My personal experience in Saarbrücken
the week in Germany I could see a lot of young talented students and teachers creating a common Project.
The project is to create a movie and the shooting was performed in
the school “Technisch-Gewerbliches Berufsbildungszentrum” with
the technical support of german partners. At the same time a
musical/audiovisual part of the project was executed on the 10th and
11th october which ends with a concert at the auditorium of the
school.
During the week in
Saarbrücken everyone had the opportunity to visit the historical
area of the city, the castle and it caves and finally the Völklingen
Ironworks, declared World Heritage site by Unesco. We had an
excellent reception in Germany. Christian Bost was really nice to us.
I also keep a very good memory of many of the people who I met there.
In conclusion, after my
participation I asked myself: “why would somebody want to go abroad
to participate in this project? “Because something new happens
every day and because it’s a good opportunity to participate in a
collaborative project and also to enjoy every day life in a different
country with different people.”
Jorge Pérez García
Article about the German mobility by Laura (Austria)
To
tell you the truth, my trip to Saarbrücken actually started with a
wedding, which is where I got to know Christof Fink, Austrian Partner
for this Leornardo da Vinci Project – European Art Confluence. He
offered me my mobility spot for the project week in Germany, set
between the 8th
and the 12th
of October 2012.
So,
what is there to say and to know about Saarbrücken? Probably, most
of the people do not really know a lot about this city. I for
instance, went to school in Germany, in Munich, and, of course, I
knew about Saarbrücken, it being the capital of the German federal
state Saarland. I knew about Saarland being close to the French
border, about French and German history which took place right here,
about the bilingualism which is to be found there. But by actually
visiting the city and being there I was able to take a closer look.
Let’s
start at the beginning! We, which was Christof Fink, whom I have
already mentioned, the other Christof, also known in tirolean in- and
outbacks as Leonardo the Clown, and myself, arrived to Saarbrücken
late in the evening on Monday the 8th
and directly met up with the project group. In the following days we
were genuinely and very warmly hosted and guided by our cityhost
Christian Bost. We got to see all sorts of different sights within
the city itself and also the World Heritage Site Völklinger Hütte
in the suburb Völklingen. Visits to the radio and TV station of
Saarland and even a visit to a jazz concert in their studios were
only some of the highlights of this stay. One of the most amazing
monuments we literally fell and walk over was the so called Platz
des unsichtbaren Mahnmals (Plaza/
Square of the invisible/ hidden memorial), situated in, or rather
beeing the front court of the castle of Saarbrücken. This monument
was inaugurated in 1993, after students had, at first secretly,
started in April 1990 to engrave 2.146 cobblestones of the castle’s
forecourt with names of Jewish graveyards, putting them back into the
ground with the writing headed downwards. They had chosen this place
because during the times of the Naziregime it had been headquarters
to the Gestapo. The Platz des
unsichtbaren Mahnmals tries to
symbolize the strong issue of suppression of history in Germany.
Nonetheless, besides walking over non-visible memorials and climbing
the ladders of World Heritages, we also happened to bump into quite a
few quite unique locals telling us all about history and backgrounds
of Saarbrücken and their Saarland. Summing up to all the already
mentioned highlights, one most certainly not to be forgotten was us
landing on a pirate’s boat. Walking the riverbanks of Saarbrücken
you find quite a few bars and restaurants situated on boats floating
on the river. This very specific boat impressed Christof and Christof
so badly that the two of them could not help it but get together and
write a song about pirates, garlic-schnaps and silent waters.
I
was asked to write down my impressions and the impact this project
had on me and now I am writing so much about the city. So let me
focus, when I found out about the contexts and aims of this project I
was immediately fascinated and inspired by the idea of getting young
people from all over Europe together and letting them create
something with one another, letting them work and learn on and about
something meaningful. Students and teachers from Luxemburg, Portugal,
Spain, France, Germany and Austria united to fulfill this task. Not
without a reason EAC stand for European Art Confluence. Using the
word confluence rather than influence opens dimensions of thinking,
dimensions of acting, dimensions of encounter, which influence for
itself does not contain. Mentioning working and learning, I
personally think, even though there was and surely still is a lot of
work to do, the more powerful aspect here is the aspect of learning.
And this does not only refer to art- and media competences. I mean
especially and in specific learning which drags us beyond borders and
lets us forget cultural boundaries, learning that just happens,
unconsciously, through experience. I think this project might have
given everybody involved the chance of experiencing something that
will never be forgotten and this by using very special and important
tools of communication: music, film, acting, song-writing,… - art.
What I found in Saarbrücken, within the people I met there was
openness, inspiration, creativity, enjoyment, well, yes and
discipline, all things that can be considered as very important for
life. The concert, given by the students, at the very end of the
week, took me back into my own schooldays and reminded me of what I
once wanted. There is a saying by the German author Christian
Morgenstern, “Sometimes you see
something a hundred times, a thousand times, before you see it for
the first time”. And with these words
I want to end. Thank you all very much for this wonderful, meaningful
and inspiring experience.
