Exploring the use of the Arts

in intercultural and inter

religious dialogue

Luciana Popescu- teacher of English, Coordinator Save the Children

Young Volunteers’ Centre MangaliaAdriana Popescu- headmaster Gala

Galaction School Mangalia

INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE AND DIVERSITY are still considered ” hot issues” these days in spite of being historical and culturally marked topics...

Conversation on intercultural dialogue

Youth exchanges and school projects..

Raising the issues of intercultural dialogue, inter-

ethnic and cross community cooperation to the fore, as our group of

young people came from Italy, France,

Poland, Germany, Turkey, Cyprus and they included Muslims and Christians.

Topics of increased immigration to Italy, United Kingdom and Spain, the “ghetto-

isation“ of parts of inner cities and suburbs, immigrants being

perceived as accepting lower wages than locals

and the mass “emigration” of the

Romanian work force to other European countries

during the last six or seven years.

Theatre forum technique

Theatre forum technique using the extracts from the newspapers in “mock” documentary style, comparing the alarmist, misleading, Italian headlines of 2008, (for example: “A Tsunami of Romanian workers threatens to flood Italian Shores!!!”

Young people the “interface”

of racism, and religious or cultural intolerance, are often totally ignored

by policy makers, politicians, and statutory bodies, and their voices,

ideas, and possible solutions to instigating dialogue, are not heard.

NGO’s and community Youth and Arts organisations must take up the

challenge of providing a link between voices from “grass roots” levels, and

those with the power to effect change.

Training methodologies were inter-

linked workshops, which increased the learning curve of the participants’ perceptions of

difference and diversity, and acceptance of each others’ ethnic

and cultural heritage. We used visual arts and newspaper articles

to demonstrate how certain groups are stereotyped by the media and political parties, and

we ensured that our participants experienced and understood

these issues in workshops using drama, role play, music, dance

and film.

Intercultural dialogue training workshop

playing a role reversal and disempowerment exercise called “The Romanian Experience”..

“We have never really seen asylum seekers as being real people, with the same emotions, problems, hopes and dreams as the rest of us” (declared a young participant in the youth exchange).

The infamous “Language and Culture” duo....

We hate the Romanian spirit..

In “approaching intercultural communication”, Porter and Samovar

attested that “when a message leaves the culture in which it was encoded, it contains

the meaning intended by the encoder (…) When a message reaches the

culture where it is to be decoded, it undergoes a transformation in which the

influence of the decoding culture becomes a part of the meaning of the

message.”

What some participants in the seminar have to say about the infamous duo “When you’re speaking another language you are

wearing a disguise because you don’t feel the depth of the words, you can use swear words but it doesn’t mean the same for you. What is the weight of the words in a foreign language? It doesn’t have a contact with your emotions.”

“I feel when I don’t have enough money I must control myself, calculate very well how much. My behavior is not so spontaneous. I can speak and enjoy words in my own language. Here it is not easy in English. Happy to have chance to understand you, I make great efforts to understand, must concentrate, and tired. I feel I am more serious in English, usually I make jokes in my language.”

7 laws of intercultural communication.. Law no.1: Our cultural filter is being shaped through our

socializing process (education, experience). Law no.2: The cultural filter cannot be taken away (it is kept

inside of you). Law no.3: Fortunately, the cultural filter is flexible and adaptable.

Law no.4: The sense of transmitted message is only known by the sender.

Law no.5: The sent message is being encoded (shaped) according to cultural pre-suppositions and perceptions of the sender.

Law no.6: The received message is being decoded (rebuilt and interpreted) on the basis of cultural pre-suppositions and perceptions of the receiver.

Law no.7: Normally, the received message is not the same as the sent message.

Any questions?