208 art, circus, dance, music and theatre workshops
for at-risk youths in youth shelters, reception centres for migrants, run-down outlying urban areas, communities and cultural centres for people with physical and mental disabilities and autism in
- Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia)
- America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and Dominican Republic)
- Asia (Cambodia, Philippines, Myanmar and Thailand)
- Europe (France, Italy, Romania, Switzerland) and Turkey.
25 Training courses
on art-education to encourage the adoption of these practices among teachers and professionals.
- 2 training courses on the HEART methodology (Healing and Education Through the Arts) for 36 teachers from 12 schools in three municipalities in the south-west of Haiti. Participants learnt how to provide psychosocial support through the arts to 2’479 children affected by the hurricane Matthew. The Foundation supported this project through Save the Children Switzerland.
- 3 training courses on the HEART method for 59 teachers, pedagogues, psychologists, social workers and special education professionals from 14 primary schools, 1 kindergarten and 6 drop in centres in the Una-Sana and Posavina Cantons (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The Foundation supported this project through Save the Children UK and Italy.
- 5 training courses for 75 teachers from various Cambodian provinces, school directors, trainers from NGOs and provincial, district and ministerial officials for education. The courses aimed at integrating art and play into classrooms, helping children with disabilities during the learning process, stimulating their creativity and facilitating their social integration. The sessions were organized by the Cambodian organizations Rabbit School Organization and Epic Arts and supported by Alta Mane via the Swiss organization Aide et Action.
- 1 circus training offered by Phare Ponleu Selpak to 2 trainers, 11 assistants and 50 other young beneficiaries of the association Caméléon, hosting victims of violence in Passi, Panay Island (Philippines). The Foundation supported the project via Apprentis d’Auteuil Switzerland.
- 3 training courses offered by Musicians without Borders to allow 35 youths, living in Mahama refugee camp (Rwanda), 20 youths in Kigali and 28 trainees of a clinic and main hospital in Kigali to use music in favour of children and youths living in extremely vulnerable conditions with HIV-AIDS or in refugee camps.
- 1 technical-musical training for 13 young drummers of the group Slum Drummers of the outskirts of Nariobi (Kenya). The training helped them offer psychosocial support through music to 80 street children in Waithaka (Kenya). Partner: Gruppo per le Relazioni Transculturali (GRT).
- 4 seminars organized by Solidar Suisse for 16 sociocultural mediators involved in the management of theatre groups, cine-clubs and cultural centers in Bolivia within the LanzArte project.
- 1 advanced course (Matriz das Artes) for 40 young drummers living in the favelas of Salvador de Bahia (Brazil), aspiring to teach drums to the children involved in Projeto Axé.
- 4 training courses in ArtEducation (Projeto Axé) for a total of 200 operators and teachers working on social art projects in Brazil.
- 1 training for the socioeconomically disadvantaged young artists of Fundatia Parada to help them integrate into society and start a professional career at the Academy of Social Arts of Bucharest (Romania).
Realization of ASEM House of Culture
In 2008-2009, the Foundation supported the realization of ASEM’s House of Culture. The house hosts theatre, music and dance workshops for the most vulnerable and marginalized youths of Vilanculos (Mozambique).
12 exchanges
between long-standing partners of the Foundation that had the opportunity to visit their respective project sites and organize joint artistic initiatives:
- 5 exchanges, organized between 2011 and 2016 under the auspices of the “Theatre without Borders” project. The meetings involved artists with disabilities, members of the theatre companies Giullari di Gulliver from Ticino (Switzerland), Perspecktivyij from Russia and BHH Sozialkontor from Germany. The exchanges took place in St. Petersburg (Russia), Hamburg and Nieheim (Germany) and the Ticino Canton (Switzerland).
- 2 exchanges between AMREF operators and young beneficiaries (Kenya) and Projeto Axé (Brazil). AMREF and Axé were both long-standing partners of the Foundation, working with at-risk youths in the slums of Nairobi and the favelas of Salvador de Bahia through artistic workshops.
- 2 exchanges between ASEM representatives (Mozambique) and Pé no Chão/ Projeto Axé teachers from, respectively, Recife and Salvador de Bahia (Brazil).
- 1 cultural exchange project in Switzerland organized by Cre-Arte, partner of the Foundation, working in Argentina with youths facing severe psychophysical and social hardship. The exchange included theatre and music workshops organized in collaboration with KFE University and Theatre Hora (Zurich).
- 1 seminar in Dresden (May 2009) between representatives of the Latin American Network of Art and Social Transformation, an organization linking 60 social art projects in Latin America with European organizations working in the same sector.
- 1 exchange between Vientos Culturales and Prometeo during 2015 Medellin International Poetry Festival.
Axé Italia
Fondation Alta Mane has supported the important strategic development of the Association Axé Italia Onlus for six years (2009-2015). The project was aimed at implementing fundraising activities in favour of Projeto Axé Brazil, therefore contributing to the consolidation of its action in favour of youths living in the favelas of Salvador de Bahia. Finally, the Association intended to spread the ArtEducation methodology, which is based on the Pedagogy of Desire, in Italy to benefit at-risk youths.