More information
Description
The project Tower of Babel is devoted to literary production of minority cultures in the Czech Republic, Roma, Vietnamese, Ruthenian, and their position in the majority society. Co-operation with Norwegian minority literature associations will make it possible to compare the situation in the Czech Republic and Norway.
The project aims at promoting the culture of minorities in the Czech Republic which is an important factor in the social wellbeing of these minorities in society. At the same time, it is the objective to introduce this culture to the Czech public which has vague ideas about the life of minorities without realizing that beyond the horizon of its interests, there are distinctive cultures that can enrich the majority society. Through a series of literary evenings, literature works by authors from the cultural minorities associated with the Czech environment will be presented to the Czech public, with the overall topic being the reflection of the Czech majority in the minority cultures. Interdisciplinary art events – literary evenings – will be complemented with workshops, conference and discussions. The project will culminate at the Festival of Minority Cultures, where project creators will meet. The results of the activities will be published in five thematic issues of the literary magazine Babylon. Three issues will focus on the three minority literatures in the Czech Republic, while one issue will be devoted to the literary work of Norwegian minorities, Sami and Roma, and one will summarize the results of the project. The final output will be a book by writer Petr Placák which will be composed of interviews with minority authors living in the Czech Republic and revolve around their relationship with the majority society. The interviews will be supplemented with works by minority authors. The topic will be confronted with interviews and examples from works of Norwegian minority authors, including their relationship with the majority society.
Summary of project results
The goal of the project was to present minority culture to the wider public as an organic part of the Czech culture. Only a culture that is alive and open to external stimuli creates space for the development of society and its continuity. In addition to the organization of the project, which was quite challenging due to the small number of people who managed the project, project promoter changed the project partner, the Vietnamese organization was replaced by an Ukrainian partner due to the conflict in Ukraine.
Project promoter approached authors and representatives of national minority cultures in the Czech Republic (Rusyns, Roma, Ukrainians) and in Norway (Sami) and organized eventss with them where they presented their works of their culture. It was followed by a thematic issue of the Babylon magazine
dedicated to cultures of national minorities. We organized a Czech-Sámi literary festival in Kjollefjord in the north of Norway. The project then culminated in a Festival of Cultures at the DOX Art Center, which was attended by several hundred people and brought together all those who
participated in the project. The project resulted in the book The Tower of Babel dedicated to the cultures of national minorities. Thanks to the project, tens of thousands of people became more familiar with the culture of national minorities - either direct participants of individual events or
readers of Babylon magazine and Babylon''s website.
The main outputs, in addition to cultural festivals and events, were thematic issues of the Babylon magazine and book dedicated to the cultures of the Roma, Ruthenians, Ukrainians and the Norwegian Sami, which were distributed in the Czech Republic. 15,000 copies of the Babylon magazine focused on national minorities were published, the project was continuously reported on Babylon''s website, with approx. 20,000 visitors per month. The publication had a circulation of 500 copies.
The aim of the project was to support the integration of the culture of national minorities into the majority society. On the other hand, the intention to enrich the majority culture with another dimension of itself from a different point to help set up a mirror for the majority society, which helps it to self-reflect. This is a long-term task, and project promoter is glad, that the Tower of Babel project has made a small contribution to it.
Summary of bilateral results
The entire project was based on partnership cooperation, which Babylon de facto only provided a service for. The main output of the project – in addition to cultural festivals and evenings – was the thematic issues of the Babylon magazine dedicated to the cultures of the Roma, Ruthenians and Ukrainians in the Czech Republic and the Norwegian Sámi, which the partners distributed at cultural events of national minorities in the Czech Republic, as well as the resulting collection. The partners primarily helped project promoter with the preparation of cultural evenings of national minorities and with the selection of authors who were invited to them. The involvement of representatives of national minorities in the project was its main goal, which was important primarily in the authentic and qualified presentation of the problems that minorities face.The main results of cooperation with partners were cultural evenings, where authors from national minorities performed, which then resulted in thematic issues of Babylon dedicated to the culture of Roma, Ukrainians and Ruthenians in the Czech Republic, as well as the culture of the Norwegian Sámi. Cooperation with partners then culminated in the Festival of Cultures at the Prague DOX Center for Modern Art, where everyone who participated in the Tower of Babel project performed, including Sámi guests from northern Norway. The festival was attended by several hundred spectators, among whom thematic issues of Babylon dedicated to national minorities were distributed, and those present were able to gain a deeper and more qualified insight into the life of minority cultures in the Czech Republic.