Feminist aesthetics for political poetics Erasmus Project

Project Title

Feminist aesthetics for political poetics

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Partnerships for Creativity

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship; Gender equality / equal opportunities

Project Summary

The Theater of the Oppressed arises as a response to the urgency of constructing forms of theatrical representation that do not judge the oppressed for the oppressions they face and, at the same time, overcome the individualism of the scenic approach to conflicts.

It is a methodology available to all those committed to overcoming patriarchy. The specific proposal of this methodology is an aesthetic and political investigation, which seeks to reveal the social structure that determines the reproduction of oppressions, in the staging and in the dialogue with the public.
This project, which will be carried out through this methodology, consists of a series of transnational meetings that will make it possible to consolidate the European network of Theater of the Oppressed, currently fragmented and without fluid communication.
The main objective is to strengthen at the European level, a systematized and networked working method, based on the aesthetics of the oppressed, which allows improving the competences of the curingas in youth work and the strengthening of the methodology applied as a tool for prevention of violence in various fields.
For this we have 5-6 people from each country for the meetings, of which 4-5 will be Kuringas and 1-2 will be young representatives of local groups. At the level of local youth groups, we will have an average of 8 participants.

The exchange of good practices between the people who carry out a multiplier work in youth groups, in each territory, will consist of a 1º stage of training, to develop pedagogically, what in theater of the oppressed we call Curinga (person who facilitates the activities of the Method She is an artist with a pedagogical function, in a constant learning process.) An Online Project Initiation Laboratory will be held (March-April 2021) especially using the techniques of Legislative Theater and Forum Theater. Theatrical pieces will be created.
In a 2º stage, the dissemination of the methodology begins at the local level, applying it in groups of young people, as the formation of new references in the role of Curinga, while working in parallel on detecting, addressing and preventing gender violence and inequalities, during the process. Theater pieces will be created as a tool to fight against these oppressions. To do this, collaborative relationships will be established with schools, institutes and youth centers (April 2021), there will be some forum / legislative theater exhibitions for youth audiences (April – May 2021) and regular workshops with young people (May to July 2021 and October to March 2021/2022). In the 3º stage, small transnational online exchanges will be carried out, by regions of proximity to share local work, and thus nurture to continue developing pieces, workshops and training at the local level. (Two, between May and July 2021). The 4º stage consists of exchanges and samples between everyone. The samples will be represented and there will be reflection, debate and consolidation of groups, trainers, and the network. These face-to-face meetings would consist of participation in the “International Kuringa Festival” (September 2021) and in the “Festival of the World Day of the Theater of the Oppressed” (March 2022).

Finally, the systematization, internal work and creation of results begins and the closing with a Magdalenas Laboratory for the local community.
With all this, it is expected to articulate the current fabric of multipliers (curingas), as a regular space for the exchange of good practices and collective and creative resources, to obtain an analysis through theatricality, of the structural mechanisms that support the patriarchy to seek alternatives for action and promotion of gender equality. Another desired result is to train and replicate the methodology in different groups of young people, who acquire practical tools in violence prevention. We hope to multiply the methodology, generating new Theater of the Oppressed groups that expand the network, and guarantee its continuity and sustainability.
The impact will occur at the level of the network, with its strengthening and articulation through its consolidation and the qualification of the people, groups and organizations associated with the project. In addition to the establishment of strategic alliances between the training and artistic work of the project, with organizations and institutions that have social and political impact at the local, national and international levels to consolidate the exchange and dissemination of experience. We will also find this impact among young people, due to the contribution to their training in innovative and sociocultural methods, which allows them to develop tools for their autonomy and role as training referents to multiply the method.
The Theater of the Oppressed promotes the aesthetic investigation of injustices directly linked to the intersection between gender, race and class.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 60750 Eur

Project Coordinator

Asocoación La Tregua. Arte y transformación social & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Centar za kazaliste potlacenih POKAZ
• GTO LX- Grupo de Teatro do Oprimido de Lisboa
• Theaterwerkstatt Kuringa e.V.
• Pas à Passo – Théâtre de l’Opprimé
• Kulturno umetnisko drustvo Transformator