ELIX, within the frame of its educational projects for refugees, organized a parent's educational visit to the exhibition Face Forward ... into my home at the National Museum of Contemporary Art on January 19, 2018.
This initiative was implemented as part of the project “The Learning for Integration Project: Quality Learning and Non-Formal Education for Refugees and Migrant Children in Greece” supported by UNICEF and DG ECHO.
Using innovative educational methods, the project aims to provide non-formal education and homework support to underage refugees and migrants. In addition, the actions of the program for refugee parents include Greek language lessons and life skills courses.
Face Forward …into my home is an interactive art project focused on the stories of people who have been forced to leave their homelands and are rebuilding their life in Greece. It includes storytelling workshops inspired by a selection of contemporary artworks from the collection of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (EMST), the photo shooting of portraits, and a photography exhibition about and with refugees and asylum-seekers, now living in the greater Athens area.
ELIX’s teachers used the visit at the museum as a trigger to develop language and communication skills of the participants through a blended teaching method that emphasizes experiential learning and team dialogue. Moreover, the visit to the exhibition, encouraged a channel of communication between refugees and art and culture.
In addition, the purpose of the visit was to cultivate life skills and familiarize refugees with public transportation in urban Athens.
Face Forward ... into my home triggered emotionally the parents who had the opportunity to explore their personal refugee identity and discuss their own experiences on the occasion of the narratives and photographic portraits that depict the turbulent lives of other refugees and asylum-seekers in Athens and reveal the “human face” of the refugee plight.
