EUROPEAN MEETING CENTRE - NOWY STAW FOUNDATION
An international comic youth Exchange will be held between 14 – 21st March 2010 in Metsakartano Youth Cetnre, Finland.
Youth from eight European countries e.g. Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Greece, Spain and Portugal is going to participate in this event.
The youth exchange is being held in Metsakartano Youth Centre – surrounded by hilly forests, lakes and rivers is set nearby Tiilikkajärvi National Park. During 6 days of exchange participants will take part in comic creating workshops, work on their own comic stories which will be presented at comic festival in autumn in Helsinki.
During this six days youth exchange 48 participants from Finland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Slovakia, Czech republic and Poland and Greece are gathering together to learn about each others cultures and to gain more knowledge of the history and tradition of each others in a very creative way. Participants are using comics as a tool for intercultural communication and sharing each cultures mythologies and old stories. This week is a journey to a comic world. Eposes and stories. As an international group we can ask from ourselves "What stories from our culture, even forgotten ones, we want to bring alive?" And how do they define us in present moment, how does the modern world collide and respect all historical knowledge?
During this youth exchange youth will learn the basics of comic making, character-designing, forming an interesting storyline and completing the story. They are sharing their knowledge of comic making by giving presentations and working in workshops together. Youth will share their own cultural background in the international group and use the old legends of their countries as an inspiration. Learning about the cultures and different backgrounds will happen through comic making. Youth will tell their stories in visual way, without bigger language barriers. On a last day everyone will contribute to a common comic-zone wich will also be published in Helsinki comic festival in autumn 2010. Students will receive their own copy of the booklet via snail mail and in digi-format after the course.
