History

For the first time in 2009 the world society heard about the educational project Brave Kids, the main priority of which is to support young, vulnerable people in any way available. The kids who took part in the pilot editon developed their artistic and personal skills during the event and, later, they evolved from regular participants to inspirational leaders among peers in their home countries. The young artists themselves became an example that most of the things in life depends on ourselves and we can deal with many circumstances on our own. Step by step, fighting against poverty, social issues and natural disaster we can make a difference in our lives and the lives of other people.

First official edition of Brave Kids happened between 25.06.2010 and  09.07.2010. Artistic groups of kids from  6 different regions of the world, influenced by tragic experiences of historical, social and natural disasters came to Wrocław to create a performance together. Kids from Zimbabwe, Rwanda , Nepal , Sweden  Chechnya, Ingushetia and Poland  during 2 weeks of workshops were exchanging  artistic skills and show their talents. Apart of learning how to deal with cultural and language barier young artists found out the new ways to build a mutual understanding among each other. 55 participants including children, youth, artistic leaders were working towards international dialogue and got most out of this cultural exchange.

22 host families from Wrocław opened their hearts and houses for young artists and  were rewarded with unique experience. Kids and adults went through an amazing advanture together,where family members learnt how to be generous,patient and tolerant and some of kids found out what real home is.

Host families were involved into the whole procces of the project, starting from bringing kids for the workshop to taking part in the performances, they were supportive and got through the all chalenges together with kids hand in hand. 

Second edition of BRAVE KIDS was held between 22.06.2011 and 10.07.2011. During that time two artistic leaders from Poland- Anna Krotoska and Łukasz Sosulski were leading workshops for 45 kids from 6-17 years old. This time young artists came  from 9 countries like Poland, Uganda, Rwanda, Czech Republic, Norway, Palestinian Autonomy, Ingushetia and Dagestan to take part in workshops where they could exchange their creativity, artistic skills and discover new facts about the entire world. Kids learnt from each other their traditional songs, dances and even modern art of  hip-hop. No doubts that they  developed their social and communicational skills by getting to know new people and represent themself on public.

In the end of the project participants created the show together and presented it during the final performance of the 7th edition of Brave Festival "Mask" watched by more than 900 people. During the project time artisitic leaders and peace activists organized a chain of seminars, where they represent  their  groups and discuss the current situation in their countries to help raise the awarness and develope the international collaboration in the  educational field.

The main target of 2 weeks seminar was discovering the role of art in building up a modern society, based on mutual understanding and its influence on young people personal and artistic development.

 

In 2012 we gathered 98 kids and 22 leaders from following countries: Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, China, Georgia, Israel, Czech Republic, Norway, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan and Poland. The final performance of all kids was seen by public of Brave Festival in Wroclaw and in Headquarters of UNESCO in Paris (09.07 – 11.07) as a part of cultural event prepared by Song of the Goat Association. It was supplemented by an intense Seminar devoted to situation of children in the world and the role of arts and culture in social change.

For the first 10 days (20th of June - 3th of July 2012) each group took part in the process of creative learning and workshops based on the concept "Kids teach kids" in one of the three locations in Poland:

•  Brochów Neighborhood, Wroclaw (the workshop will take place in circus tent), in the cooperation with The Centre for Information and Social  Development.  The workshops will be led by Jacek Timingeriu and Ewa Zielińska.
•  Muchobór Wielki Neighborhood, Wroclaw in the cooperation with the public institution FORMATY CLUB and led by Marta Kuczyńska and Ewa  Woźniak. 
•  Szczecin, in the cooperation with Oswajanie Sztuki Association. The workshops will be led by Mateusz Godlewski and Jolanta Sikorska.

From 3rd till 7th of July final workshop conduced in a beautiful Lower Silesian village - Krośnice in CETS. It allowed all 100 kids to meet and work to create one final show together. Vital expression of joy and fusion of different cultures and art genres were presented in Wroclaw during Brave Festival in front of 700 people.

Scenography was implemented by Michaila Kostecka and Ewa Wóżniak.

Wrocław  public society had pleasure to watch the final performance created by 16 groups of kids during the workshops that took place in 4 cities of Poland: Wrocław, Wałbrzych, Puszczykowo and Warsaw. This year in total 93 kids from 12 countries like China, India, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Brazil, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Israel, Laos, Poland, Georgia and Czech Republic took part in the project.

Young artists entered the scene together to represent their national identity and traditions and  at the same time show what they`ve learned from each other during the project. The final show  was held during the 9th edition of Brave Festival "Lost Rhythm" in "Impart"  hall.

During the period from 25.06.2013 to 07.07.2013 the first part of Brave Kids took place in 4 different cities of Poland where 8 art leaders under the guidance of Ewa Zielińska provided the workshop for 16 groups of kids from all over the world. The workshops were held in  the Center for creative activities "Światowid" in the Biskupin district,Wrocław, the theatre Pinokio in Łódź, the Center of culture promotion Praga Południe in Warsaw, City library cultural center in Puszczykowo. The second part of the project was held in Krośnice, small town near Wrocław, where from 8.07.2013 to 13.07.2013 young participants work together on their common final show and than presented it during the 9th edition of Brave Festival. 

During this edition of Brave Kids we gathereed 93 kids from 12 countries,18 leaders, 16 groups of children / youth, 60 Host families, 4320 viewers at IMPART final, all Semifinals in different cities, Parade in Wrocław, Parade in Krośnice and spectacle at Home for Elderly in Wroclaw, 232 Events (performances, parades, host families meetings)

WARSAW

Brave Kids participants performed in the Center of culture promotion Praga Południe on 26th June 2013 at 7 in the evening. During the show the audience had chance to watch short  performances of group from Georgia "Małe Gruźińskie Gwiazdy", "Kirgistan Karawana Talentów", "Uganda Breakdance Projekt" and local group from Warsaw Breakdance Projekt.

Before the departure to Poland all groups had to prepare the short  10 minutes-long performance, it could be any kind of dances or songs to represent their cultural background and do some sort of  sum up of their annual work at home country.

The special guest group theatre Myszki Norki (www.myszkanorka.pl) took part in the semi-final performance. After the end of the show  artistic group leaders had meeting, where they represented the organizations and talked about current situation in their countries.

WROCŁAW

In the very same day two hours earlier in the Center of Creative Activities placed on Biskupin area at Sempolska street, 54. Groups from India "Puppet Cologne", Brazil "Casa de Caminho", Iran "Donia Chidren", Israel "Ukuleles for Peace", vietnamese minority from Czech Republic "Bananas Kids".

ŁÓDŹ

In Łódź show began already at noon and the audience got acquainted with groups from Georgia (Pesvebi), Israel (Rabah Markus Dance Studio), Laos (The Butterfly Children) and Romania (Act4ART) that performed in theatre Pinokio at Kopernika street 16.

PUSZCZYKOWO

At the stage in fornt of the city library in Puszczykowo located at Wysoka street,1 the groups from China (Hong Kong Youth), Czech Repuplic (MiniMerci), local group from Wrocław (Wrocławskie Gimnastyczki) and Zimbabwe (Chiedza Child Care) astonished the viewers with their multicultural mix of talents during their short performances.

The Gala parade took place on 30th June at 17:00 near main train station in Wrocław.

The start of parade was held near central entrance of main train station at 17:00. All  friends of Brave Kids project gathered together with young participants and strolled through the main hall of the train station.  Lots of NGOs, children foundations and city charity organizations joined them during the procession to show their support  and participation in different ways of non-formal children education.

The headliner of the parade were puppeteers from India, guitar players from Israel, dancers from Iran and Vietnam and the kids performing brazilian traditional fight technique - Capoeira.

Final show was directed by artists from AWAKE YOUTH: Christopher Sivertsen and Maria Sendow, Oliviero Papi, Christoffer Rogerson, Hanna Björck and Kristina Gonzalez - designer.

AWAKE YOUTH was established by Awake Projects -  an international, multidisciplinary ensemble of performers with its main offices based in Västerås, Sweden. Our permanent team has professional background from theatre, dance and music. Our aim is to awaken people’s ability to choose who they are and how they live. We do this by utilizing the power of the performing arts in a variety of unique projects.

One of Awake Projects biggest matters of the heart is working with and for young people. We do this in projects where we engage and challenge them on their terms and levels. By stimulating coordination between the brain halves through physical exercises and music, members of the Awake Projects team lead the young ones through joyful and playful exercises to increase collaboration, courage, self worth, tolerance and ability to find ones place in a group.

 

We utilize the extensive experience we have from our educations as actors, musicians, dancers and directors and depending on the length of the project, we create and compose études and performances where the youngsters are the performers, closely led by the awake projects ensemble.

Since 2007 we have worked with thousands of kids from countries like Sweden, Poland, England, Scotland, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Chechnya, and Rwanda. We have made performances with aspiring young actors from all over the UK at The North Wall in Oxford three years in a row, as well as leading 120 fifteen and sixteen yearolds from 32 different origins in a massive show about health in the concert hall in Västerås in Sweden. We have directed kids who grew up on the streets and in the slum as well as giving regular classes to school children in Sweden through creative school projects.

We continue to seek for ways of inspiring young people to make true and good choices for themselves. We believe that having a strong sense of self gives inspiration to create a future where tolerance, multi-culture and constructivism is a driving force forwards.

www.awakeprojects.com

https://www.facebook.com/AwakeProjects

www.youtube.com/user/theawakeproject

The Brave Kids artistic workshops were run by a passionate and experienced group of pedagogues, performers, artists.

Director of final performance: Jacek Timingeriu

Puszczykowo: Zuzanna Jarmakowska, Zofia Michalik

Przemyśl: Grażyna Tabor, Wojciech Dawid Terechowicz

Wałbrzych: Magdalena Celniaszek, Marcin Misiura

Warszawa: Katarzyna Venka, Mateusz Godlewski

Wrocław: Ilona Krawczyk, Maria Sadowska

 

CALENDAR OF THE BRAVE KIDS EVENTS IN 2015

19-20 June

• arrival of Brave Kids participants in Poland

Puszczykowo: Estonia, India (Jodpur), Ukraine
Przemyśl: Georgia, India (New Delhi), Iran, Romania
Wałbrzych: Morocco, Russia, Poland (Warsaw), Uganda
Warszawa: Burundi, Nepal, Poland (Wałbrzych), Poland (Chechnya, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine)
Wrocław: Brasil, Buriatia, Slovakia, Ukraine

20 June, Saturday

• 3:00 p.m. - performances in Puszczykowo, Centrum Animacji Sportu, ul. Kościelna 7

21 June, Sunday

• 3:00 p.m. - Parade, 3:30 p.m. - performances in Przemyśl, Centrum Kultury i Nauki Zamek
• integration picnic in Puszczykowo, Przemyśl, Wałbrzych, Warszawa, Wrocław

22 June - 1 July

• Brave Kids workshops in Puszczykowo, Przemyśl, Wałbrzych, Warszawa, Wrocław

22 June, Monday

• 2:00 p.m. - performance for residents of Dom Pomocy Maltańskiej, Leśny Ośrodek Szkoleniowy in Puszczykow
• 6:30 p.m. - performances in Wrocław, Kontury Kultury, ul. Jagiellończyka 10A

23 June, Tuesday

• 6:00 p.m. - Brave Kids performances in  Wałbrzych, Stara Kopalnia
• 7:00 p.m. - Brave Kids performances in Warsaw, Centrum Promocji Kultury Praga-Południe, ul. Podskarbińska 2

24 June, Wednesday

• 4:00 p.m. - Brave Kids visit to The Social Welfare Home in Wrocław
• 5:30 p.m. - Open meeting with Brave Kids participants, Stara Kopalnia, Sztygarówka, Wałbrzych

25 June, Thursday

• 2:00 p.m. - Brave Kids visit Children's Hospital in Warsaw
• 3:00 p.m. - Brave Kids visit in day room for children in Przemyśl

26 June, Friday

• 2:00 p.m. - Brave Kids visit to Children's Home, Nowe Siodło, near Wałbrzych  

27 June, Friday

• 4:30 p.m. - Brave Kids presentation at Neighbor's Day, Praga Północ, Warsaw

28 June, Sunday

• 2:00 p.m. - Brave Kids parade, Market Square, Wrocław
• 4:30 p.m. - Brave Kids parade, Market Square, Wałbrzych
• 6:30 p.m. - Brave Kids presentation at Galeria Victoia, Wałbrzych

30 June, Tuesday

• 6:00 p.m. - Open meeting with Brave Kids participants, Przemyśl
• 6:30 p.m. - Open meeting with the Brave Kids participant, Centrum Społeczne Paca, ul. Paca 40, Warszawa

1st July, Wednesday

• 6:30 p.m. - open meeting with the Brave Kids participants, Barbara, ul.Świdnicka 8b, Wrocław

2nd July, Thursday

• semi-final shows:

5:30 p.m. - City Scene in Rynek, Puszczykowo
6:00 p.m. - Centrum Kultury i Nauki Zamek, Przemyśl
6:00 p.m. - Stara Kopalnia, Wałbrzych
6:30 p.m. - Concert Shell in Park Skaryszewski, Al. Zieleniecka 2, Warsaw
6:30 p.m. - Ośrodek Działań Twórczych Światowid, ul. Sempołowskiej 54A, Wrocław

3 - 9 July

• artistic workshops of Brave Kids groups in Zagórze Śląskie

10 July, Friday

• 5 pm - Brave Kids finale, Teatr Polski, ul. G.Zapolskiej 3, Wrocław

The Grand Final Performance has been presented in Centenial Hall at the front of 1600 viewers.

It all was possible thanks to many people and institutions.

We thank the director of the Grand Finale Jacek Timingeriu and artistic instructors who supported young artists in their passion creating, sharing and exchanging experience in an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding: Tako Kelaptrishvili, Ilona Krawczyk, Kathy Lawson, Mary Sadowska, Kasia Timingeriu, Katarzyna Godlewska, Gabriel Almagro, Mateusz Godlewski, Marcin Misiura, Roman Sorger, Piotr Szewczyk, and also scenographer Michalina Kostecka and lighting director Wojciech Maniewski.

We thank the families hosting children for their heart, care and family atmosphere they created for children.

We thank the volunteers for their dedication, invaluable, attentiveness to the needs of children and taking care of the smallest organizational details.

We thank all partners for co-organizing of the project, the favor and support.

We thank Honorary Consuls and sponsors for financial support necessary for the fulfillment of childhood dreams.

We thanks to all who, like us, believe that together we do something beautiful and important.

 

For the first time we have oganized Brave Youth project for ex-Brave Kids participants.

 

PROGRAM

I stage of the project 18 June - 2 July:
Wałbrzych, Warszawa, Wrocław, Achalciche/Georgia, Kosice/Slovakia

18-19 June arrival of participants 

19 June integration picnic

20 Julne performances of Brave Kids groups - open to the public, in Wałbrzych and Warsaw, admission free

21 June performance of Brave Kids groups - open to the public in Wrocław, admissin free

20 June - 1 July  artistic workshops of Brave Kids

26 June Brave Kids parade

27 June - 1 july artistic workshops for children from host families

1 July Final shows of Brave Kids in Wałbrzych, Warszawa, Wrocław, open to the public, admission free

2 July goodbye picnics in all cities

II stage of the project 3 - 13 July:

Oborniki Śląskie, Wrocław

3 July integration picnic in Obornikach Śląskich

3 - 13 July Brave Youth project and Brave Kids Seminar

4 July Brave Kids Festival in Wrocławiu - presentation of final performances from Wałbrzych, Warszawa, Wrocław and Kosice

6 - 12 July artistic workshops of Brave Kids

10 July 'Games of the world' with Brave Kids participants in Oborniki Śląskie, OSiR.

12 July The Brave Kids Grand Finale Show in Centennial Hall in Wrocław, 6 p.m.

13 July godbye picnic in Oborniki Śląskie

13-14 July departure of Brave Kids participants

The 8th edition of Brave Kids took place between the 17th of June and the 11th of July,

With 24 artistic groups from Poland, Slovakia, Georgia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Brazil, India, Mexico, Romania, Morocco, Moldova, Turkey, Iran, USA, Kenya. The Gran Finale has been presented in Teatr Polski, Wrocław, in the 11th of July with 1400 spectators.

This edition was rapresented by Tahani, a 12 years old Syrian girl who currently lives with her family in a refugee camp in Lebanon.

The Gran Finale was directed by the Artistic Director Jacek Timingeriu.

The Workshops where led by the Artistic Instructors Ewa Hubar, Jolanta Sikorska, Magdalena Nykiel, Marcin Misiura, Nataša Cápová, Mary Sadowska, Ilona Krawczyk, Creo Kellab, Kasia Venka Godlewska, Mateusz Mefo Godlewski, Kasia Timingeriu, Gabriel Almagro. They used the "kids teach kids" method.

Our scenographer was Michalina Kostecka and our lighting director was Wojciech Maniewski.

We thank all the Host Families, the Volunteers, the Partners and the Group Leaders that with dedication and effort helped us to organize Brave Kids 2017.

 

 

For the second time we organized Brave Youth project, for ex-Brave Kids participants to work with our Young Artists to inspire eachother. 

This year we invited and met:

Leo Lau Chung Chak (BK 2012, Hong Kong)

Wong Chau Yi (Helen) (BK 2013, Hong Kong)

Ali Al-Hasani (BK 2011, Palestine)

Michaela Komarova (BK 2015, Slovakia)

 

 

The second edition of Brave Kids Georgia took place between the 18th of August till the 29th of August, in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region.

We held workshops and activities in the cities of Achalciche, Abastumani, Tsagveri, Bordżomi with the Artistic Instructors Mary Sadowska and Liako Gogidze and groups from Iran, Israel, Poland and Georgia.