Marriolle Association started on July 31, 2023, the project “Through their eyes”, intended for young people and adults with disabilities living in District 6 of Bucharest. Implemented in partnership with VAR Cultural Association, General Directorate for Social Assistance and Child Protection District 6 and Prim Plan Film, the project is co-financed by Bucharest City Hall through ARCUB within the program *Bucharest at home 2023* and will take place between 31.07.2023-15.11.2023. For detailed information about the financing program of Bucharest City Hall through ARCUB, you can access www.arcub.ro or www.pmb.ro.
The aim of the project is to promote diversity, challenge stigma and discrimination against disabilities using puppetry. The philosophy of the project can be summarized by Ernesto Sirolli’s principle: “Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!”.
The project is structured in two stages:
Stage1 – Romanian and foreign artists, both typical and atypical, and a drama-therapy psychologist will hold a series of 14 workshops of dramatherapy, forum theater, storytelling and puppetry dedicated to 12 young people and adults with disabilities, 12 members of their families and 8 employees of psychosocial assistance services in District 6. During the workshops, participants with disabilities will be encouraged to explore and communicate personal messages and stories related to life situations that make them vulnerable and to gain confidence in their own mechanisms of resilience and expression.
Stage 2- together with the beneficiaries and their created puppets we will explore the connection of participants with the communities, the city they live in, the places invested with the feeling of Home – safety, comfort, free expression – and we will initiate a process of community activation through interactions in public spaces.
For professionals in the field of psychosocial assistance, health, education and culture interested in the proposed work methodology, two seminars will be organized at the beginning and the end of the project, during which will be presented the benefits of puppetry beyond artistic intervention, examples of good practice and researches in the field, as well as the results obtained within this project, . The seminars will be coordinated and held by Dr. Emma Fisher (UK) – puppeteer, artistic director and active researcher in puppetry and disability.
Through the proposed activities, the project addresses an important interrogation related to the sustainable inclusion of persons with disabilities: is this possible by simply giving them access to the dominant culture, or is it also necessary to actively participate – by creating identitary content and messages – in a multicultural society?
The entire project will be documented, and the materials (photo, video, text, audio) will be the basis of a video journal – a fun, emotional and visceral connection of the participants’ vision with the general public. The film will be presented to the Bucharest public during a final event in October and will be also available to the general public online, being promoted through social networks and communication channels specific to the project promoter and partners.
Main media partners: Radio România Cultural, IQads, Zileșinopți.ro, Prima TV
The content of this material does not necessarily represent the official position of Bucharest City Hall or ARCUB. The content of the project or how the results of the project can be used are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the funding.
