Weaving Voices as Threads of Communities

"<< Background >>The application was made to create a completely innovative tool-kit for adult educators based on archaic methodologies, like weaving and choir singing. The The main approach of the project was to involve adults into an alternative singing practice which we call as Roy Hart approach. To engage rural or semi-urban inhabitants or people with risk of marginalization (like people who are seeking sanctuary) into a complex community program which are moving and developing basic human skills on multiple level: manual hand-work and creativity, capacity to abstract imagination of textile material towards vocal material, non-verbal communication...etc. The background was the need to find a starting point to develop performative events which goes towards abstraction. So how can we go with a local rural inhabitant group towards a performance which is not based necessarily on a narrative but rather engage an abstract metaphoric imagination of the locals. This is the reason why we propose weaving as a familiar activity to rural population before the proposal of ""alternative, experimental and first of all inclusive singing, mainly based on the Roy Hart method. The initial idea then opened different doors of possibilities: külning, plant dyeing.<< Objectives >>Our focus was on individuals or communities who are living with geographical disadvantage (people in rural, sanctuary seekers, marginalized city peripheries) and to develop for them a new adult educational tool-kit: singing-weaving and then going outside in the nature finding relation to it also with voice such as Kulning (Swedish herding call). The project had four major phases: I. knowledge exchange and share in between the partners about the main competences: Roy Hart voice training, Kulning outdoor expressive vocal training, weaving and plant dyeing, II. applying the adult educational tool-kit on the target group of rural inhabitants in Szalatnak, sanctuary seekers of Leeds, or drog and alcohol addicts of Leo Amici in Komló. III phase about the theoretical reflection and book writing which resulted the ""Weaving voices as threads of communities"" book and several outcomes of the project which mostly were useful as exhibition materials. IV. Finally the partnership shared the project results on dissemination events organized one by each partner. << Implementation >>The Weaving Voices project has implemented seven international workshops (PA1-7), once hosted and organized by each partner organization. The seven workshops all together constituted a complete teaching and learning process for the partners and for target group audiences. There were two residencies organized to be hosted by Sinum and artist-educators delegated by Tuyo. The partnership had a series of dissemination events during the last six months of the project organized once by every partner with the aim to share the project results. The partnership had several online zoom meetings as partnership meetings to talk through the project's administration.The main aim of the partnership was to create exhibition materials including intangible elements like methodologies about singing in choir or outdoor...etc. and to write together a book which summarized all the lessons learned during the project.<< Results >>The main result of the Weaving Voices project is a book: ""Weaving Voices as Threads of communities"" which is written by the partnership, and every member of the staff who were involved into the project. The book is available here: https://www.sinumtheatre.eu/en/the-book/ The book was written in English and it is translated to every languages of the partnership: Swedish, Dutch, French, German and Hungarian.The partnership created several material for the exhibitions: Photo galleries about the project activities, film installation about PA2, report film about PA7, large woven carpets as result of the PA3 and one another in PA5 and another during the I. residency in Szalatnak.Small weaves. Photo gallery of random weaves. The partnership created: self-drawn portraits, sound recordings about hte workshop materials, I poems as result as creative writing pracitces especially during PA5, several conference presentations, photo galleries about every PA. The PA7 resulted a report film which also summarises the Weaving Voices project: https://youtu.be/G_hyL-D68Ck"