ICEBREAKING – theatre of social inclusion of V4 citizens and UA refugees

ended

After the first wave of solidarity, the war in Ukraine (UA) exposed the problems of hidden intolerance and integration of UA refugees to local communities in the countries of Central Europe. Fear and insecurity of the unknown have been increasingly manifested, especially among the middle and older generations, who find it harder to navigate in the post-factual world of information. In a July 2022 Globsec survey, Slovaks show the highest level of aversion to UA refugees among the V4 countries. The aim of the project is to form a new international artistic TEAM of 5 diverse theatre companies (V4+UA) that will create a joint street production focused on bringing the local V4 citizens closer to UA refugees. The outcome, a monumental street opus CIRCUS CARAVAN will be a non-verbal movement-visual SOCIAL INCLUSION THEATRE that will actively involve the affected communities in the creative process. The script will be based on field RESEARCH and personally gathered a) authentic stories of Slovaks, Hungarians, Czechs, and Poles with UA departees, b) experiences of Ukrainians with their (non)acceptance by V4 residents; c) documenting those who stayed in Ukraine (the war story of the circus and its principal, now an aid worker in the UA). We consider this type of artwork (one that is co-created by the target group and that follows new audience into their natural environment of public spaces), a TOOL for changing attitudes of the locals in integrating the UA community into EU society. The production will tour EU locations in which the coexistence has been problematic (10 reruns). The AIM is to promote inclusion, break down prejudices, show the benefits of global coexistence, bring people in the EU who are divided by misinformation and conspiracies together. For future the project has the ambition to carry out reruns by targeting the communities that have been indirectly affected by the war, it can become a (POST)FRONT THEATRE (for soldiers, humanitarian workers, doctors).