Our project aims to raise awareness for the tile as an artform and common cultural heritage connecting people in Europe and beyond. The tile has been an art and craft building material for centuries, introduced to Europe through the moorish expansion into southern Spain. European craftsmen picked on this decorative element and have used it for embellishing private and public and religious buildings ever since. This project is motivated not only by the idea to explore and trace the origin of this delicate and yet enduring visual form of art but also to cross-fertilise content and shapes to ensure a lasting legacy for future generations. Being a secondary school located in a late medieval castle in the north of Germany, staff and students are aware and involved with historical building substance on a daily basis. Realschule Schloss Dornum has also twice been awarded the label Schule:Kultur! - a label awarded to schools in lower Saxony which have impressed with cultural projects. We aim to improve motoric skills through art worshops such as drawing and photography. Photography will be an integral part of the project as we are working towards a digitalisation of our findings as well as documenting our new creations resulting from joining Portuguese and Fresian/Dutch types of tiles. Documentary writing as well as creative writing will accompany the project. Furthermore it is our aim to develop the students' communication competence and deepen English language skills. The combination of the planned activities will broaden the students' understanding of the diversity and yet common elements of European heritage and culture. As concrete visual and tangible result we will create a portfolio of tile's shapes, motifs, colours and styles in each partnering school during our visits. This portfolio will be growing and increasing during it's journey through Europe - from Turkey via Portugal and Northern Germany towards Lithuania - and will be a lasting document of our process showing not only historical elements but also the re-creation of entirely new shapes and styles inspired by the traditional tile thus creating innovative content connectIng and strengthening modern Europe. On the other hand, the participants will not only collect and document the richness of motifs and shapes of tiles, but also explore the stories connected with single places, homes or even singular tiles. Equipped with cameras, they collect and document the relation between the artefact and the people - maybe in their home, in a church or wherever. Probably the participants will find a lot of stories connected with local history in their interviews and photo shootings.
The project “Azulejos-tiles a cultural journey” delivered what it promised: a creative dialogue and mutual awareness of tiles as an everyday item of art and function. A tangible result in each country is the friendship tiles mural combining the artistic heritage of all participating schools. The mural is a visual reminder of the project and partners involved valueing the students’ s achievements on a daily basis. By the end of the deeplproject students and teachers are acquainted with the tile, its uses and functionality in daily life across the participating schools. All students and teachers involved are aware of the manufacturing process of tiles as well as the involved craftsmanship of drawing, painting and glazing the tiles before the fireing process. By means of digital platforms like “padlet” students were able to gain confidence uploading and sharing their creative output. Learning Apps like jigsaw creators helped to become playful and create new online content using the aesthetics of the tile. As a first timer participating in an Erasmus+ Project and being the leading coordinator of five countries we managed to create awareness at our German school for travelling abroad to explore cultural diversity and meeting other cultures. The impressions not only on the students that travelled but also on all participants of the Project day at our school during the visit of our international partners are long-lasting. This is noticed in the way students in all grades are still talking about this visit and the project day. The Erasmus+ Club has raised awareness and has become the most popular Club out of all the schools offered activities.