Be Part!
2022–2023
Be Part! is a two-year international project involving Iceland, Czechia, Mexico, Italy, Canada and the United States, which uses the artistic process as a tool to support the development of civil society, a sense of belonging and the visibility of marginalized groups.
The basic pillar of the Be Part! is a bilateral collaboration between artists and organizations from the Czech Republic and Iceland, to which professional artists from another country are invited in each part of the cycle: Brno - Foco alAire (MX), Reykjavík - Zerogrammi (IT), Prague - & 44 Art Productive (USA/CA).
An international team of professional performers applies the principles of the leading ensemble's performance to selected communities in Brno (2022), Reykjavík (2023) and Prague (2023), and the entire cycle of community work will be concluded by an international conference (2023), where the results of the accompanying sociologic research will be presented.
Project Be Part! was supported by the EEA and Norway Funds 2014–2021 in the amount of CZK 4,594,860.
Be Part of LOStheULTRAMAR
BRNO 2022
On July 29 2022, the festival Meeting Brno presented LOStheULTRAMAR performance in the streets of the Brno. The protagonists were, in addition to a large international ensemble composed of Mexican, Icelandic and Czech professional performers, mainly Brno residents.
The performance, which takes the form of a stylized parade with live music, was the culmination of a four-week community work of professionals and members of the local citizens, especially Roma minority, as well as other minority and majority residents of Brno. The procession of dozens people of different origins, ages, experiences and languages passed through the city. This large group sent a clear message to the audience that whatever we are,
in the end we are all the same and our pains and joys have the same basis.
The procession-style performance which moved from the deprived area in Bratislavská street to Moravské náměstí in the historical centre of the city was a culmination of a three weeks long work with community - Roma minority and other local citizens. Dozens of people of different origins, ages, experiences and languages passed through the city and sent a clear message to the audience: whomever we are, in the end we are all the same and our pains and joys have the same foundation.
The closing performance occurred under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Markéta Vaňková, Mayor of the Statutory City of Brno. It was also part of official celebrations of the centenary of diplomatic cooperation between Mexico and the Czech Republic and took place under the auspices of the Mexican Ambassador, R. L. R. Gutierrez. Cultural attaché Miguel Ángel Vilchis attended the performance.
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Be Part of Elegìa delle cose perdute
ICELAND 2023
This time, a team of ten professional performers from the Czech Republic and Iceland met in the northernmost capital of the world - Reykjavík - and worked with the local refugee community for almost three weeks under the leadership of the Italian company Zerogrammi.
The international company’s collaborative work began with an intensive seminar with Zerogrammi. The group from the Czech Republic and Iceland became familiar with the Italian ensemble’s performance Elegìa delle cose perdute and work with them to extract its essence and create a structure for the subsequent work with refugees.
The final performance of Elegìa delle cose perdute took place on February 11, 2023.
In Iceland, the project takes place in cooperation with Dansverkstaedid, Reykjavík City Library, the Red Cross and other partners.
Be Part
of The River's
Course
PRAGUE 2023
In cooperation with the Mezi ploty festival, people suffering from mental illness will be involved in the rehearsals of the performance.
The culmination of the community work will be the performance The River's Course in the area of the Bohnice Psychiatric Hospital.
The creative collective 44 Arts Productive will direct the process and provide dramaturgical leadership, with two choreographers contributing new and existing material to create an interdisciplinary experience.
Initial individual meetings, taking place simultaneously at many locations on the premises of the psychiatric hospital will gradually transform into several chamber groups, with professional performers, the community and audiences actively contributing to the performance. The groups will then be united in the large space in front of the Church of St. Wenceslas for a shared ritual, accompanied by live music.
Be Part! Forum
PRAHA 2023
International conference Be Part! The Forum will be a platform for summarizing and exchanging experiences from working with three very different communities in two different cultural environments and based on three different works of art.
PROGRAM
10.00 presentation of the project Be Part!
+
10.20 presentation of sociological research conclusions
+
11.30 short speaches of panel guests
representatives of guest ensembles, representatives of professional artists from the Czech Republic and Iceland, representatives of main partners, representatives of communities from the Czech Republic
+
1.00 screening of the co-production documentary Dancing Through The Ghetto
+
1:30 p.m. audience questions for panel guests and free discussion
Dancing Through the Ghetto
BPART in co-production with Czech Television will present the documentary film Dancing Through The Ghetto.
A footage of the monthly work of an international company of artists and dozens of Brno residents, especially from excluded locations, to create a joint performance.
Directed by: D. Butula and L. Kallistová
Credits
BPART COLLABORATORS
Thorgerdur Atladóttir (IS), Alejandro Bencomo (IS), Levin Eichert (CZ), Audur Huld Gunnarsdóttir (IS), Lara Hereu Macho (CZ), Agáta Jarošová (CZ), Tiffany Margelin (IS), Gabriel Marling Rideout (IS) , Yuliana Palacios Figueroa (IS), Marie Svobodová (CZ), Orkun Türkmen (CZ)
Be Part of LOStheULTRAMAR
Foco alAire (MX): Marcela Sanchez Mota & Octavio Zeivy
Esteban Hernández Peralta, Elena Hernández Rivera, Inés Herrera Campa, Verónica Macías Wong, César Pérez Maldonado, D ́Enirio Pérez Villagomez, Lucio Sosa Fonseca, Luis Villegas Esparza
Be Part of Elegìa delle cose perdute
Zerogrammi (IT): Stefano Mazotta
Amina Amici, Gabriel Beddoes, Damien Camunez, Chiara Guglielmi, Alessio Rundeddu
Be Part of The River's Course
44 Arts Productive & NCDC (USA/CA): Michèle Steinwald, Nichole Canuso
Joseph Fleischer, Lila Hurwitz, Eun Jung Choi, Sam Johnson