EMAA Activity Centre Project – Training Provisions
The General Objective of the Programme
Implementing and popularizing contemporary perspectives of art and art education.
European Mediterranean Arts Association (EMAA) will continue to cooperate with its partner association Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts (E.KA.TE) between the years 2010 and 2012 in order to organize workshops that will implement and popularize contemporary art within the cultural sphere. One of the objectives of these workshops is to bring together the artists and art enthusiasts of both island communities so as to increase the level of their artistic collaboration. We hope that you as prominent experts will propose creative and original course/workshop programmes in accordance with the general framework outlined below and support us throughout the two-year period. Your applications will be evaluated by the workgroup formed by the members of EMAA and E.KA.TE.
Workshop Activities and Projected Groups
Workshops for the Turkish Cypriot Children and Youth:
Within the two-year period, a total of 12 different workshops (8 for the children, 4 for the youth) will be organized. Grouping will be based on age (4 different age-groups: 7-9, 9-11, 12-14, 15-18) due to different psychological developmental and perceptive levels of the participants. Each workshop will consist of 13-17 children or teenagers. The subject matter of the workshops could be two or three dimensional works or any other field of art (such as, video, drama, literature). Workshops will last for 2-2.5 months and take place once a week for two hours depending on the interests of the participants and the methods to be applied. Only Turkish Cypriot experts (instructors/artists, etc.) can apply to this course.
Bicommunal Workshops for the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot Children and Youth:
Within the two-year period, a total of 4 bicommunal workshops will be organized. 20-25 children or teenagers and two instructors from both island communities will participate in each workshop. The courses will take place in summer as one-day courses. The framework of the workshops will include the aims of recognizing each other (foreigners, others, enemies, men, women, etc.) and thinking about common problems (peace, environmental degradation, religion, war, borders, hope, future). Instructors considering to apply to this program are advised to apply with a partner.
Practical Workshops for Adults:
Each year, 3 such workshops will be organized. Each course will be organized by two artists, one Turkish Cypriot, one Greek Cypriot. Therefore, the applicant will be responsible for finding a partner and cooperating with him/her. Each course will take place once a week, for two or three hours. 20-25 adults (anyone living in Cyprus) will participate in each course.
Additional information:
After the completion of each course, informative texts about the course will be published and visual materials will be exhibited. During the process, the instructors will work with the activity centre administrators and complete the preparation for exhibitions. Each exhibiton will be accompanied by an opening ceremony and a special presentation before the press. Media will be used effectively and an expert with a particular knowledge about the contents of the exhibition will guide the viewers and student visitors on the spot.
Instructors of the long-term workshops for children and youth will be responsible for inviting, presenting and organizing a lecture with a guest artist whose work will resonate with the scope of the proposed workshop.
Contemporary art
Contemporary art, in contrast ot modern art, could be defined as the art forms which are 1- difficult to evaluate with reference to production methods and art movements; 2- conscious of environmental and social issues; interested in feminism, globalization, environment, bio-engineering, the relation between humanity and technology, AIDS and multiculturalism; 3- covering a period that began after the 1960s and 70s (after the end of modern art or in general the end of the Modernist period); and 4- difficult to categorize under a unitary movement or style. In other words, contemporary art could be defined as that art form which utilizes different methods and materials, deals with pressing social and everyday issues and creates an alternative perspective. It is the sum of independent and pluralist works of art which have a say in the daily social and political matters and opens to debate the ideas they represent.
Contemporary art education:
In accordance with the definition above, contemporary art education takes the individual out of the traditional, stereotypical methodological frameworks, offers him/her alternative modes of expression, encourages him/her to develop his/her own methods of expression, enables a multi-faceted perception of events and facts that is open to all kinds of contemporary forms, and utilizes scientific-technological means to interact with the social-cultural processes of change. Contemporary art education draws its subject matter from everyday and social concerns and considers individual discourses and lifeworlds to be important in themselves.
The required features of the proposed training programme:
1. Compatibility with contemporary art and education perspectives
- Having a creative and innovative scope,
- Enabling a multi-faceted perception of events and facts
- Bringing together different disciplines and trying to implement a pluralist structure
- Using diverse materials and techniques
- Picking up the subject matter from contemporary art problematics with contemporary social relevance
2. Compatibility of the programme with the target group and objectives
3. The experience and academic accomplishments of the instructor(s)
Application deadline:
April 10 (For the first six-month period)
Contact Information:
Coordinator: Zehra Şonya, e-mail : zehra.sonya@gmail.com , tel : 0 533 866 30 85
Assistant: Özgül Ezgin, e-mail : ozgul.ezgin@gmail.com, tel : 0 533 864 04 18
NOT : This project receives contribution from the EU. Only EMAA and E.KA.TE are responsible for the contents of the project. No part of this project can be said to represent the official stance of the EU.