Multiplier event in Tortona

The same as in the Art Residency we had an “Inclusive tour” to disseminate our outcomes, the two multiplier events were conceived also as a sort of Tour. Immediately after ME in Belgium we had the ME in Italy, with one travel day in between. Most participants took part in both events, though not everyone did, thus adaptations were again needed. Due severe COVID restrictions in town (not in vain the area has been “ground zero” of the pandemic in Europe), most of the activities happened outdoors, in the Lucciola, a cosy children park just besides La Fenice youth centre. 

The 22^nd preparation day

In this occasion the approach was providing space for empowerment and some participants took the lead to share activities and exercises among peers. Especially relevant were the contributions by a Mozambican participant within the Galician group, who made everyone sweat with energetic body expression and we all learned African songs and dances that filled our time in the next few days. 

In the afternoon, the preparation was in charge of our theatre master whose home theatre we would be visiting the day after. Besides the ME participants, there was space to include in the performance some European Solidarity Corp volunteers in town. 

The 23th was the main visibility day 

During the morning, the group split in halves. Each sub-group prepared a session on its own. The concept was to use some of the existing videos as a spark to ignite a meaningful debate. The target group were local volunteers connected to the municipality, who will be having a one year volunteering experience in schools. La Fenice is the NGOs dealing with their capacity building and we saw an opportunity to raise the capacities of the new volunteers by getting inspired by the current participants of the project that is coming to its end. 

The sessions after lunch happened in two different buildings (due local COVID restrictions) and the attendees switched from one room to the other after each half-session. 

• “Power of NFE at the School”. Teenagers from the deprived area school IES O Milladoiro (Galicia) told about their experience during the last scholar year. Since November 2020 they have enjoyed weekly NFE sessions that undoubtedly changed their lives and their vision of Education and Participation. Since April they had decided to create a video to make their experience shareable, originally was intended to share with the schoolmates and other school staff. They had never ever imagined sharing their experience in a foreign country with people older than them. The video-maker -an internship teacher that decided to remain attached to the group after her internship was over- was also present.
• “Power of Arts for Integration and Inclusion”. Participants in the Art Residency and in the Multiplier Events shared their experience, using a combination of video screening and interactive methods. Besides the specificities of the JAMMIN project and its joyful participants present there, the topic connects very much to the job La Fenice usually does at local level such as as the Street Arts festival (St.ART) and creative local workshops that have been running in town in the frame of JAMMIN.

Both sessions were relevant. Both for the local volunteers, who had the chance to start their volunteering year by meeting real people with similar profiles than the ones they´ll be working with in the coming months, and getting inspired through deep and emotional conversations. And for the JAMMIN participants, who experienced the planning of a session and had the chance to implement it twice.

That evening, in Castelnuovo Bormida, a small place with an old church transformed into a theatre, the last performance of the tour happened, and somehow the JAMMIN  project came to its end. The concept was similar to the festival during the last day of the TC/Art Residency: there was video screening, emotional words, theatre and celebration. Very rarely does it happen in theatre that the audience jumps into the stage at the end of the show, but JAMMIN is not really standard… Teatro del Rimbombo is the common house of some of the Italian crew dealing with Arts (theatre master, video maker, some participants) so the final presentation was somehow at home.

That same day Galicians used to celebrate Summer Solstice with bonfires and collecting aromatic plants and water from different wells. Bonfires were not feasible, but there was celebration and plants were collected for a morning ritual the day after.

The 24^th towards the end

We were very very tired. During the morning we took it easy. We moved to the city park and enjoyed some group time in nature. It was time for some sharing and evaluation.

The water with aromatic plants was shared as a symbolic moment to was the face and reborn, ready for the challenges that life might bring.