About Us
The goal of the foundation is to set up a civic aid structure that will organize after-school art courses led by graduates of Ukrainian and Polish institutions of higher learning for Ukrainian children, youth and students, in accordance with the idea of cultural integration through art. We will organize visual art and music workshops, in addition to sport activities, in locations throughout the city of Krakow, with the possibility of expanding the program to other cities in Poland. Drawing on the concept of the e-Polis, we plan to construct an educational platform through play and intercultural activities that bring Polish and Ukrainian groups together.
GOALS:
- To create the conditions necessary for a meaningful and profound cohabitation of Polish and Ukrainian citizens
- To create long-lasting friendships between the two groups
- To provide preschool- and school-aged refugees with a substitute for "normal life"
- To give young Poles the opportunity to immerse themselves in the language, culture, art, and traditions of Ukraine
- To give young Ukrainians the opportunity to learn about the language, culture, art, and traditions of Poland, their host country
- To provide adult refugees with the opportunity to engage in meaningful work that benefits their community while receiving fair pay
- To provide members of the Ukrainian community who had settled in Krakow before the war with the opportunity to aid the newly-arrived refugees
- To encourage mutual understanding between the two cultures, allowing each to learn about the traditions, cultural roots, and everyday practices of the other
HOW?
We have created a map of locations where afterschool programs will be created (titled ŚWITlice, in a pun on the Polish word for ‘rooms’). These programs will create micro-communities through collaboration with local schools, libraries, cultural centers, gallery spaces, concert halls, etc.) The idea of the “Free World” based on the values laid out in the Charter of the Rights of Man, obliges us to provide not only material help, but also, above all, to build bongs between the refugees and regular Polish citizens. AYA Found has initiated the creation of a network of spaces for cultural encounter, education, art therapy, and sports through collaboration with Krakow’s already existing cultural institutions.
The Foundation is also in the process of creating an online communications platform – a digital space that will become a kind of virtual "agora", called e-Polis, that will enumerate the cultural activities on offer in various Polish cities.
Methods of implementation:
- The organization of extracurricular activities for Ukrainian children and their Polish friends in all possible locations, led by Ukrainian students currently enrolled at the Fine Arts Academy, the State Theater Arts Academy, and other institutions of higher learning.
- The opening up of opportunities for Ukrainian children to participate in extracurricular activities already established for their Polish counterparts.
- The creation of opportunities for mixed groups of Polish and Ukrainian children and young people to participate for free in cultural and sports events.
- Any engagement of adult refugees in teaching classes and leading activities will be remunerated and treated as a form of professional activity.
Results:
The activities put in place by the Foundation will allow children and young people from Ukraine to come into contact with Polish culture and art., to learn Polish, and to form friendships with Polish students, thus allowing them to better integrate their new social and cultural surroundings. The classes will also function as a form of art therapy, providing victims of war with psychological support and the ability to process traumatic events in their recent past. Finally, our activities will allow refugees to integrate Polish society through the principle of two cultures living together side-by-side rather than through forced cultural assimilation. The result will hopefully be the creation of a community (and many different sub-communities therein) around the Kultura Futura project. A key aspect of the project is that it will also allow Polish children and youth to learn about elements of Ukrainian culture. Finally, the instructors who participate in the project will gain valuable pedagogic experience. Our ultimate goal is to raise social awareness of the refugees and the need to provide not only material, but also social and emotional assistance to people who are fleeing the war.
We cooperate with:
Project description
The project of the Foundation AYA Found is realized in collaboration with the City Government of Krakow, the J. Matejko Fine Arts Academy, Art Gallery Bunkier Sztuki, and J. Słowacki Theater in Krakow.
The goal of the project is to create an after-school arts program that will bring children from Ukraine and Poland together. It is a kind of therapy through art and at the same time an opportunity to have fun together and make friends, learn the language and help refugees financially.
But above all, its INTEGRATION - building the future of a common Europe of free people. Classes will be led by Ukrainian refugee teachers who have training in the visual arts, dance, theatre, music etc. The involvement of Ukrainian specialists is to be paid thanks to generosity of donors: it is YOUR CONTRIBUTION that will allow a moment of happiness and give the creators a chance to adapt to new conditions.
Ukrainian and Polish children will be able to participate in the program free of charge.
