The project in summary

Art-education activities and workshops at the Intercultural Center “PYXIDA” (Athens, Greece) for migrant and refugee minors.

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 during the project period (2021-2022)

  • 450 children, of which 410 minors who have lived refugee experiences and 40 Greek peers, aged 6-18, with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, have participated to the various creative-artistic and educational activities organized at the Intercultural Center “PYXIDA”;
  • 27 adults (of which 14 parents) who have lived refugee experiences participated to several cultural visits of the most museums of Athens and the Region of Attica.

In 2021-2022, 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 2’477 books for children and adolescents, which are part of the “PYXIDA” Center’s book collection, have been catalogued;
  • organized 35 digital art-education workshops (4 at distance and 31 in presence for a total of 68½ effective hours) during which 204 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 9 participatory reading workshops reaching 112 children (aged 7-17), including 40 Greek pupils, and 4 Street/Visual Art workshops reaching 12 minors who have lived refugee experiences (aged 6-15);
  • organized 22 cultural visits, coupled with several art education workshops, of the most important museums of Athens and the Region of Attica reaching 122 minors (aged 6-18), 14 parents and 13 adults who have lived refugee experiences.

In 2023, in continuity with the previous two years, GCR intends to consolidate and strengthen the numerous art-education activities implemented at the PIXIDA Intercultural Center, extend them to the main museums of the Region of Attica, including the National Gallery of Athens, and in parallel to strengthen the offer of the Thesaurus platform with the digitization of 150 new books.