A group volunteer project in the fields of Arts & Culture
1. SUMMARY: The ONBOARD project focuses on young people’s personal development and 21st-century skills building, on inclusion and the conscious active participation in the process of realizing Europe’s vision of global development. It reaffirms the idea that solidarity, creative attitude, open social communication and civic activity are the key factors for the personal realization, social and professional success of every young person as well as for the development of Europe and the world. The project uses Art as a tool of personal growth and improvement, personal expression and impact on society; promotes social inclusion and cultural cohesion within the common European family; promotes the active physical activities outdoor and the healthy lifestyle. The project aims to build qualities and competencies among participants and target groups to help them be more prepared and competitive on the labor market for better quality of life. The most important results of the project will be: the personal and professional development of the participants, the promotion and consolidation of the European Values and the Solidarity as the only right way out of the crisis, youth awareness and cultural integration, creation and development of partnerships, increasing the capacity of the organizations involved in the project. The results will be widely disseminated to the local community, youth and European organizations and made available to the general public through new technologies.
ONBOARD is a group volunteer project for theatre, carnival, community arts and promotion of European values, self-awareness and development of the civil society. The youngsters will be mainly engaged in creative, artistic and auxiliary activities related to the cultural and educational projects of FIRE Theatre-Art-Culture FOUNDATION, which will take place in Sofia and Plovdiv – the European Capital of Culture in 2019. We plan also short trips for activities across the country. Art will be used as a tool of public expression and impact, personal realization and social cohesion. The training methods will be mostly informal and interactive, providing the opportunity for personal initiative and creativity and development aimed at building the «competences of the 21st century». We will strive to maximize the initiative and the creativity of the participants and the intercultural dialogue.
2. ACTIVITIES
As part of our team the volunteers will help us to carry out the following activities:
• Making large parade puppets, masks, costumes etc. – including with local communities (children, youth, families, etc.) – participation in the entire process, together with the relevant team (from initial design to production and audience presentation)
• Artistic tasks (acting, dance, choreography and theatre performances for different age, theatre with fire, puppets etc, carnival techniques). Participation in the overall process of creating, rehearsing and presenting to the wide audience of community art parade, narrative fire theatre performance, family orientated outdoor theatre performance with giant puppets, theatre performance(s) for kids, open carnival laboratories etc.
• Work with the community through art (mainly with children, adolescents and young people)
• Organizational and ancillary activities related to the realization of art events
• Video and photo-shooting, montage and post-production of the row material, interviews with guests and viewers
• Tasks related to the dissemination of information about the organization and its projects and ESC program; electr. medias etc.
During their stay in Bulgaria the volunteers will have the opportunity to take part in several major art projects of FIRE theater-art-culture FOUNDATION with broad echo and effect and thus to become part of:
• the cultural program of Plovdiv – European Capital of Culture 2019
• the cultural program and cultural calendar of the Sofia Municipality
• the program of several international theatre festivals, etc.
3. WHAT KIND OF VOLUNTEERS WE WOULD LIKE TO HOST?
The project is for young people (18 – 30 years old) with strong interests in Arts and Culture (theatre and performing arts mainly, in particular: outdoor theatre; puppetry; circus; carnival; street performing arts as well as some related to theatre arts such as visual arts; sculpture; costume, set and graphical design; community arts; photography and video making; new technologies and social media etc.).
We are especially interested in those youngsters, who have not occasional but long-term interest in the mentioned above art fields, willing to develop a professional carrier in art and culture after the project. The project is also aimed at art lovers, for whom the various art activities are good and attractive opportunity for personal development, overcoming internal and social barriers, way of inclusion and participation in public life.
We would like to host creative, responsible and pro-active young people – open to learn and experiment, willing to participate directly and practically in the realization of our various cultural and artistic projects. We will be happy if they are open to work as part of international multicultural team and to have interest in Bulgarian culture. The candidates may be young artists with certain experience in the field, as well as another with no experience.
4. SELECTION CRITERIA:
During the selection process, we are going pay attention to the following:
• Interest and good will to work, learn and develop in the direction of the project activities
• solidarity, care for society
• Interest and good will to work in a multicultural environment, openness towards the opinions of the others, ability to synchronize their individual aspirations and expectations with the pre-defined common goal
• Interest and respect towards cultures and in particular towards Bulgaria
The working language within our international team is English, that’s why we expect the candidates to be able to communicate on it (be able to conduct normal daily conversation, to express their ideas, concerns and thoughts and to understand others). They are going also to learn Bulgarian language (basic level).
5. POSSIBLE ROLES AND ACTIVITIES of the volunteers (according to the program of the organization in the period of the project, the personal wishes, skills and knowledge of the participants, the conditions of the project and our specific capabilities as hosting organisation):
• Designers – stage designers, designers of (theatrical) costumes, masks and dolls, visual artists
Activities: help in design of large parade dolls, masks, costumes, etc., help with the realization of workshops with representatives of the local community of different ages
• Makers – of puppets, costumes, props and theatrical equipment
Activities: help (as part of a team) in making large parade dolls, masks, costumes, accessories, help with the realization of workshops with representatives of the local community of different ages
• Technicians:
Activities: work with technical and stage equipment (sound, lighting, LED lighting – glowing dolls and costumes, special effects, etc. – as part of the team)
• Performers – artists and theatre actors, puppeteers – incl. working with large parade puppets, street and circus performers (jugglers, stilt walkers, flow artists, fire spinners, acrobats etc.), dancers, musicians etc.
Activities: participation (as part of a team ) in the process of preparation of theatrical, carnival, street and fire theatre acts, attractions, choreographies, sketches – some of them involving representatives of the local communities; acting & performing in those acts as well as in the parades and various theatre performances, help with the realization of workshops and carnival laboratories for the representatives of the local communities, coaching small groups of local amateur participants etc.
• Make-up artists:
Activities: creating theatrical and carnival make up – incl. the make-up of the participants in the parade and in the carnival laboratories
• Photographers & video operators
Activities: documenting (photo, video, text) the creative process and the public events, redaction and post-production of the row material
• Bloggers, vloggers and PR:
Activities: disseminating of the project and event related information in the social networks and the media
• Community mediators:
Activities: fulfilling tasks related to organization, care and communication with representatives of the local communities, incl. conducting interviews and surveys
• Assistance, Assistant-director and Stage hands
Activities: general help and assistance during the preparation and implementation of various artistic public events and related to them rehearsals, workshops, presentations, community activities etc.
Normally in our projects one volunteer has more than one or two roles and they take part – as a part of the team – in various activities and initiatives.
The project will be implemented in accordance with the formal requirements of the European Solidarity Corps Programme and in active cooperation with all the partners, based on open and honest communication, constant dialogue, shared responsibility for project success, proactivity at all stages of its realization, correctness and loyalty.
WHAT WE NEED FROM THE CANDIDATES:
• A motivation letter – what attracts them in the project, how it is linked with their own plans for the future, what are their hopes and expectations, why they think they are proper for the project, how they can contribute – please ask the youngster to be concrete and specific 🙂
• CV – date of birth, education etc.
• Materials (text and visual) showing their interest to Arts and Culture. If they have certain experience as artists – short reference and visual materials: pictures, videos, portfolios etc.
• Contact information: address, email, Facebook, Messenger & Skype profile, mobile phone number
• Up to date picture(s) of the candidate
all the required documents should be sent to
firefoundation2018@gmail.com
with subject «ONBOARD: candidature of…(your name, surname and country of origin)
