Art Encounter 2005

Project summary

Art Encounter 2005 was an artistic exchange, which saw young artists from Cork, Nicaragua and Columbia living and working together in Cork for the month of July.
The young people worked together using a variety of media from photography to video projections to sculptures, to explore the dreams of young people all over the world and especially in relation to the Millennium Development Goals and the issue of equality.
It was a very unique and exciting opportunity to have such a talented international group of young artists together in Mayfield. The young people had clear messages that they wanted to communicate in very innovative ways.
The Nicaraguan group, 'Funarte' work mainly with mural painting and the Columbian group, ' Centro Colombo Americano' specialise in photography, cinema and performance arts.
Each group shared their skills and experiences both in the arts and about their culture and way of life and it proved to be a great experience for everyone taking part,
"We are all part of a world that was created without discrimination and we all have equal rights to laugh, cry, sing, dance and study."

The fruits of their labour were put on display at a public art exhibition in Mayfield and in the city centre and a free open top bus connected the two venues. Members of the public were invited to attend and to meet the artists. The exhibition provided a unique insight into the issues affecting young people today.

Dates: Jan 05 - July 05

Themes: share culture,s dreams in an artistic way between 4 countries.

Target group:

36 young artists from Cork, Nicaragua and Columbia living and working together in Cork for the month of July.

Project aims

•  To encourage young people to take imitative and action in communicating their opinions and promoting equality

•  To encourage expression of sense of solidarity within Europe and the wider world as well as supporting the fight against racism and xenophobia and helping to eliminate all forms of discrimination and promote equality

•  To give the opportunity for intercultural learning and to help young people acquire knowledge and understanding of; each other's cultures

•  To explore and address the theme of equality and explore how equality can be promoted. To encourage young people to take intitative and action in communicating their opinions and promoting equality

•  To exchange arts skills.

•  To encourage young people to express and communicate their opinion

•  To explore different media for communication of ideas.

•  To enable participants to develop skills and competency in the following areas: Art skills and Commmunication skills

. To encourage expression of sense of solidarity within Europe and the wider world as well as supporting the fight against racism and xenophobia and helping to eliminate all forms of discrimination and promote equality

Project activities

• Sharing of work and experiences of 'Dream Project' (lead-in work that took place in each country
• Group building activities, Self portraits, games,
• Photography,
• Graffiti stencilling
• Sculpture
• Mural painting
• Publicity designed and distributed by group
• Installation of public art and exhibitions
• 3 day public event and bus tour of artworks between city centre and Mayfield