[One of the meanings of the verb ‘to shake’ (OED 10) is to ‘totter, hence to impair the stability of’, and it may be used figuratively with object being a person (‘to shake one’s faith, purpose’ etc.).
One of the definitions of the noun ‘wall’ (OED I.4.5), defines the word as ‘something which is a barrier or impediment to intellectual, moral, spiritual, or social union or intercourse’.]
The aim of our project is to change the world we live in, our cultural environment; to broaden our connections within the cultural European community and to find links which help us make an effective change in society.
However brave or naive the above statement might seem, we have spent a lot of time in our team discussing ideas for creative work which really makes sense for us, and which brings real change for both audience and artists. During these discussions we identified various issues, problems and obstacles we felt should be put forward as subject material for artistic intervention. It turned out that these problems are not so unique, as the societies of different European countries all share the same worries. There is a chance then; that by uniting, by working together, we can multiply the outcomes of our interventions and subsequently make a real change. The starting point for the project partners is to explore and work in our ‘inner worlds’; our countries, our cities, our local environments. Then we plan to go and meet the ‘outer world’, to make artistic collaborations with our project partners, to interact with each other and with our audiences, offering artistic products that are new and unique.
We are from countries of different cultural background. Poland and especially Gdańsk, is the flag bearer for the political changes in Eastern Europe that followed the rejection of the communist regime; Gdansk is called “the city of Freedom” for it is here that the Solidarity Movement was born. Ireland is a country of strong political problems and historical links with independence movements. Great Britain’s present political position within Europe is vague due to Brexit. Iceland is a remote country in terms of its physical relationship to the rest of Europe, and is also a very small nation with, one might think, a closed and isolated society. The Czech Republic is a popular tourist destination in Europe and yet, the country with the lowest number of refugees currently, and with a visibly strong resistance to admitting more. What unites us is that we are a group of individuals, a group of artistic companies who believe in what we do. We are enthusiastic advocates for our work. We have enough experience to know how to make creative intervention successful within our own communities and how to reach out to our audiences. And now we want to share this work with our partners, and to learn from them about their methods and techniques. Within all our work, we strive to create a trust-building environment with the participants who, as a result, are willing to share ideas and communicate openly, in order to create a project which will generate original, valuable outcomes and which will make a positive change.