Evs in Belarus
Ali Dindar
Location ������� �Belarus (Minsk)
Partnership ���� The project is open to new partner organizations and networks
Theme 1 �������� �Art and Culture
Theme 2 �������� �Youth Leisure
Target group 1 ���������� �Young people
Target group 2 ���������� �
Inclusion �������
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Project environment:
Belarus is a country in Eastern Europe, bordering with Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. The population of Belarus is about 9.85�million. More than 80% of the population are native Belarusians, with sizable minorities of Russians, Poles and Ukrainians. The country has two official languages: Belarusian and Russian.
The venue of the project is Minsk - the capital and largest city in Belarus with a population of about 1,8 million inhabitants. It is a political, economical, administrative, cultural and historical centre of Belarus. Geographically it is situated also in the centre of Belarus, so it will be convenient for those who are interested in exploring the other parts of the country.
70�% of the project time the volunteer will work in the Gallery “Y” and 30�% of the project time - in BYPU “New Faces”. Thus, the volunteer can be involved in a wide spectre of activities both within the youth work as well as art sphere.
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Working environment
A.����� �Ўï¿½ - is a Gallery of contemporary art, situated in the centre of Minsk. It has an atmosphere of free culture, where everyone can get acquainted with the relevant, contemporary trends in art, visit the well-known art lectures, participate in master classes, learn new items of author cinema. Gallery �Ўï¿½ - is an active art place where interesting cultural events are being held every day. This unique project brings together in one gallery an exhibition hall, bookstore and a caf� for visitors together with a library of literature on contemporary art.
�This Gallery did not come out of nowhere, in the framework of the project lay six years of experience in the Gallery �Underground� (www.podzemka.by), which began in 2004 and was closed in April 2009. From the very beginning the main objective of "Undeground” was the presentation of modern Belarusian art - both young and already well-known artists - with the help of solo and group exhibitions in the Gallery itself (exhibition area is about 30 square meters) and at other venues in the country and abroad. Gallery introduced the belarusian audience to contemporary artists and the practice of art in Belarus as well as in other countries. Over the years, "Underground" has conducted more than 100 projects, including international, covering virtually all areas of modern art: painting, sculpture, photography, literature presentations, music mini-concerts, installations and performance.
Gallery �Ўï¿½ is intended to continue the trend and raise it to a more professional level. The new platform - about 120 square meters of exhibition space only – allows to bring art projects to a new format. One important aspect of the Gallery �Ўï¿½ is educational activity: the organization of seminars, round tables and other cultural activities in the field of art history, art management, curatorial affairs involving both Belarusian and foreign specialists. The aim of these educational activities - accumulation around the Gallery of not only artists but curators, critics and analysts, the creation of conditions for the formation of the criticism and analysis environment. Organizing of the exhibitions and cultural events together with the specialists that can develop the country’s modern standarts of presentation and evaluation of contemporary art that will promote the popularization of modern and contemporary art in Belarus.
The Gallery is situated in the centre of Minsk, near ”Ploschad Pobedy” metro station, 1 stop from the central square of the city. Minsk is the capital and the biggest city in Belarus (2 million inhabitants). Minsk is also the major cultural centre of Belarus.
�� http://ygallery.by
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Proposed activities for EVS volunteers in GALLERY “Y”:
- Help with coordination and management on event organization and institutional activities;
- Help with preparing exhibitional space;
- Technical support of the events;
- Promotion of art events (also in internet);
- Help with design and implementation of educational programs;
- Information about the presented exhibitions and conducting guided tours;
- Working in the library;
- Finding partners on national and international level.
Volunteer can get involved in projects planning and implementation, will help to increase the presence of the EU artists in the gallery cooperation.
Both the Gallery crew and the volunteer will get a benefit from this job. The volunteer will have the possibility to get in contact with lot of people from art community in Belarus and abroad, get the skills and experience of organizing art exhibitions and other kinds of art and cultural events on professional level. The Gallery staff and their friends and visitors will have a great chance to communicate with the foreigner using not only native language and to know more about other countries.
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B.��������������� Around 30% of working time per week the volunteer will be working in BYPU “New Faces”.
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BYPU "New Faces" is a youth NGO that runs several activities like international youth exchanges, training courses, conferences, educational seminars, campaigns, cultural festivals, workshops, publications on youth matters, partnership work with NGO's of Belarus (Development of the Network of the social organizations working with disadvantaged youth) etc.�
Mission: BYPU "New Faces" being based on the principals of openness, tolerance and equality, by using alternative ways of work promotes the building of an active civil position of the young people of Republic of Belarus in order to give them an opportunity of their self-development and realization.
The aims of the BYPU "New Faces" are to support youth initiatives in the sphere of culture, education, information, ecology, to assist the development of youth movement in Belarus. "New Faces" is striving to the international understanding and cooperation between the young people. It contributes to the volunteer movement development, promotes peace and struggles against intolerance and discrimination.
http://www.newfaces-belarus.org
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Proposed activities in New Faces:
- Taking part in implementation of one or more of the New Faces long-term projects like “KULTCAFE” (conducted and created as a platform to meet diverse cultural groups, national minorities and refugees in Belarus) as well as some of the seminars and trainings on the topic "Intercultural Dialogue", organised for the “New Faces”’s young members in order to prevent prejudices and stereotypes, racism and to raise the sense of tolerance and understanding of the diversity;
- Help in preparing and implementing our project “Creative Club”, which basically consists of regular (2 times/month) meetings of young people each time on a different topic (Handmade, leadership, music, human rights or environment) where everyone presents his/her ideas and learns from each other;
- Help with implementation of trainings on “Youth Unemployment” and “Human Trafficking”, organized by New Faces;
- Updating our website current info about Youth movement in Europe (incl. self-written articles);
- Supporting our EVS internet page with info about EVS – fundamental concepts, useful links, articles;
- Contacting our international partners regarding common projects, Youth in Action news monitoring;
- Video/Film screenings that take place every Thursday in New Faces office. The volunteer can organise screenings of the movies, representing his/her country (culture, language), as well as any other topic of interest;
- Human Rights Documentary Film screenings: screening of the films, presented at “One World” Film Festival with Belarusian or English subtitles in NF office, or organizing bigger screenings in Minsk in partnership with other Human Rights organizations;
- Spreading the info about EVS, organizing and holding meetings with interested belarusian young people about EVS within New Faces and partners, sharing the information and personal experience;
- Holding a mini course in native language for local young people;
- Develop his/her own small project within our organisation according to his/her interests.
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Volunteer’s support
In the Gallery the volunteer will work with a supervisor who speaks English. He/she will also have an English speaking mentor (a person not from the Gallery and experienced in EVS) who will be responsible for monitoring the whole project and help the volunteer to integrate into working environment, including the volunteer in social events and other activities.��
The volunteer will also have the opportunity to meet lot of local young people as he/she will work in New Faces and participate in some of the NF projects. All active members of NF are open, creative and friendly people who will be happy to help make the volunteer’s stay an unforgettable experience in Belarus. It will be a great opportunity for them to learn about the other culture from the volunteer and also share their own.��
The volunteer will be offered to attend the Russian language courses in a language school or with a private teacher.
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Target group
We are open to volunteers from 18-30 years of age from any country within Europe. We do not have any specific requirements on the level or field of education, however in order to communicate sufficiently with the volunteers we require a reasonable knowledge of English for the non-russian speaking applicants. Basic knowledge of Russian would be a benefit, but not necessary. We are looking for a person who is communicative and responsible, interested in contemporary art. He or she should be able to work on his/her own as well as in a team. For now we can offer only 3 months EVS project.
Special needs:�� None.
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Contact person:
Olga Belskaya
BYPU “New Faces”
+375 44 74�180 54
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