LUNGO DROM, in romani, means long journey. This proposal aims at building a long road to democratization of the knowledge about Roma Culture and History in the region. It develops through workshops of interdisciplinary artistic practices, in school, local theater and a neighborhood where the minority population lives, with the goal of revealing the invisible past of the local Roma community. The results´ll be exhibited in a Nomad Museum, whose artistic direction will be civically participated.

Elvas, Portugal, low density region of North Alentejo, borders Spain. Exhibition´ll travel Portugal

In the border city of Elvas, with 15,000 people, Roma students represent 12.5% ​​of the student population with a tendency to increase. The access of Roma people to services is not the best due to distrust, racial prejudice and even due to processes of self-discrimination. The family contexts are limited in terms of knowledge about other realities. And Roma people do not attend the cultural spaces of the city, such as the Theater, the cinema and the Museum of Contemporary Art. The majority population, in turn, is unaware of the culture and history of the Roma people, having never been subject of registration or study in the region.
We intend to promote dialogue through contemporary art, materialized in a Nomad Museum that contains an exhibition of history, art and Roma culture in Elvas.

The young student population, from the city of Elvas will be the main beneficiary of LUNGO DROM, through the frequency of the workshops, the intention is to invest in the artistic and professional training of young people in the community. In the HH space of the neighborhood of S. Pedro, extra school activities will take place, with the intention to provide extra support to Roma families and tools that promote equity between Roma youth and the youth from the major population.
The all population of the city of Elvas and Rural Portugal is the widest target audience, benefiting from the various cultural actions and developments and further knowledge about the Roma population, generated throughout the process, and gathered at the Nomad Museum, a basis to create a relationship of trust.

LUNGO DROM, the Nomad Museum will be completed by carrying out the activities:
PREPARATION - from November to January 2021. Training on Roma culture, open to the community that can be replicated in informal contexts.
ARTISTIC WORK WITH THE YOUTH COMMUNITY - January to August 2021: a) FILMA training in cinema and participatory film
b) THEATER weekly intervention theater/forum workshops
b) SLAM POETRY weekly workshops and meetings.
c) PHOTOGRAPHY workshop and scenic reconstruction of the historical memories of the elders of the neighborhood.
d) MUSIC monthly showcases in school and in Bairro de S. Pedro, registration of Roma musicians and their songbook
e) SCULPTURE weekly workshop for a couple of months.
BUILDING N. MUSEUM - June to August;
TOUR and MONITORING - until december

We expect results in 3 different axis:
1.Create dialog patches in urban tissue, between Roma population and the majority populations of Elvas, around art and culture, bringing the Roma youth to the Theater, to the Cinema and to the Contemporary Art Museum;
2. Bring the spirit of contemporaneity and professional Art skills to the youth by sharing workshops experiences with artists in residency from different parts of the country and of the world;
3. Increasing the population general knowledge about local Roma communities, reaching out the results of the historic and cultural research, in the Nomad Museum of Roma Contemporary Arts and Culture (NMRCAC), in Elvas during the Festival A Salto 2021, and in other cities for September to December 2021.

By calling partners, and the population, to research and recreate fragments of history that reflect on the ethnoracial origins of the major population and the dehumanization of the experiences of the Roma community in the territory. Promote citizenship skills, in the field of visual arts and performance, applying teaching methodologies that can serve as an alternative or support to those already applied, aiming for societal transformation, like Theater of the Oppressed, giving preference to Roma and women trainers. Reinforce circuits for sharing good practices, by create democratic spaces for the exploration of artistic practices in the urban tissue. Train Roma young artists in order to achieve equal opportunities, valuing the arts as a professional outlet.

Our mission is the Sociocultural promotion through the promotion of artistic and pedagogical practice. For the pursuit of this goals, the association develops several activities that it deems necessary: ​​The production of events and artistic objects either in an autonomous project or in partnership with other entities; Training in artistic areas; subscription of protocols and agreements with any entities that are willing to collaborate and pursue the aims of the association in the areas of Arts and Culture, Education and Training. We have been contributing actively year after year for the mitigation of the social and cultural differences locally. Being part of a European Project is an opportunity to multiply the results of the work nationally, multiplying the benefits for the community.

Management: 9,000 EUR;
Services (HR): 24,000 EUR;
Goods: 15,240 EUR;
Office: 1,690 EUR;
Equipment: 4,000 EUR

We would love to have feedback from Civic Europe C. on our general idea and how it responds to the goals of the project. Sharing other lines of financing. Hear the online community work experience, how other projects could contribute to LUNGO DROM, strengthen the online network, make friends!