Art – inspiration for change in the Roma community in Sliven

Photo credit: State Puppet Theatre in Sliven
Photo credit: State Puppet Theatre in Sliven
16-02-2023 11:36

Professional artists from the State Puppet Theatre in Sliven, teachers from schools, which are located in neighbourhoods with predominant Roma population, professional theatre artists from Norway, as well as children and parents from the Roma community will be united in the goal of increasing access to culture for children from the manority group. This will happen with the implementation of the project Inspiration – art for change which the cultural institute in the city will implement with the support of the Financial Mechanism of EEA 2014-2021.

The project includes performances from the programme of the SPTS and the Norwegian partner, which will be presented in front of Roma students, creative workshops, the creation of a puppet theatre performance with the participation of professional actors and children of Roma origin, which is going to be based on a fairy tale by an author from the Roma community, performance tours in the province and nearby provinces, and the shooting of a film, which shows all the phases behind the implementation of the project. The collaboration aims to increase the access to culture to children from the minority group, to develop knowledge and skills on how to create and utilise art, to encourage artistic talents in adolescents, to motivate other artists working within the field of puppet theater to participate in joint activities with children and adolescents from the Roma community in Bulgaria. The project will contribute towards overcoming the isolation of Roma children and their difficult integration into social life, it will motivate a deeper understanding of Roma culture and history, as well as it will introduce viewers and participants outside the Roma community to a different culture, Roma original music and the cultural life of the Roma society. The project aims to popularise Roma culture, to encourage young Roma communities to be actively involved in the creative processes, to improve access to culture to children and their families; to provide support for cooperation between professional actors and Roma children; to encourage bilateral cooperation and exchange of good practices between Bulgaria and Norway with focus on the Roma community.