At the crossroads of history

Germany – France – Algeria

The project

Sometimes histories meet, sometimes they take place at different times and places, but they create a common legacy. We want to meet around this heritage that History has left us and share our stories about migrations in Marseille, borders in Berlin and revolutions in Oran.

In fact, we often have the impression that history is a subject of communion and debate that fascinates young people, especially when it is held between people from nations that have crossed paths, confronted each other or been allies. With Graine De Paix (Oran, Algeria) and Une Terre Culturelle (Marseille, France) we share this experience and believe that dialogue between young people can really help to bring together these nations that share, in addition to their common history, a cultural heritage.

During this project we want to work around the historical and cultural heritage through the cities that will host us:

  • Marseille: a cosmopolitan city that has always been a Euro-Mediterranean migratory crossroads. Its port is a symbol of migration flows.
  • Berlin: was at the heart of the history of WWII and the Cold War. For a long time, it was divided in 2 parts. Its wall was both the border between the East and West Germany and a physical, cultural and political separation.
  • Oran: lived through many episodes of colonization – Ottoman, Roman, Spanish, French – which have influenced its diverse architecture. The city of Oran is also a place of revolts and revolutions with an important historical heritage.

We want to work on the different themes of this project thanks to different medias throughout the 3 weeks of exchange. This will allow us to build a continuous work on remembering the common historical heritage of these three partner countries. Our goal is to present the final result of the project during a public evening in order to reach a wider audience and create attention for intercultural youth work as well as memory work.

Finally, in order to encourage intercultural exchange throughout the project, a translation into French, German and Arabic will be systematically offered. It is important that everyone can express themselves in their mother tongue without being limited by the difficulty of speaking in a foreign language. Language facilitators and interpreters will also be available in informal times to facilitate communication, however they encourage everyone to find ways to communicate independently in cooperation with their counterparts in other countries.

When and where

Phase I:Marseille – dates to be confirmed
Phase II:Berlin – dates to be confirmed
Phase III:Oran – dates to be confirmed

Participants

This project is aimed at young people between 15 and 25 years old who have little access to international mobility programs and who are motivated to meet young people from partner countries. Each group will spend the three phases of the project together. We wish to bring together diverse profiles in order to combine the different skills needed to carry out the project within the group. It is also important for us to have cultural and social diversity within each national group. The participants are not required to have advanced language skills because we work with interpreters during the formal times of the exchange.

8 participants per partner country will take part in this project.