Bona Fides Association and Imágenes y Palabras cultural association, are looking for polish volunteers to join their European Solidarity Corps project in Spain. The application forms, Curriculum Vitae and cover letter have to be sent to the following mails: mariachiara@bonafides.pl, k.zychowicz@bonafides.pl and dorien@imagenesypalabras.com Please, write in the title ”ESC in Spain”
- Location: El Hacedor, La Aldea del Portillo de Busto (Burgos)
- Deadline: 11/03/2019
- Duration: 6 months
- Mobility period: From 03/2019 to 10/2019
PROJECT PROMOTION
Imágenes y Palabras (cultural association) is constantly creating cultural and artistic activities in rural areas, in villages and towns belonging to the Province of Burgos, ever since its foundation in 1999. All activities, in one way or another relate to culture and society.
The Group Workshop and Cultural Centre “El Hacedor” based in the village of La Aldea del Portillo de Busto form the headquarters for Imágenes y Palabras since 2009, a creative space and a meeting place. Together with the extensive workshop full of tools and materials, meant for artistic production, there is an art gallery (150 m2), a sculpturepark (3.000 m2) and a hostel where artists, students, volunteers, members of Imágenes y Palabras and guests can stay, both individually and in groups.
Imágenes y Palabras offers a place to (inter)national volunteers and students of different universities, both insdide and outside Spain, that fosters creativeness and allows youngsters to develop new skills. This way, Imágenes y Palabras guarantees ongoing activity in the project, in the context of the depopulation that our area suffers from, especially within the younger generations. Since 2002, more than 150 young people from all over the world have lived in La Aldea del Portillo de Busto for a period of time. We believe it is vital to include young people in projects taking place in the rural areas. This involvement will help raise the attention for the actual problems of small, almost depopulated, villages, most notably occurring in Mediterranean countries.
The principal activity of this project is group creation. The cultural association Imágenes y Palabras, in permanent search of cultural activity and diversity in the rural areas of northern Spain, uses the cultural action as a method and a tool to fight against depopulation of small villages. The association has been active in the region, in the field of arts and culture, over the past 20 years. For the coming year we launch the following project: The creation of a cross-generational, multidisciplinary and intercultural group work of art in rural area. Summarizing, the idea is to create a context whereby we facilitate participants of the diverse activities we propose, to reach a direct collaboration in the creation process. The groups with which we work are very diverse: school-children, people from surrounding villages, artists in residence, visitors coming for holidays and also volunteers together with tutors and coordinators of the organization.
Simultaneously, we will work in and around “El Hacedor”, the base of the association, to
maintain the arts gallery, the workshops and the surrounding environment. This work
includes the organization of exhibitions (both inside the gallery and in the open air),
maintenance of the vegetable garden, planting of aromatics, caring of animals (donkeys) and general conservation of infrastructures.
During free time we introduce volunteers to places “normal tourists” wouldn’t find so easily: small enterprises of the region, geographical jewels and amazing hidden corners. Moreover we impulse a permanent dialogue between volunteers and inhabitants from the region. For volunteers with an artistic interest, we invite them to develop their creativity in a personal project.
The silence of the village and the huge, empty surroundings make coexistence during daily
life an intense experience. Independently of what volunteers learn during work on a
practical level, the experience is social and human, is of respect and confidence,
appreciation and values.
TRAINING, ACCOMMODATION AND OTHER ARRANGEMENTS
Volunteers will work and live in the base of Imágenes y Palabras. Food and pocket money, health insurance and language lessons are covered and financed by the European Commission.
VOLUNTEER’S PROFILE
We are looking for a youngster (18 – 30 years), interested about culture, education and rural development. Ready to live and work in rural areas, with interest in artistic creation and ready to live closely together with people from different backgrounds, coordinators of the project or other visitors of El Hacedor.