A recent study, states that despite going to common public schools’ refugee young people rarely share moments and events with their Dutch peers in their free time. Furthermore, it is indicated that there is a lack of initiatives and cultural events to connect residents with the outside world.
Knowing this, and referring to my pleasant experience working with refugees and my current activities with young people and digital arts, I started this project.
Samen Delen Samen Leven – Verhalen van / voor jonge newcomers* aims to provide an inspiring environment for young Dutch people and newcomers to share stories and get to know each other. The main target group is young people (11-18 years) from Amsterdam and those living in AZC Almere.
Using a personalised approach and innovative technology we build an interactive (screen) exhibition. Its content is the result of co-creative sessions on digital storytelling and photography.
The title of the exhibition is “Wie Ben Ik?” ( “Who am I? in English). The young people are the creators of the exhibitions. In series of co-creative sessions, they prepare narratives (in pictures and sound) about their lives, and things they are excited about and like to share.
Youth’s stories are presented on special interactive screens in Amsterdam and in Refugee Centre Almere. Anyone in front of the screen can view them by connecting to the screen with a phone.
The stories of the teenagers from Amsterdam are projected on the screens in the refugee centre and vice versa. These places become PopUp galleries of sorts – physical and virtual spaces where viewers learn more about each other.
Seeing where they come from, and learning about the culture and the day-to-day life of their peers, young people become more interested and bond to each other.
The project is funded by Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie with a partnership with Stichting Vrolijkheid.
Video about Maher Video about Yona
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*Who am I? – stories for/from young newcomers – English