From September 1st 2020 to February 10th 2021, the organisation Art Aparat has organised five 90-minutes joint musical workshops with youth at risk and participants from general population have been held in GRIG’s premises. Under the professional guidance of the workshop leader, and with support of GRIG’s staff and the musical assistant, the total of 30 participants from Belgrade’s centers for children without parental care and Centre for Youth integration went through the workshop process, with 5-12 participants per workshop, depending on Covid19 restrictions.
The participants were rehearsing the songs previously selected and rehearsed by the youth at risk in the workshops dedicated to them. With this approach, youngsters from vulnerable groups become sort of “host” for the participants from the general population, and have certain advantage in knowing the rehearsed songs, which contributes to their self-esteem. They had 3 songs jointly rehearsed and performed in the conducted workshops.
Although belonging to similar age groups, participants from two groups come from very different backgrounds and life experiences, with little or no opportunity to meet and exchange. Working on the joint task – song learning, contributed to overcoming social and generational differences between two groups, to strengthening group cohesion and bridging the gap of social exclusion. New friendships were established, which was a great starting point for future joint work.
The project “Regional Youth Compact for Europe” is a three-year project implemented by Center for Democracy Foundation and 13 partners. The project is funded by the European Union and co-funded by Balkan Trust for Democracy.