From Damascus to Berlin, NEW NEIGHBOURS documents an extraordinary friendship

The New Neighbours journey takes us from the ghost town of Sutera, Sicily, to the metropolis of Berlin and its new Syrian residents. “Across the Road – Worlds Apart” by EBU-DW pays tribute to the unforgettable life of Eva Sternheim-Peters and documents her friendship with Syrian refugee Amer Kassab. 

Eva Sternheim-Peters and Amer Kassab. 

At the age of ten Mrs Sternheim-Peters joined the league of German Girls, the girl’s wing of the Nazi party’s youth movement. She afterwards recognised the horror of the movement and spent her life welcoming people from all around the world in her apartment. Her last “roommate” was Syrian refugee Amer Kassab. The film follows Amer as he visits a German pub frequented by local regulars opposing Muslim newcomers. Will the encounter with Amer shift their views?

Dasa Raimanova, film director, recounts a memorable moment of the shooting:

During a severe heat wave in Berlin, together with our protagonists, Eva (94) and Amer (27), we visited the concentration camp Sachsenhausen. It was a harrowing experience, difficult to describe in words. While we were mostly worried about Eva managing in the heat, quite the opposite happened: Amer and the crew were melting while Eva kept going without complaining even once about the heat.

“Across the Road – Worlds Apart” had its premiere at the Centre for Fine Arts Bozar in Brussels on the occasion of the World TV day in November 2019. It is one of nine documentary films exploring real stories of daily life in an intercultural European Union, co-produced by the EBU Intercultural and Diversity Group within the project New Neighbours

Eva Sternheim-Peters died in 2020 as one of the victims of the corona virus pandemic in Germany. The co-production team of the New Neighbours series is proud and grateful to have managed to capture part of Eva’s life on camera.

You can watch “Across the Road – Worlds Apart” subtitled in English here. All nine films are being made available one after another via www.newneighbours.eu

New Neighbours is collecting good practice and success stories on how to provide factual information on migration, as well as promoting direct participation of migrants and refugees in media production. Led by the European Broadcasting Union, the 24-month project runs until the end of 2020, involving 9 European Public Service Broadcasters from Croatia, Germany, Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Italy, Slovenia, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. Alongside the PSM film productions, which build the heart of the New Neighbours project, a series of complementary productions, trainings and research activities are taking place, under the responsibility of the project partners CMFE – Community Media Forum EuropeCOMMITCOSPE Onlus and MDI – Media Diversity Institute.

New Neighbours is funded by the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and by the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

You can follow the project via Twitter @newneighbours1 and www.newneighbours.eu

About the EBU

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is the world’s foremost alliance of public service media (PSM). Our mission is to make PSM indispensable. We have 116 member organizations in 56 countries and have an additional 34 Associates in Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas. Our Members operate nearly 2,000 television, radio and online channels and services, and offer a wealth of content across other platforms. Together they reach an audience of more than one billion people around the world, broadcasting in more than 160 languages. We operate Eurovision and Euroradio services. 

Discover more about the EBU on www.ebu.ch

About CMFE

Founded in 2004, Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE) represents networks, national federations and organisations active within the Third Media Sector at the European level. CMFE supports community media in maintaining a clearly distinct identity alongside the national public service and private commercial media, raising awareness of their contributions to pluralism, democratic participation and media literacy. 

See also www.cmfe.eu

About COMMIT

COMMIT was founded in 2010 and works to extend and improve further training for community media practitioners in Austria and in Europe. COMMIT organises trainings and develops concepts for further education in the field of community media and adult learning. COMMIT works towards professionalisation and formal recognition of community media training and of the acquired skills. 

See also https://www.commit.at

About COSPE

COSPE, established in 1983, is a registered non-profit association recognised since 1984 as Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and by the European Union. Cospe implements projects in about 27 extra-EU Countries, in Europe and in Italy promoting fair and sustainable development, global citizenship, intercultural dialogue and human rights.

See also https://www.cospe.org

Suspension of “Migrations/Mediations. Promoting intercultural dialogue through media, arts and culture” International Conference

Dear colleagues and attendants to the Migrations/Mediations International Conference,

In compliance with the current developments of the emergency related to the spread of Coronavirus COVID-19, with regret we have to inform you that the “Migrations/Mediations. Promoting intercultural dialogue through media, arts and culture” International Conference scheduled for April, 6-7, 2020 is suspended.

The Conference will be rescheduled for next Autumn, probably in the second half of September. We will let you know the new dates as soon as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience this postponement may cause, but your safety and serenity are our main concern.
Hopefully everyone will have the opportunity to attend the Conference in Autumn as well.

We are grateful for your understanding and we remain at your disposal for any further information.

Best regards

The Migrations/Mediations Conference Committee

NEW OPEN CALL: Atlas of Transitions Biennial | WE THE PEOPLE in Bologna



We share the new open call of “Atlas of Transitions Biennial | WE THE PEOPLE in Bologna, organised by ERT – Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione, Cantieri Meticci and University of Bologna”

“Imagine a giant urban chorus. Imagine the energy of a common vibration generated by the city’s multitude of voices. Imagine being part of a temporary community aimed at the creation of an extraordinary public event. You would like to participate in the third edition of Atlas of Transitions Biennial | WE THE PEOPLE in Bologna, organised by ERT – Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione, Cantieri Meticci and University of Bologna in June 2020 Here’s an opportunity for you! 
We are looking for people of all ages and cultural backgrounds, with or without singing skills,  music enthusiasts, vocal groups, singers, adventure spirits for Collettivo Amigdala’s new project: MAGNITUDO, a collective act of voicing. A musical score has been composed for the occasion by Meike Clarelli e Davide Fasulo both musiciansfrom Collettivo Amigdala. Thanks to the collaboration with the AfroWomenPoetry project, the score has been created on the words of the Ugandan Poet Carolyne Afroetry, expressly written for the singular and plural voices of Magnitudo.
HOW IT WORKS: Starting from April 2020, every week and in distinct areas of the city, three workshop groups will rehearse for the two final performances of the 13th and 14th June 2020, when the groups will join together to create a powerful and subversive collective ritual by occupying public space in Bologna, respectively in the center and in the suburbs.
 CHECK THE FULL CALENDAR AND REGISTER NOW! for Italian CLICK HERE

International Summer School Performing arts and migration. Theories and Practices for Inclusive Cities

“From 9th to 14th June 2020, University of Bologna, Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione and Cantieri Meticci will host the International Summer School Performing arts and migration. Theories and Practices for Inclusive Cities at Arena del Sole Theatre in Bologna (Italy). 

Call to participate for max 30 people: Master students, PhD graduates and researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds, artists, activists, professionals in NGOs/third sector and cultural organizations, administrators and policy makers.

About the Summer School
The summer school offers an interdisciplinary course on international migration, performing arts and public space. The aim of the Summer School is to discuss theoretical frameworks, methodologies and artistic practices focused on the role of performing arts in becoming spaces of resistance, activism and creative intervention in the public space about migration and diversity. Involving world-wide scholars, artists, institutions and collective experiences, the course will offer an overview on the role played by performing arts in developing alternative imageries on migration, spaces of urban participation, collective memory and aesthetics of subversion. Classroom lessons, lessons, good practices presentations, artistic performances, roundtables, open lectures, classroom project works and field works/visits will be offered in this 5-day intensive summer school, for a full-immersion on how creativity and intercultural exchange can sustain more welcoming and inclusive cities.

The classes will be held in English.  

Tuition Fees
150 euro, which includes the access to the summer school program + 5 lunches and the welcome cocktail. In specific cases, grants will be available to cover the fee of the summer school, lunches and accommodation.

How to apply
Send your CV and a motivation letter (max. 300 words) to: info@atlasoftransitions.euSpecify if you apply for a grant.

The deadline for submitting applications is 29 February 2020. Participants will be informed of acceptance by 22 March 2020.

photo courtesy: Enrico De Stavola from the performance “Unleashing Ghosts from Urban Darkness” by Alessandro Carboni

FROM: http://www.atlasoftransitions.eu/international-summer-school-call/

Call for papers “Migrations / Mediations. Promoting intercultural dialogue through media, arts and culture” Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milan, 06-07 April 2020


Scientific Board:

Naures Atto (University of Cambridge), Paola Barretta (Associazione Carta di Roma – Osservatorio di Pavia), Nadia Bellardi (Community Media Forum Europe), Nico Carpentier (Charles University – Prague), Sabine Hess (University of Goettingen), Judith Keilbach (Utrecht University), Pierluigi Musarò (Alma Mater Università degli studi di Bologna), Tim Prentki (University of Winchester), Guglielmo Schininà (IOM – UN migration).


Confirmed Keynote Speakers:

Naures Atto, University of Cambridge

Laura Corrado, Legal Migration and Integration Unit in DG HOME – European Commission


In the context of the migrant and refugee crisis, the EU Member States and the European Union itself have recently demonstrated sensitivity toward exploring the ways in which media, the arts and performative practices are able to both facilitate intercultural dialogue among migrant and host communities – thereby empowering their participation in social life –, and to promote cultural diversity (different ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds and heritage) within European societies. Indeed, different “liberal” and “applied” arts (film, theatre & performance, photography, crafts, architecture, design, etc.) as well as emerging cross-media forms (interactive and social media, games, street art, circus and performative practices, etc.), have a pivotal role to play in this direction. In a nutshell, “artistic and cultural expressions can help us to communicate with each other, in an immediate manner, and allow us to understand our similarities as well our differences, in an area where we must also resolve disputes “ (Report How culture and the arts can promote intercultural dialogue in the context of the migratory and refugee crisis, 2017, p. 10).

Despite this high potential for opening new perspectives on EU societies based on integration and a willingness to engage in dialogue, these guidelines seem mostly unexplored and little discussed within the academic communities – primarily focused on the current regime of representation of migrant people and newcomers. Moreover, it can hardly be disregarded that a practical implementation of these guidelines faces many difficulties: national cultural policies affect cultural productions by institutionalizing the process of othering through rhetorical discourses and hegemonic representations; the projects and practices in this field are often vital but fragmented and poorly reciprocally connected (also due to their strong roots in specific areas and territories); the skills and professional figures associated with these processes are poorly defined and have no particular training centres; and finally, the evaluation methods of the initiatives are different and lacking consolidated protocols. The combination of all these factors produces a fundamental weakness in a sector that in any case, remains extremely lively and promising.

On this basis, and within the framework of a research program that the UCSC’s Department of Communication Sciences and Performing Arts has been developing over the last two years (Migrations / Mediations. Media and performative arts as tools for the intercultural dialogue: https://www.migrations-mediations.com/), this International Conference intends to gather academic and independent researchers, artists, cultural providers, public and private funders, and policymakers – both at a local and at an international level – with the aims to:

  • Reflect on the role of media, arts and culture in the management of policies devoted to migration phenomena, also on the basis of an exchange of best and worst practices;
  • Focus on the ways and the degrees in which media, arts and culture have been considered as critical tools for intercultural dialogue by policymakers, at different levels (local, national, European).
  • Draw attention to the ways through which artists and cultural providers can create and develop models of action in territories oriented toward bringing host populations into contact with migrants and refugees, as well as to empower newcomers themselves by offering a space for dialogue and a basis for voice-attaining and self-organising;
  • Empower the professional figure of the cultural provider in contexts of intercultural and shifting societies, by defining its skills, methods of work, and formation paths.
  • Develop a specific set of tools and a methodology to assess the social, cultural and economic impact of intercultural dialogue activities through arts, media and culture. Along with quantitative indicators of success, such as counting audiences reached or scoring intercultural stakeholders included in the action, it is worthwhile to elaborate new models of evaluation for the measurement and assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of such projects.

On these bases, we invite abstracts on any of the following topics.*

  • Practices of empowerment of intercultural dialogue through media, arts and performative activities.
  • Networks (formal and informal) with publicly-funded cultural organizations, civil society and other stakeholders.
  • Employment opportunities for migrants in cultural and creative industries.
  • Comparisons between the approaches of public and private media.
  • The role of immigrant/diaspora/minority media.
  • Participatory media and arts projects devoted to working directly with refugee and migrant groups in socially engaged practice.
  • Audience development strategies aiming at promoting cultural diversity.
  • Practices and experiences in assessing projects in the field of intercultural dialogue
  • Fundraising creative projects to support intercultural dialogue and migrants
  • The formation of cultural providers and the role of intercultural dialogue professionals in supporting cultural and artistic projects for the integration of refugees and migrants.

* Please note, this is not an exhaustive list of topics, and we will review any abstracts related to the media and migration/immigration/multiculturalism and related topics. Especially welcome are submissions rooted in media studies, visual, performative and cultural studies, critical data studies, postcolonial studies and from scholars who build bridges between academia, policy, public and private funding, media system, arts and public debate, and stakeholders’ networks.


The deadline for the submissions is 1 February 2020. Interested contributors should send a 300-500 word abstract and a short biographical note at the following e-mail address: migrations.mediations@unicatt.it. The accepted proposals will be notified by 15 February 2020. The languages of the conference are Italian and English (the latter is preferred).

Call for Networking! Entra a far parte del database degli operatori di progetti di integrazione dei migranti attraverso arti e media

dal gruppo di Ricerca

Grazie alla collaborazione di decine di associazioni e operatori, il progetto di ricerca Migrazioni-Mediazioni. I media e la comunicazione come risorse per l’inclusione dei migranti realizzato dall’Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano ha raggiunto un importante obiettivo:  è online ed operativo il database “Archivio di Esperienze e Operatori” dedicato alla mappatura dei soggetti (associazioni, organizzazioni, fondazioni, compagnie teatrali, case di produzione ecc.) attivi sul territorio milanese e che si sono impegnati, in particolare a partire dal 2013, in progetti di integrazione in cui è stato previsto l’impiego di strumenti mediali, artistici, teatrali, culturali tra le attività rivolte ai migranti.

L’obiettivo del database è di offrire visibilità alle iniziative, creare networking e occasioni di confronto tra gli operatori, diventare un punto di riferimento per la comunicazione e consultazione dei progetti attivati.

Il gruppo di ricerca del progetto ha raccolto numerosi dati sul campione delle realtà finora monitorate e ha intenzione di proseguire questo lavoro, perfezionando e tenendo aggiornati i dati raccolti, oltre che allargare la ricerca verso altre realtà non ancora incluse nella mappatura.

Per questo motivo, si invitano tutte le associazioni operanti nel settore di collegarsi al sito web https://www.migrations-mediations.com/il-database-della-ricerca/il-database-delle-esperienze-e-degli-operatori/, per verificare attraverso le funzioni di “ricerca esperienze” e “ricerca operatori” i dati già inseriti. Nel caso si voglia modificare o ampliare i dati attualmente raccolti, o inserirsi come nuovi operatori o nuove esperienze, è possibile iscriversi al portale tramite il link di accesso al database su piattaforma WordPress e procedere alla compilazione di una nuova scheda operatore o esperienze.

Sarà cura del gruppo di ricerca procedere immediatamente alla pubblicazione delle informazioni che riguardano le nuove realtà e le esperienze segnalate o alla sostituzione e pubblicazione delle nuove informazioni da parte di operatori già presenti nel database.

Per qualsiasi dubbio e informazioni, è possibile contattare i ricercatori all’indirizzo migrations.mediations@unicatt.it

Davide Enia open lesson- Università Cattolica – Thursday 21 November

Davide Enia

THURSDAY 21 from 15.30 to 16.30 in Università Cattolica (room SA116 Schuster – Via Sant’Agnese, 2. Milano) Davide Enia open lesson, accompanied by the musician Giulio Brocchieri

The Open Lesson of DAVIDE ENIA, playwright interpreter and director of the show L’Abisso (with which he won the Maschere Award of the Teatro 2019 as best monologue performer) is part of the “Drammaturgie Performative” course of Prof. Laura Peja and it will be Thursday 21 November 2019 at 15.30 classroom SA 116 Schuster

The abyss taken from “Notes for a shipwreck” (Sellerio editore, Premio Mondello 2018) a show by and with Davide Enia music composed and performed by Giulio Barocchieri production Theater of Rome – National Theater, Biondo Theater of Palermo, Lost Academy / Romagna Theaters in collaboration with Arzo International Storytelling Festival organization Luca Marengo

“When I saw the first landing in Lampedusa I was with my father – writes Davide Enia -. Lots of boys and girls came. History was the one that was happening before our eyes. Over the years I have returned to the island, building an ongoing dialogue with direct witnesses: fishermen, Coast Guard personnel, residents, doctors, volunteers and divers “.
Their words and, above all, their silences have become a story, a historical testimony and an existential path: “From the recording of their voices – continues Enia – fragments of painful and yet hopeful stories have emerged. Their words opened prospects and hid abysses ».
The staging of Davide Enia fuses different theatrical registers and languages: the ancient songs of the fishermen, tuned along the routes between Sicily and Africa, and the Palermo cunto, on the melodies with more voices that intertwine to become prayers full of anger when the sea roars and in the nets, together with the fish, we find the bodies of men, women, children.

Enia is engaged in a long tour with the show, in these days on stage at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan (12-24 November)

Davide Enia Bio

In 2002 he wrote directs and interprets “Italia-Brasile 3 a 2” (Ubu special 2003 award).

In 2003 he won the Tondelli Award at the Riccione Prize with «Scanna» which debuted with his directing, at the Venice Biennale in 2004.

In 2004 he writes, directs and interprets “Maggio ‘43” (first prize for best show at the “Moldavian International Teatrul Unui Actor”).

In 2005 he won the Hystrio Prize and the E.T.I Award as a dramaturgical novelty. For RaiRadio2 he writes and interprets «Rembò». In 2006 he won the Vittorio Mezzogiorno award and the Gassman Award for best emerging Italian talent.

In 2007 he writes, directs and interprets “I capitol dell’infanzia”.

The texts are published by Sellerio and Fandango.

In 2009 he won the Special Jury Prize at the Riccione Prize with “Il cuoco”.

In 2012 he published his first novel, “Così in Terra” (Baldini and Castoldi Dalai), translated into eighteen languages ​​and published all over the world.

In 2013 he was Writer in Residency (Nederlands Letterfonds Dutch Foundation for Literature) in Amsterdam.

In 2014 he published the story along «Uomini e Pecore» (EDT).

In 2015 he is Writer in Residency (Passaporta) in Brussels.

In 2016 with the French edition of “Così in Terra”, “Sur cette terre comme au ciel” (Albin Michel) won the Prix du Premier Roman Etranger and the Prix Brignoles as the best foreign novel of the year.

In 2017, in April, he directed “L’oca del Cairo”, an incomplete work by Mozart, at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo. In May he publishes his second novel, “Appunti per un naufragio” (Sellerio).

In 2017 he wins the Anima Prize for Social.

In 2018 he won the Mondello Award in the Italian Opera Section.

In October 2018 he will return to the theater with the opera “L’abisso” at the Teatro India in Rome.

With “L’Abisso” Davide Enia won the 2019 Theater Masks Award for Best Performer of Monologue

PLAYING INCLUSION – The Performing Arts in the Time of Migrations

Presentation of the Special Issue “Playing Inclusion. The Performing Arts in the Time of Migrations: Thinking, Creating and Acting Inclusion“. Comunicazioni Sociali, January – April 2019.

Thursday, June 27 2019

MUDEC – Spazio delle Culture – Khaled al-Asaad
6-8 PM
Via Tortona, 56 – Milano

“Playing Inclusion. The Performing Arts in the Time of Migrations: Thinking, Creating and Acting Inclusion is a collection of essays written by theatrologists, sociologists, psychologists, artists, performers, social theatre experts and facilitators, who describe and analyse with their different points of view and methodologies some experiences where performative arts and practices enact reflexive, creative and active processes aimed at taking care of the complex migratory phenomenon”.

IMAGE & IMAGERY Im/migrant passages: Crossing Visual, Spatial and Textual Boundaries

Call for contributions to an e-book.

To emigrate is to leave, to immigrate is to arrive and stay, to migrate is to move, often as a result of forced displacement. Most emigrants, immigrants, migrants and/or refugees frequently face difficult, if not heartbreaking decisions when they decide they must settle elsewhere. According to the latest UNHCR estimates, 65.6 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide by war, poverty, and/or climate change. Many live(d) in refugee/migrant camps where they often face(d) inhumane conditions, discrimination, violence, and racism, while others spend/spent most of their lives in transit camps.

We are inviting scholars and artists to reflect on the im/migrant experience and examine the perspective of the displaced as illustrated/expressed in literatures and/or the arts.  Selected contributions will be published by The Small Walker Press, Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts in the form of an e-book (https://brocku.ca/miwsfpa/stac/small-walker-press-publications-2019-20/ ).

To submit an article, please follow the guidelines below and send it to Catherine Parayre (cparayre@brocku.ca) and Tamara El-Hoss (telhoss@brocku.ca) by August 31, 2019.

Small Walker Press

Submissions will be peer-reviewed. Accepted articles are scheduled to be published in early 2020.

Guidelines:

-15 to 20 pages (doubled-spaced), Times New Roman 12, WORD document.

-MLA format.

-Notes: at the end of the document.

-Bibliographical references: in the list of Works Cited (not in notes).

-Language: English or French.

-Quotations in languages other than the one used in the article: translated into the language of the article in the text and original text in a note at the end of the document.

-Images: authors must provide a permission of reproduction from the copyright holders by

September 30, 2019. No image will be reproduced without written permission.