Tolerart.com: join to new web platform against xenophobia!
Erasmus + never stops. Inspired by everyday problems with our society and our youth, another project is realised in Paphos, Cyprus. The main idea of this incredibly useful youth exchange is probably the most popular social issue nowadays – the xenophobia. This project took place in Paphos, from 31.08 till 09.09 where participants from six different countries (Cyprus, Macedonia, Latvia, Italy, France and Romania) were united with one main purpose – to help the world, for once and forever to beat the xenofobia in every society.
Everyday, many activites were held in the Youth Center in Paphos, where all of the participants had the chance to express themselves in every possible way. With that freedom, they succeed into making art with strong messages.
With words, paintings, pictures and songs they perfectly explained how terrible and useless the xenophobia is and how can we change that. And, for not keeping that a secret between them they managed to make a website and Tumbrl blog. You can easly find them by the name TolerArt.com and you can enjoy in all the beautiful things made in just 10 days.
“Together we can beat any phobia, and by working hard and untied we can change the world for better” – said Stefanija Ristova from Macedonia, active participant of the project.
” During this cultural exchange 36 participants from 6 different country met in Cyprus to fight against racism and xenophobia.
Wihout knowing each other and without being able to perfectly cooperate how would those person fight against those kind of topic, you may ask?
We did that throught art, each of the artist did what he could do best and those who thought couldn’t do anything discovered that everyone could be an artist and that everything can be a form of art, you just need to send a message and fight in your way for what you think is right.
We wrote an art manifesto to consolidate our point of view.
“The lack of knowledge keeps us in a box living and thinking how others dictate us to.” said Lorenzo Gualano, participant from Italy
“Net art of tolerance” project was very useful to me because it allowed me to gain confidence in myself through art, art is one of my passions and I was happy to share it here. I love the cohesion and love that this project brings. and I’m grateful to the people who made this project work. It’s an experience I want to do again.❤️ – said Jade Gattoni from France, firt time participant in Erasmus+ program.
“The goodwill of the participants “Net Art For Tolerance” resulted in the creation of the site “TolerArt” on two platforms, WordPress and Tumblr. Both are already presenting some of the participants’ artwork – whether paintings, videos or written posts – all encouraging tolerance and sending the message that “different” does not necessarily mean “bad” or “dangerous.”
There have been some very productive and creative days, and now, in the end, we can all say that the fight against xenophobia must continue, and that art is a very good tool in this regard. ” said Andreea Adams from Romania.
“The website created as a result of our project is called Tolerart.com and it displays a variety of artforms such as painting, music, net art and more. This represents a work of art in itself as it is as colorful as a spring evening and speaks to all who are willing to listen. It should serve as an example of what young people can achieve when they get together with a common goal and focus.” said Stefan Gorgijev, group leader from Macedonia
