Faculty forges partnership with Eastern Europe

Students and community artists from three countries got together last week to kick-start the project Localise.

The study trip in and around Stoke-on-Trent marked the first event of the innovative scheme, which aims to spark new ideas and forge partnerships between Stoke, Poland and Lithuania.

Anna Rogozinska, a project co-ordinator from the University of Warsaw, Poland, said: “It’s been quite a hectic week, but fun. We attended workshops in photography, animation – even singing! We also went to the New Vic Theatre to see their work with socially excluded groups.”
She added: “In Poland, there is no tradition of Community Arts. The so-called high arts would not be used for solving community problems or as a method of communication.
“There is something we call Cultural Animation, with similar practices, but it is almost a different terminology.”
Project Co-ordinator for the Vytautus Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania, Raimonda Norkute said: “We have no tradition of Community Arts in our country, it’s a different culture.”

Mark Webster, Programme Area Manager for Arts, Culture and Design, counts the study trip as a resounding success. “It’s been amazing, people have learnt so much, from the workshops and each other. I was not there for every event, so I got to see the conversations change over the week as people got to know each other. “Raimonda will be hosting the next study trip in June.”

One of the Staffordshire participants is Janine Goldsworthy, of artist-led organisation Rednile Projects.
She said: “The experience has been intense, but hugely enjoyable. You always learn something from being around people, and there are many I want to stay in touch with, for personal and business reasons. “It’s been interesting for me too – I’m not from Stoke originally and I wasn’t aware that the city is such a cultural hub!”