The project in summary
Art-education activities at the Intercultural Center “PYXIDA” (Athens, Greece) for migrant and refugee minors and youths, and their families.
The project in detail
The “Thesaurus” project, which is part of a non-formal educational program developed since 1996 by the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), aims to:
- allow minors in migratory situations to express their emotions and their experiences in a creative way, within a safe, protected and child-friendly environment;
- improve their self-esteem and increase confidence in themselves and in others;
- strengthen their artistic-creative skills, their relational and socio-communicative skills, thus starting a post-traumatic resilience process.
Beneficiaries (2021-2023)
- 616 children, of which 576 minors who have lived refugee experiences and 40 Greek peers, aged 5-18, with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, have participated to the various creative-artistic and educational activities organized at the Intercultural Center “PYXIDA”;
- 42 adults (of which 29 parents) who have lived refugee experiences participated to several cultural visits of the most museums of Athens and the Region of Attica.
Between January 2021-September 2023, Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) with the support of Alta Mane, has carried out the following activities:
- developed the digital educative platform “Thesaurus Library” where, subsequently, a total of 2’725 books for children and adolescents, which are part of the “PYXIDA” Center’s book collection, have been catalogued;
- organized 37 digital art-education workshops (4 at distance and 33 in presence), during which 216 children who have lived refugee experiences (aged 6-17), starting from the reading of different books and through different expressive-artistic modes, had the opportunity to reflect on various themes such as, inter alia, identity, journey, talent, ocean pollution, friendship, knowledge and co-existence with the other, and produced various drawings, paintings and padlets, successively featured and shared on the “Thesaurus” platform;
- organized 26 participatory reading workshops reaching 178 children (aged 6-17), including 40 Greek pupils, and 4 Street/Visual Art workshops reaching 12 minors who have lived refugee experiences (aged 6-15);
- organized 38 cultural visits, coupled with several art education workshops, of the most important museums of Athens and the Region of Attica reaching 210 minors (aged 5-18), 29 parents and 13 adults who have lived refugee experiences.
In 2024, GCR intends to consolidate and differentiate the art-education activities implemented at the PYXIDA Intercultural Center to support its expansion as a focal point in terms of social and educational inclusion in the neighbourhood of Exarchia (Athens), and at the same time to launch an integrated collaboration with El Sistema Greece, as well as with three other organizations active in the psychosocial support and social inclusion of children and youths, with their families, with a migratory background (Melissa, Faros, and The Network for Children’s Rights).