The project INTERACTIVE MIRROR – SPIEGEL INTERAKTIV is designed and produced with the co-operative association of Cultural Zephyr e.V., under the direction of Fountainhead® Tanz Theatre and the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (icd).

INTERACTIVE MIRROR – SPIEGEL INTERAKTIV embodies the educational, artistic, psycho-social process which empowers the participants to obtain a deeper understanding and awareness of one´s self, group and societal interrelations.

Subject matter of the project, is the engagement in aspects of intercultural living, within a multicultural society. Young people of ages 14-16 with various socio-economic, cultural, national and religious backgrounds are instructed by international, intercultural artists of different artistic disciplines. In a four-week workshop, the students are to be introduced to the possibility of an intercultural exchange by engaging themselves in artistic forms of expression and sharing with each other and the community, the experiences acquired. The workshops provide an environment for exchange between the youth, as well as between the young people and the artists. In addition, the opportunity is provided to become interdisciplinarily creative and to implement aspects of intercultural living through artistic expression.

The goal of the project, is to convey concrete experiences to young people which bring them closer to the perspectives and values of an intercultural exchange, by dealing with themes of cultural, national, religious, socio-economic identities and perspectives during the progression of the artistic work. A tentative venue will be the Löwenpalais of the Stiftung Starke in Berlin. Additional venues are planned in the areas Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg and Lichtenberg. A preview of this project will run during the 2004 Black International Cinema festival. After a two week working process, the different disciplines will begin an exchange phase and co-operate in an interactive, creative process in order to present an interdisciplinary and interactive work at the conclusion of the course period for family members, guests and the community.

To provide accountability and hence sustainability of the project, a documentation utilizing various media (i.e. print, video, internet) will be created, to portray the experiences of the students and instructors and make this information accessible to interested parties as a basis and encouragement for further projects in the same or similar form.

For more information please feel free to contact us at : interactive_mirror@culturaldiplomacy.org