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 (2021-2023)

  • 641 children, of which 601 minors with a migration background 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”;
  • 48 adults (of which 35 parents) with a migration background participated to several cultural visits of the most important museums of Athens and the Region of Attica.

Between January 2021-December 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 art-education workshops (4 at distance and 33 in presence), during which 216 children with a migration background (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 28 participatory reading workshops reaching 196 children (aged 6-17), including 40 Greek peers, and 4 Street/Visual Art workshops reaching 12 minors with a migration background (aged 6-15);
  • organized 42 cultural visits, coupled with several art education workshops, of the most important museums of Athens and the Region of Attica reaching 217 minors (aged 5-18), 35 parents and 13 adults with a migration background.

In 2024, GCR, with Alta Mane support, 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 migration background (Melissa, Faros, and The Network for Children’s Rights).