a research that aims at creating a methodology which bridges artistic creation and social intervention.
Ulrika Selring, writer: has a Master in Comparative Literature from the University of Lund. She has lived and studied Spanish and Latin American literature in the University of Salamanca and Complutense University in Madrid, Spain. She obtained the title as an authorized translator from Swedish to Spanish and Spanish to Swedish in the National University, Bogota, Colombia. She has also a lot of experience in dance. Ulrika has lived in Colombia where she, together with journalist and tango dancer Leonardo Alba, has carried out pedagogical projects with children and young people coming from rural areas and vulnerable neighbourhoods of Bogotá. Ulrika is currently translating the books of various Colombian writers, among others, William Ospina and Victor Rojas. From January 2008 she is the coordinator of an important Latin American Film festival: Latin American i Fokus in Malmö.
Beatriz Helena Gil, psychological support and coordinator in Colombia: Beatriz Helena is a Colombian professional psychologist and has many years of experience in dance. Beatriz was part of the team of the exchange project Movimientos, in which she gave workshops and seminars in Colombia and Sweden. She has worked, among others, with the Pedagogic University of Bogotá, the University UDES of Bucaramanga and the Superior Academy of Arts of Bogotá (ASAB). Beatriz has also worked in projects of social intervention with the Fundación Nuevo Arcoiris, the organization through which the project will be realized in Colombia. (See more information above). At the moment, Beatriz is researching about ‘Dance and Movement as Tools of Psychological Intervention’, developing experiences with groups of young people, homosexuals, and particulars.
Aleksandra Rudnicka, dancer: Aleksandra is originally from Poland but has lived in Sweden since she was five years old. She is a professional dancer and was the Swedish coordinator of the exchange project Movimientos, where she was involved in different pedagogical and social activities. Aleksandra has extensive experience as a dancer, choreographer and dance pedagogue. She has worked, among others, with Dans i Värmland.
Silvia Ospina, choreographic assistant: Colombian Silvia Ospina obtained a degree in social communication in Colombia and a degree in dance theatre at the Folkwang Schulen in Germany, where she has lived for a few years now. Silvia has extensive artistic experience and she is currently teaching dance to mime students at the Folkwang Schulen of Essen, Germany.
Max Hugo Valentin, assistant of participative methods: Swedish entrepreneur Max Hugo is director of the Swedish organization Fabel Kommunikation (see the more information about this organization above). Max has a BA in Engineering –Product Development, a Master in Business Development and he is currently doing as course in Arts, philosophy and enterprise.
Maria Juliana Vélez, sub-coordinator in Colombia, video artist: Colombian Maria Juliana obtained her degree in social communication and a magister in semiotics in Colombia. She has also done different courses in dance and scrip for film in Colombia, France, Argentina and Cuba. Maria Juliana has produced a number of videos and she has worked, among others, for the project ‘Tejedores de Sociedad’ of the Instituto Distrital de Cultura y Turismo in Bogotá, the Industrial University of Santander UIS, the Javeriana University of Bogotá and the Pontificia Bolivariana University of Bucaramanga, where she is currently employed full-time within the department of psychology.
Eugenio Cueto Barragán, artist: Eugenio Cueto is a Colombian professional pedagogue with a number of post-graduates studies, a master in education and a doctorate in course. He has extensive experience and non-formal education as a dancer and choreographer. Eugenio is founder and director of Ballet Experimental Contemporáneo BeC (see further information above), and he is currently working as a choreographer and dance pedagogue in different universities.
Sara Cecilia Alba, dancer: Sara is a Colombian professional dancer who obtained her BA in Dance at the ArtEZ Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Arnhem, Holanda. Sara has worked in different schools and universities as a dance pedagogue as well as working as a freelance dancer. She is currently teaching dance perception at the Superior Academy of Arts in Bogotá.
Charles Toulouse, mime: Charles is a French-German body mime artist graduated from the Folkwang Hogschulen in Essen, Germany. He has been involved in pedagogical and social projects in Colombia before and he is currently working as a full-time actor in Staatstheater Wiesbadena in Germany.
Catherine Busk, dancer: Catherine is a British professional dancer graduated from the Central Ballet School of London. She works as a freelance dancer in Stockholm and is a co-founder of the performance company Triámbulo-Ikebana.
Juliana Montoya, dancer: Juliana is a Colombian professional dancer who graduated from the Colombian Institute of Ballet and the National Choreographic Centre CNDC of Angers, France. Juliana is a co-founder of BeC and she is currently employed as a full-time dancer in a French company.
Edson Velandia, musician: Edson is a Colombian professional musician with experience in theatre and video documentation. Edson has been involved in collaborative projects with BeC as a composer. He has been director of three bands: ‘El poema del desorden’, ‘Cabuya’ and ‘Velandia y la Tigra’. Social issues, popular or folkloric music and local characters usually inspire his music. Edson has gained prices for his works in various occasions; among others the Shock Award 2007 in Colombia, category of Nativo Style.
Applications
Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (confirmed), Fundación Nuevo Arcoiris (confirmed) Iberescena (in course), Forum Syd (in course), Svenska Institut (in course), British Council (in course), Kulturrådet (in course), Goethe Institute (in course).
