“Music Unites, Art Inspires” aims to use art as a universal language which is a key to establishing long-lasting international contacts, getting familiar with the European history, as well as reaching for traditions and cultural heritage of the project partners: Poland, Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal and Lithuania. With the help of sounds, it is possible to convey universally understandable content. Thus, music is an ideal medium for a cultural exchange, establishing a dialogue between nations, and undertaking joint artistic activities.Through literature, painting and photography, art will be the inspiration of all creative activities in this project, helping us bring closer the history of our partner homelands. The diversity of European culture is based on a rich history of art, which, woven into the history of every nation, describes its sensitivity and achievements. Exploring the folk art of each country will help us to get to the roots of the cultural heritage. Traditional dances, costumes and handicraft will bring closer the national identity and will inspire to look for differences and similarities. Therefore, music unites and art inspires. This combination also helps to bring up the youth – it teaches mutual respect, openness and points at the need to relish the beauty of the world. Most importantly, however, acknowledging the position of artistic education in the process of shaping the identity of a contemporary European citizen is a crucial lesson to be learnt by young beneficiaries of the project. It may come as a surprise that some of them are actually students of art or music schools. Nevertheless, the survey carried out among them showed a decline in confidence concerning their artistic choices. This project is thus a remedy- it will consolidate their cultural identity and validate the toil of artistic education. The project is for students aged 11 – 15 (also with special needs) and teachers. These two groups will implement project activities both during learning teaching trainings and throughout the entire project by means of TwinSpace. We will also involve students’ parents, other school staff, local institutions and communities. The project will last two years with six 5-day learning teaching trainings in partner countries (5-6 students and 2 teachers). The final event will be an artistic performance presenting artistic skills developed and acquired in the project. In each country a given artist will be a "guide". Over the centuries artists have travelled, stayed abroad leaving traces of their creativity and mingled with the European culture. They proved that in the cultural context there are no exclusions. Retaining their identity as a national talent they became citizens of the world. That is why we will emphasize the importance of tolerance and respect for all cultures. This aspect will contribute to the development of social and civic competences. The cultural ambassadors will be: • Poland – F. Chopin- pianist, composer • Spain – P. Picasso-painter; A. Gaudi - architect • Italy – C. Levi-writer • Portugal - Henrique and Francisco Franco - painters • Greece - Manos Hadjidakis- composer; Homer-poet • Lithuania - Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis-painter and composer. During mobilities students will participate in art workshops, create exhibitions, art works, computer visualizations and performances. They will take part in cultural events and visit museums. All these creative activities will be inspired by the life and art of the chosen artist. Participants will develop artistic imagination, creativity and aesthetic sensitivity. They will strengthen the competences of working in a group and, above all, language competences. At the same time, they will validate artistic education, its prominence and impact on the perception of the world. A wide range of method will be used: - word-based - guided tours, discussions, stories - based on observation - participation in everyday life of schools and host families - practical - creative activities - activating - didactic games, stagings, workshops. Since English is the language of the project, it will make many students realize the significance of learning languages so that you can communicate without barriers and co-create the European community. For teachers it will be an opportunity to learn about different didactic methods and share good practices. The above activities will contribute to achieving the project's goals: the value of European cultural heritage, social inclusion, teaching and learning languages. We want the participants to know the value of music and art that exist across borders, social conflicts and politics. We will be guided by a quote about a composer F. Chopin: "a native of Warsaw with the heart of a Pole and the talent of the world citizen."
The project Music Unites, Art Inspires assumed the use of art as the most universal language that is the key to establishing lasting international contacts, getting to know our own and European history, reaching for the traditions and cultural heritage of the project partners: Poland, Italy, Spain, Greece and Lithuania. For us, music has become an ideal medium for cultural exchange, establishing a dialogue between countries, and undertaking joint artistic activities. As part of the project activities, we created an international choir, participated in concerts, dance performances, learned to play instruments during workshops, and created our own musical interpretations of songs from our homelands. It gave us the opportunity to share and enrich, and thus, to get to know and understand each other better. The inspiration for creative activities was art, which brought the history of our partner homelands closer through literature, painting and photography. In each of the countries we visited, we participated in workshops creating: art works - paintings, portraits; sculptures - monuments, architecture; bas-reliefs; photographs recording the visited places, landscape and nature. The European culture is based on the rich history of art, which, woven into the history of each nation, describes its sensitivity and achievements in an unusual language. The folk art of each country was treated as source of art history. Through dances, costumes and handicrafts, we brought national identity closer and looked for differences and similarities. During each mobility opening ceremony, students presented their national dances and native music. Dances were presented in folk costumes and music was played on original instruments. Handicraft appeared in school workshops - in some schools, in specially functioning workshops or museums. Music united us while art inspired. We learned mutual respect, openness and cherished the most beautiful things from the world around us. We have strengthened the competences of working in a group and acquired the ability to understand art, its assessment and influence on the creative perception of the world. Students aged 11-17 and teachers took part in the project. Together, we carried out project activities at mobilities and during the project. We involved students’parents, other schools and local institutions in the project activities. The project has been implemented for three years - extended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. There were 5-day-long mobilities in each of the partner countries. Each visit ended with an artistic event presenting the musical skills developed and acquired during the mobility (dancing, singing, playing instruments) and activities inspired by art (artwork, visualizations, scenography) and literature (stagings, texts, stories). In each country, a selected artist was the "guide" through the history of art. Many artists had travelled around Europe, stayed in exile, leaving traces of their work and, at the same time, drawing inspiration from the European culture. The life of such artists has shown that there are no exclusions in the cultural context. Preserving their national identity, they have become citizens of the world through their talent. That is why we emphasize the importance of tolerance and respect for all cultures.This aspect of the project influenced the development of social and civic competences with the participants. Our cultural ambassadors were: • Poland - F. Chopin, pianist, composer, J. Malczewski, painter • Spain – P. Picasso, painter; A. Gaudi - architect • Italy - C. Levi, writer • Greece - Homer, the poet • Lithuania - M. K. Ciurlionis, painter and composer The project activities were inspired by the life and art created by the selected artists. The visited museums related to the figures of our ambassadors made it possible to learn about their life and work. We used a wide range of methods: - based on the word - guided tours, discussions, stories - based on observation - participation in the everyday life of schools, a different culture - practical - creative and imitative activities - activating - didactic games, stagings, workshops. Since English was the project language, it made many students realize how important it is to learn languages in order to be able to communicate without any barriers, establish lasting contacts and co-create the European community. For teachers, it was a great opportunity to learn about various didactic methods in language teaching. The described activities have contributed to the achievement of the project's objectives: the value of the European cultural heritage, social inclusion, teaching and learning languages. They have influenced the positive perception of the importance of culture in life and the need for people who create it. The project participants learned the value of music and art that exist beyond borders, social conflicts and politics, that they are a universal language that connects all the people.