Why?

The two main concepts of the European Youth Museum Festival are youth arts and interculturality. Youth is maybe one of the most underestimated values in the world whereas art is more appreciated, yet still far from the actual value of it. And as the world gets smaller via communication, interculturality increases. That is why one of the main aims of this project is to show what the underestimated youth is able to do through arts in an intercultural setting.

So why are we organizing this European Youth Museum Festival? Why is it important for us? For young people to meet and perform arts? To get to know other cultures?

We think that it is important to give people the opportunity to achieve things – to take initiative and be inspired and see that being active is worthwhile. Art, as well as other forms of expression, is the outcome of creativity and activity – two values that must be supported and promoted. It is so easy for –and also what is expected of- an individual to think that s/he is too small to change or too small to shine, but that is nowhere near the truth.

Through arts, it is possible to express yourself, transmit your own messages and use your creativity for shouting your opinions or feelings out, but what about the intercultural part? Why create this artistic arena in a context other than your usual? The answer is: because we all have things to teach and things to learn. You, as a person from a specific place, have something to give and something to receive from me, a person from another specific place. I have to teach about my own views of the world, of my own way of living and my own beliefs. I have to learn about your opinions, your background, your way of reasoning. It is a mutual exchange of experiences and a common interest – to develop and to inspire and be inspired in return. And to create contacts, to widen your world. Why only perform in Greece when there are opportunities in a country to the east? Or why only stay in Ankara when Athens is waiting around the corner? Why only work alone or collaborate with the same nationalities, when you can find great friends and colleagues in another country? This is what the intercultural aspect is about – to build bridges, to create an understanding and to give and receive experiences to broaden the world, both on a personal and a global scale.

So, why not put these two together? Why not let puppet show artists from Turkey meet punk bands from Greece? Why not let us work together, creating both fantastic art and fantastic relations. Why not work for a world full of color, as well artistic as cultural?