1. Lodz 20-22.09.2021
2. Vienna 26-29.05.2022
3. Israel 6-9.12.2022
4. Antwerp 23-25.03.2023
5. Berlin 5-9.09.2023
The training took place from 20 to 22 September 2021 in Lodz.
The aim of the training in Lodz was to exchange experiences between partners on working methods to prevent exclusion, integration and activation of people with disabilities. Participants included project implementers, instructors and educators from partner organisations, art and art therapy trainers and educators working for people with disabilities. Participants were also adult educators working with people with disabilities and also people with disabilities invited by the host organisation.
The training programme included the following activities:
- a monodrama performed by a blind actor from the partner organisation Nalagaat from Israel. The performance was accompanied by a conversation with the invited audience; a performance with deaf actors from the
- The ARBOS partner organisation, meanwhile, led a theatre workshop
- drama workshop with elements of theatre and language games (Theater van A tot Z)
- drama workshop with elements of creating audiodescription led by a member of the partner organisation Institute of Tolerance
- dance workshop led by a member of the Echodrama Cultural Group from Greece
- performance and online workshop by Riksteatern Crea, a Swedish organisation working with deaf people
- a visit to the "Odlot" gallery in Łódź - a visit to an exhibition of works by people with intellectual disabilities and a presentation of pantomime etudes recorded during theatre classes by the charges of the Association of Friends of the House on the Estates.
Participants included representatives of partner organisations, therapists and theatre instructors working with blind and partially sighted, deaf and hard of hearing people.
The meeting ended with a discussion and evaluation of the training. The result of the training was learning about ways to activate people with disabilities, developing creativity, broadening professional competences of the participants: educators: employees and volunteers from partner organisations. The result of the training was also the establishment of new professional contacts.
The training in Vienna took place from 26 - 29 May 2022.
The aim of the training in Vienna was to exchange experiences between partners on working methods to prevent exclusion, integration and activation of people with disabilities; to learn about the methods of artistic and therapeutic work with deaf and hard of hearing and deaf-blind people used by the host organisation.
Participants in the training were people connected to the partner institutions - instructors and educators who run art and art therapy classes and educators working for the benefit of people with disabilities, as well as people with visual and hearing disabilities invited by the host organisation.
The meeting was divided into workshop blocks. Workshops and lectures were led by professionals from the host organisation (artistic director, deaf actors) and their colleagues, such as the director of the Austrian National Theatre Burgtheater in Vienna and professor of directing at the Max-Reinhardt Seminar at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.
Training programme: participation in open rehearsals for performances and workshops; introductory lecture by Herbert Ganschacher, artistic director, theatre director and president of the ARBOS host organisation, the Society for Music and Theatre, 'Theatre is not just theatre: research - lectures - documentation - exhibitions - performing arts'; 'Sign Language: Interpretations on stage'; 'Freedom' performance by Helen Keller, translated into German by Herbert Gantschacher, into Austrian Sign Language by Werner Mössler with English subtitles; 'Language trainer, bilingual stage' (Herbert Gantschacher); directing workshops; lectures, demonstrations of working methods; 'Directing. Stage movement and music'; some fundamental positions on art and acting: Lesson I: "Confidence: the art of acting - the body in space", Lesson II: "Tolerance - Perception and Personality" Lesson III: "Reconciliation: Action and Reaction"; "Professional theatre education for the deaf"; "Working with sign language on stage".
The trainees also had the opportunity to attend 2 thematic lectures by Prof. Mag. Martin Kušej, director of the Austrian National Theatre: "From a German national theatre ensemble to a European and international ensemble and the situation of minorities and their languages on the example of the Slovenian minority in the state of Carinthia". and Sabine Zeller, professional sign language interpreter: "Sign language: interpretations on stage".
The content activities were concluded with a discussion and evaluation of the training.
The result of the training was learning about ways to activate people with disabilities, developing creativity, expanding the professional competences of participants: educators: employees and volunteers from partner organisations. The training also resulted in new professional contacts.
The training took place from 6-9.12.2022 in Tel Aviv.
The aim of the training in Tel Aviv was to learn about inclusive methods through the arts and methods to support vocational activation for people with visual and hearing impairments. Participants included project implementers, instructors and educators from partner organisations, art and art therapy instructors and educators working for people with disabilities. Participants also included adult educators and people with disabilities invited by the host organisation. The training programme included a visit to the archives in Jerusalem, where the letters of Helen Keller, a deaf-blind writer, educator and social activist, are kept; a visit to the Museum of the Deaf in Holon near Tel Aviv, where participants will learn about the various activities carried out at the Museum; integrative exercises in theatre work with people with visual and hearing impairments; and participation in rehearsals for a performance.
The activities took place in all branches of the Nalagaat Centre (stage, events centre, Black Out restaurant). The training ended with an in-depth reflection on inclusive work, an evaluation of the training and a concluding discussion. The outcome of the training was learning about ways to activate people with disabilities, developing their creativity, expanding the professional competences of the educator participants: staff and volunteers from partner organisations. The training also resulted in new professional contacts.
The training took place in 23-25.03.2023 in Anwerp
LTT in Antwerp focused more on developing museum programs aimed at people with disabilities. A meeting with a blind guide at the Antwerp Art Museum was organized, which gave participants, including museum educators, insight into how to organize a new way of understanding art. There was also a guided history tour of Antwerp, covering "fake news" in a playful way, which inspired work on new audiences that don't usually visit history museums or are not interested in history at all. The tour gave participants new tools for working with immigrants, the unemployed and vulnerable people, as well as a new approach to how history, based on facts and knowledge, can still entertain and make us laugh. The training program also included a presentation of good practices in the field of theater therapy as a method for inclusive activities for people with different types of disabilities, and programs for people with disabilities in Antwerp and Belgium: a presentation introducing the activities of the theater From A to Z - 5 actors including 2 with intellectual disabilities shared their experiences with the participants.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version).
Participants included project implementers, instructors and educators from partner organizations, art and art therapy instructors and educators working on behalf of people with disabilities, in addition to those dealing with accessibility of cultural institutions. Participants also included actors and directors working with people with disabilities invited by the host organization. The training ended with an in-depth reflection on inclusive work, an evaluation of the training and a concluding discussion.
The training took place in Berlin 5-7.09.2023.
The exercises that were presented during the training in Berlin fostered a fundamental, deep understanding of the other person, including the person with a disability. Their aim was to initiate new formats for inclusion in work and performing arts processes. The exercises were aimed at development in an inclusive group. They developed confidence in oneself, confidence in the group, creating a fear-free space, confidence in one's own creative impulses, free creativity. Participants were hearing team members, sign language interpreters and deaf performers. It was an inclusive group. Thus, all activities were interpreted into sign language. Participants in the workshop were asked in advance to bring along a training outfit, a towel and warm socks. They were also asked to prepare one of the exercises. They were given a detailed description of what they should prepare. The workshop was led by three people so that participants could be addressed directly.
An added value of the training in Belin was the attendance and presentation of Saddek Kebir and Sabine Kebir working with blind and deaf actors on the stage of the National Theatre in Algiers (Algeria), they talked about the performance of 'Antigone', an original play by the Greek playwright Sophocles, adapted for blind and deaf actors and translated into Arabic and Arabic sign language for the deaf. There was also a presentation of inclusive books produced by Saddek Kebir and Sabine Kebir for the blind in Braille, the tactile writing system used by visually impaired people.