Project

The Giufà Project is a collaboration between artists, young people and creative organisations across Europe to explore the theme of migration in the context of the mass movements of people taking place across the planet right now and to deliver new creative work in response. It has been born from The Complete Freedom of Truth (TCFT), a youth programme created by Opera Circus which delivers cultural exchanges, residencies, skills development and leadership to a growing network of young people across Europe and has been commissioned by Glyndebourne as part of the company’s ongoing work to introduce opera to a wider audience.

Migration has become a hot political issue and is driving policy in many nations across the world. Europe in particular is experiencing a cultural crisis, as the continent strives to find a way to include people from the Middle East and Africa into societies already adjusting to the effects of globalisation. Each country and community is approaching this issue in its own way, but at its heart the question remains the same – how do we include new people without losing who we already are?

And yet migration is human. It is part of the human condition. We have always journeyed – for exploration, for knowledge, for trade, curiosity and escape. And as people have moved they have taken their stories with them, mixing them with the local traditions and creating something richer in their place. In Giufà we have found a tangible expression of that movement and this project is a way for us to keep the stories moving in the 21st century.

Opera Circus is a performing arts company founded in 1991, which commissions, produces and tours new works of chamber opera and music theatre. We devise projects with children and young people using creative and cultural activities to explore issues of Equality, Inclusion and Child and Human Rights both in the UK and internationally, particularly in Bosnia and Serbia. We commission new works of chamber opera and tour internationally.

TCFT began in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2008 and has worked with over 1000 young people from the ages of 13 – 30 and over 50 professional artists, youth workers, policy makers and advisors on creativity, democracy, refugee and migrant concerns, race, gender, equality and human rights. We currently have partners in the UK, Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Serbia and Romania and are looking to extend that work to the MENA region when funding allows. We help to develop tolerance and understanding in youth leaders and activists, and aim to build a body of knowledge around the benefits that arts and cultural activities offer to the social economy, health, wellbeing and society as a whole.

Glyndebourne is recognised internationally as one of the great opera houses; a reputation that stems from a passion for artistic excellence encapsulated in founder John Christie’s insistence on doing ‘not the best we can do but the best that can be done anywhere’.

John and his opera singer wife, Audrey Mildmay, founded the Glyndebourne Festival in 1934. Originally a two-week event, today, the Festival runs from May to August with a programme of six operas performed in a 1,200-seat opera house.

In 1968 the Glyndebourne Tour was established to bring opera to new audiences across the country and create opportunities for talented young singers. Fifty years on, these aims are still at the heart of the Tour, which takes place every year between October and December.

Formed in 1986 with the initial aim of complementing Glyndebourne’s touring activities, Glyndebourne’s education department has expanded to deliver a year-round programme of work and is responsible for a large percentage of the company’s new commissions, many of which are performed on its main stage.

In 2016 we celebrated 30 years of education work that has helped to:
• Commission 32 composers including Julian Philips, Lynne Plowman, Orlando Gough and Jonathan Dove, whose first ever opera was commissioned by the education department in 1990
• Give 3,000 amateur singers and instrumentalists the chance to take part in performance projects
• Enable 30,000 school pupils to experience the exhilaration of watching fully staged opera through its Performances for Schools programme, established in 2006

Crisis Classroom opens up opportunities for learning wherever we go and makes them accessible to everyone. Born out of grass roots action to bring education to refugees arriving in Europe in 2015, Crisis Classroom is now a global network of individuals and organisations that work to make safe, inclusive spaces everywhere. Whether you are teaching, befriending or want to be more welcoming to people arriving in your community, the Crisis Classroom methodology will equip you with the knowledge, skills and confidence you need to do a great job and leave a lasting impact on the people that you reach.

Battle Festival is a month long, annual arts and music festival running throughout October in Battle, East Sussex. Re-launched in 2014 after several years in hiatus, it now draws visitors from throughout the UK, Western Europe and the US. With performances and exhibitions by internationally acclaimed, award-winning artists, the festival has received immense public and critical acclaim and world-wide attention. Since its inauguration in 2014 the Festival has commissioned three new works by leading composers and writers, aimed at bringing new music to the region and providing singing opportunities for more than 1500 young people. These include Howard Moody (PUSH), Ian McMillian and Tony Biggin (Seven Ages of Man), Tony Biggin (We Won’t Be Druv.  The Festival maintains a firm commitment to community engagement and education and alongside the programme of events, it runs an extensive range of workshops and demonstrations, many of them free or heavily subsidised.   These include public and in-school workshops; youth residency with international contemporary choreographer Joseph Toonga; free public demonstrations with local and international artists; workshops with Glyndebourne Education; and a range of African storytelling, drumming and singing events with Indigenous People.

Project Art Works is a visual art organisation based in Hastings. We collaborate with people who have complex needs on a wide range of regional and national projects. Our work explores approaches to diversity and aspires to excellence in mainstream visual arts. We are uniquely positioned to bridge the social care and cultural sectors and bring people with complex needs into the heart of social and cultural life.

Based in East Sussex our mission is use Growing & Cooking to bring our communities together in order to help address the challenges of loneliness and obesity and, through education, encourage people to lead healthier, happier lives.

Nuova Accademia degli Arrischianti is a cultural association that since 1986, year of its foundation, animate the cultural life of the territory through theater and music.

We produce and organize theatrical performances, run a theatre school and we organize the prestigious Festival Sarteano Jazz & Blues, now in its 29th edition.

Nuova Accademia degli Arrischianti is among the first Tuscan companies to be part of Libero Circuito, network of theater spaces and professional companies, aimed at the promotion and management of theaters for the dissemination, development and visibility of the emerging live show.

We collaborate with important national companies and festivals (such as Fondazione Cantiere d’Arte di Montepulciano and Teatro Povero di  Monticchiello): we promote cultural activities (theatre, music, dance, parkour) and intensive workshops and co-productions with international artists (Angels Aymar, Jean-Pierre Thiercelin).

Since 2017 we have been partner in the European project The Complete Freedom of Truth for the dissemination of arts among young people across Europe.