2009
International Meetings with Creativity of People with Intellectual Disability “World not Known Enough” Festival
17 -24 May 2009 the artistic festival International Meetings with Creativity of People with Intellectual Disability “World not Known Enough” took place in Gdańsk, Poland.
The festival gathered over 120 artists from France, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Sweden.
The festival is organized every other year and is an important and recognized event in the cultural landscape of Gdańsk and Pomorskie Region in Poland. The festival brings together professional and non-professional artists of different art domains who have the unique occasion to work together during this week. The festival is organized under the honorary patronage of the Marshal of Pomorskie Region and the Mayor of Gdańsk and under the auspices of the Caravan 2000.
This year the opening ceremony took place in the Baltic Philharmonic Hall in the presence of Vive Mayor of Gdańsk Mrs. Ewa Kamińska. The Vita Activa orchestra was accompanied by three soloists – famous Polish artists. The exhibition of paintings and photography was presented in the foyer of the Philharmonic Hall. During the week of 18th – 22nd May 2009 six artistic workshops took place: fine arts – big forms in open-air, theatrical with elements of circus art, music – drums & percussion, handcrafts, culinary and photo-reportage. The leaders of the workshops were professional artists.
One of the most spectacular events of the festival was the culinary show – the famous Polish chef Joseph Seeletso, a TV celebrity, shared his cooking show with people with disability. The greatest attraction of the festival was the Saturday evening show where “Zakopower” – a famous Polish folk band, the star of the evening was accompanied by Remont Pomp – an integrative musical & rhythm group from Gdańsk.
The festival ended with the PARADE – happening, the march of the participants of workshops in an artistic pageant accompanied by the music of drums along Long Street to the Long Market completed with the art show prepared by the participants of the workshops and professional artists.
„Family at the Heart of Social Work in Europe” Conference
18th - 22nd March 2009, the conference „Family at the Heart of Social Work in Europe” was organized by Caravan 2000/France and it’s member organization EPDF in Arras, France. The participants in the conference included 31 experts from 9 countries: Greece, Malta, Israel, France, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Turkey, and Italy.
Different viewpoints on the three following topics were examined during the conference:
understanding of parenthood in particular countries,
different kinds of support by governmental institutions and/or welfare organizations, and
volunteerism.
The possible establishment of a common basis of values connecting the partners in our network was explored, how to encourage the creation of new initiatives for young people with disadvantages and disabilities that are respectful of their special needs and self-esteem. New ideas and actions will be implemented collectively and in each country, respectively.
General Assembly of Caravan 2000 International
19th March 2009 the General Assembly of Caravan 2000 International took place in Arras. The meeting was chaired by Peter Furth.
After the presentation of the financial and activity reports and a statement by the outgoing president Michael Thiele and the formal approval of actions of the outgoing board, a new president and new board were elected.
We welcome:
new president Magdalena Skiba/Poland,
vice-presidents Stefan Rothschild/Israel and Michael Thiele/Germany,
Monika Kaufmann/Germany as treasurer,
Regis Alvin/France as General Secretary, as well as
Philippe Mazereau/France, Tarik Bitlis/Turkey, and Joseph Borg/Malta as board members.