Painting the Village





Capoeira: communication
over any cultural differences

Chico Buarque, a great brazilian singer and songwriter, made on the seventies a beautiful song, inside an opera-version of "Bremen musicians" for children called "Saltimbancos". One of its songs talked to the animals about what would be the city. In the end, the song says: "...And imagine if the salesman, and the garbage men, and the mayor and police men and you, ladies and gentlemen… were only… children…"

In Germany, on the small city of Osthauderfehn, recently happened an interesting artistic experiment with a meeting over children from Germany and Brazil. The project is called "Millenium Village". On december 2002 students, teachers, parents and artists from Brazil and Germany had activities with Actors, webdesigners, teachers for arts, music, dance, capoeira, breakdance, circus and theater, trying to find a common language and a common vision with the students of both countries.



Project was born from contact of two schools, one from Germany (Ostrhauderfehn) and one from Brazil (Visconde de Mauá). There were some months in contact and they dreamt of organizing a big meeting in which up to 200 kids exchange their visions of a common future using the arts and presenting these visions to a broad public in their regions.

They made their dream come true: They met in Brazil in June and in December in Germany for 2 weeks. In 10-15 mixed groups, having aroud 10% of foreign participants they worked together with artists, musicians, dancers, actors of various origins and styles. These artists helped the groups to find a language to express their ideas of a better future. At the end of these two seminars the whole group made a presentation in different places: schools, parcs, public building and produced an enormous attention.

Beyond arts, children could live the possibility of communication, integration and working in harmony, over any cultural differences. In a world that rapidly is becoming economically one, the Millenium Village experience shows that it can be one and better.

Contacts, sponsorship:
Orientierungsstufe Ostrhauderfehn Hauptstr. 155 26842 Ostrhauderfehn Fon +49(0)4952 9472-0 Fax +49(0)4952 9472-72 Mail: info@millenium-village.de

Photos: Eugênio Diniz do Nascimento,
Sarah H. Kirsch and Torsten Bildhauer

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