▪ Culture ShoX ▪

Project Periode: 2016 – 2017

Collaborative Partner: TheatrETC

Supported by: Erasmus+

Culture ShoX

Culture ShoX is an international intercultural collaborative project between the Danish self-governing institution Swinging Europe and the Cypriot non-governmental theatre organisation TheatrEtc. By combining theatre and music as expressive art forms, young participants from the age of 15 – 25 from Denmark, Cyprus and with refugee status were able to immerse themselves in the arts in order to co-create two final performances as the end results of two youth camp stays. The young participants had to rely on teamwork, individual personal development and creativity bridging the gap between spoken languages and cultural differences.

The first part of Culture ShoX, which took place in Kampos village in Cyprus from 28th of July – 6th of August, engaged the participants in daily theatre workshops, where young Danes, Cypriots and refugees were given the opportunity to communicate with each other through physical theatre exercises. By reflecting on their participation, as well as their social and individual input during the workshops, the ten days offered a structured framework wherein the participants were able to explore their own creative competences, further their social skills and problem solving capabilities. The camp offered a non-formal learning environment, which favoured multiculturalism and diversity as defining settings.

The second part of Culture ShoX took place in the borough of Tjørring in Herning Municipality, Denmark, from the 12th – 22nd of October. The participants stayed in a scout house, where daily music workshops and concerts and following debates centring on the question of European as well as national identity was questioned in the shape of a multicultural trio and European folk music. On the final day of the camp, the participants presented their final performance, which offered a combination of songs and spoken word.

By combining the working forces of Northern and Southern Europe – exemplified in Denmark and Cyprus – Culture ShoX is an intercultural project that combines a multitude of diverse nationalities and personalities in order to create a collaborative end result, centring on music and theatre as communicative tools to explore the means of approaching the European Union’s current refugee situation through the arts as a positive imprint.