The project "Making Art Together Brings Us Closer" (MATBUC) originates from two observations shared by four secondary schools in France, Romania, Italy and Lithuania:- A certain disenchantment vis-à-vis the European construction, which also affects young people;- The very rapid growth of the digital economy in all fields, and that of creation in particular.The partners decided to initiate a project based on artistic creation and poïetics in order to:- Revitalize the sense of belonging to a common space rich in cultural diversity;- Offer participants an intensive use of ICT to support their creations and their distribution.The main objective of the project is twofold:- With artistic creation in a transnational context, we invite participants to demonstrate their talents and energies, we promote the linguistic diversity of the Union and participate in the awareness and dissemination of its intercultural dimension;- With the use of ICT we aim to improve the level of skills and abilities for enhanced versatility and employability.The participants, about thirty people directly involved daily in each institution, are students from four high schools of general education with various features: two high schools from the recent enlargements of the Union, and two of the original six of Europe. The contrasts between the four participants are a sourceof curiosity and exploration for all.The activities are of two types:1) producing an animated film in episodes "Looking for Erasmus+Matbucus ( a fiction character)," a paper document "the E.P.Matbuc travel diary" and a dictionary .2) creating shows, performances, in- situ creations. They will take place during the four transnational meetings planned: in France, painting and drawing, Romania, ceramics and sculpture, Italy, listening and visual arts and finally Lithuanian dance.These collective creations will lead to the shooting of the project.Ahead of the meetings, shows and creations are prepared by documentary research and exchanges between activity designers in the four different countries.Regular columns are also broadcast.In terms of method, the first phase, which has already begun, is to present the project to generate membership and meet the teams.Then, after seizing the possibilities of creating the project, students identify, create, exchange and share the problems and proposals. During the meetings, they perform and they film. The method is flexible and allows participants to free their imagination in the service of realistic goals.Students work in groups, each focusing on a specific aspect of the project, its dissemination and advertising.The expected results impacts are:- Greater student autonomy;- Quality, innovation, excellence and internationalization in institutions;- Improving foreign language skills, mainly in English;- New skills - organizing, interviewing, use of ICT tools;- Greater confidence in transnational collaborations;- A broader mind and more open European practice with accreditation of previous experience via the Europass portfolio;Among the dissemination tools used: the blog and project site, Youtube or equivalent for video content, Wikipedia, TwinSpace for written content, social networks, libraries and resource centers, youth centers.And in the longer term:- Creating lasting ties with European partners;- Paving the way for other transnational collaborations;- Strengthening communication networks within and outside each institution to increase visibility;- Tasting the quality of life by artistic practice.
The project "Making art together brings us closer" (MATBUC) was born from two observations :: - a certain disenchantment with European construction; - The rapid growth of digital in the fields of communication and creation. The four partner high schools decided to lead a project based on multi-disciplinary artistic creation (poietics) for: - Revitalize the sense of belonging to a common space rich in cultural diversity; - To offer to the participants an intensive use of the TIC to support their creations and their diffusion. The main objective of the project was therefore twofold: - By artistic creation in a European context, we invite the participants to let their talents and their energies express themselves, to communicate in a foreign language to immerse themselves and then to diffuse the cultural diversity of Europe; to be the inventors of a new Europaanshauung. - With the use of ICT, we aimed to improve the level of skills and abilities and creativity and beyond, employability .. In addition, the ambition was also to develop in participants: - sense of initiative, motivation and self-esteem - participation in the life of the school and the city - an attitude towards the European project and the values of the European Union And especially for teachers: - diversify teaching methods, promote a taste for pedagogical innovation, non-formal learning - strengthen expertise in the organization and management of transnational projects - develop a real intercultural awareness and appreciation of their cultural and artistic heritage; - acquire concrete knowledge of the practices, school systems and teaching / learning methods of other European countries Participants came from four high schools with varied characteristics: - Cluj in Transylvania, cosmopolitan Romanian land of Mitteleuropa, with strong Hungarian and German minorities - Mariampolè in Lithuania, Baltic country on the borders of Europe, not so long ago a Soviet republic - Bitonto in Puglia, Apuglia, who knew the Greeks, the Normans, the sarrazins ... and where the olive tree is everywhere - Luynes, between Aix en Provence the Roman and Marseille the Greek. The historical and sociological contrasts between the four participating high schools, two of the "old" Europe and two more recent, were a source of curiosity and questions for all. After the teams were set up, the work consisted in preparing local tranational meetings locally: -protocol of information exchange - documentary research -visits virtual -creation of presentation documents -design of shows. The meetings were then devoted to the creation: spectacles, performances, plastic creations. Painting and drawing in situ, ceramics, land art and sculpture, collage; listening and visual arts, sketches, songs, modern and traditional dance, creation of mandalas, paper cutting, emphasizing the synaesthetic dimension of different art forms, The students worked in groups, each focusing on a specific aspect of the project, which on an artistic creation that on its diffusion or its advertising. In addition to the many video documents (sketches, interviews, ..), paintings or sculptures, the main productions were: - a four-part film "Looking for Erasmus + Matbucus (a fictional character)", - a book: "in the footsteps of Matbuc". Impacts were measured among participants with written or online questionnaires, discussions, interviews and using recent digital tools; the responses were then processed to improve the relevance, visibility and recognition of the activities. The broadcast is provided by the project site, Youtube, TwinSpace, and social networks, through classroom presentations that have helped to create a curiosity towards the cities - and countries - traversed by Matbuc and to destroy some clichés. The activities were also broadcast via print and audiovisual media. The object book has been proposed to youth centers and municipalities in each country. It is available in France in digital form on the sites of the City of Aix, the DAREIC and the Maison de l'Europe en Provence. For the longer term we were able to: - establish long-term contacts with cultural associations or organizations or related to the European project - pave the way for other transnational collaborations - strengthen communication networks inside and outside each institution to increase visibility - Taste the quality of life through artistic practice. For two years, we have been doing art together to bring together European cultures and a fulfilling life, and we have made it known.