The Apropa Cultura programme, the Deslimita’m project and the time exchange initiative at the restaurant La Trobada in Terrassa are three examples of the fight against social exclusion through culture, drama and employment.
At La Trobada restaurant in Terrassa, participants in the programme work there for a few hoursand eat there in exchange. As the restaurant is open to the general public, this also promotes community cohesion.
Culture and groups at risk of social exclusion are different worlds, but not worlds apart. To bring them closer together, the programme Apropa Cultura has woven a web that unites cultural resources and social centres with the aim of converting theatre, music and museums into leisure activities for everyone. “We want to make it clear that people who are at risk of social exclusion need more than just food and a place to sleep; they also need to feed their souls,” says Sònia Gainza, the director of the project.
This pioneering project works with a score of cultural institutions in Barcelona, including the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (TNC), the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Picasso Museum and the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), to name just a few. These establishments make their offerings available to social centres with tickets that never cost more than three euros, meaning that “everyone can be a part of the city’s cultural life”, according to Gainza. Groups in difficult situations and people with disabilities are thus able to visit the season’s shows and exhibitions.
Apropa Cultura started out in 2007 in one of Barcelona’s most modern music complexes, the Auditori, and since then its network has grown in terms of establishments involved and people reached. The programme’s director explains that it is active in fifteen municipalities in addition to Barcelona and that one of its challenges is to continue adding to these to reach all of Catalonia. Experience has shown that the initiative has good results. “It’s a project that transforms things and gets them moving. Besides getting in touch with culture, the people who take part in it mix with society and achieve visibility,” says Gainza. There are also little anecdotes that underscore its success, such as the day a participant cried at a concert for the first time.
Claudia Torner / Apropa Cultura
A museum visit of the Apropa Cultura programme.
Much more than an afternoon’s entertainment
For the people who take part, going to the theatre or visiting a museum means a lot more than entertainment to fill a part of the day. The outings, which are typically done in groups, are a driving force for social inclusion that changes the daily lives of these people. “They prepare for the event”, notes the director, who remembers with a smile the time a participant bought new shoes to go to the Auditori. As a whole, it seeks to make an impact in society, and “not to be just a meet-up or a glance at culture, but also an awareness-building experience”.
For Apropa Cultura to operate, economic support is indispensable, be it public or private. Currently the programme receives funding from the Catalan Regional Government and the Barcelona provincial and city councils, and collaborates with “la Caixa” Foundation. According to Gainza, the role of these authorities is essential, although it is also necessary to push for a policy of social responsibility from the facilities. “For some it is clear that culture needs all of the population to survive, not just a part, but there’s still a lot of work to be done,” the director points out, admitting that the economic crisis has made the programme’s development harder. All the same, Gainza indicates that cultural institutions’ interest in groups at risk of social exclusion has grown, and that obstacles do not arise from prejudice, but most often from a lack of understanding towards these people. “The institutions on their own find it difficult to look for centres that work with these groups, because they don’t know how. Our job is to make it easy for them,” she says.
Those in charge of Apropa Cultura face a future laden with challenges. One of these is to widen the programme’s cultural offering and introduce interactive activities, so that, as Gaiza explains, “people aren’t limited to simply being spectators, but can also have an active role in the establishments”. They also want to increase the number of cultural institutions in Barcelona that take part to generate more public awareness of Apropa Cultura. Above all, however, Gainza feels sure that the secret behind the programme’s success is confidence. “We’ve managed to become an instrument for working in networks that connects social centres with the world of culture. By believing in it, we’ve made it possible,” she asserts.
Theatre to express conflict
Fundació La Roda
End-of-year representation of the Deslimita’m project, at the Sala Barts.
The Deslimita’m project by Fundació la Roda shares the essence of Apropa Cultura, but from the other side of the curtain. This initiative brings to the stage young people at risk of social exclusion, who through theatre can express worries or conflict issues. “They propose themes such as gender-based violence or drugs, which are then starting points for creating theatrical pieces,” says Anna Corbella, the director of the foundation.
The project has about ten groups and runs throughout the year in neighbourhoods such as Raval and Poble-sec. “They learn to work as a team, to build confidence and to believe in the values conveyed by the theatrical production,” explains Corbella. The project’s climax arrives at the end of the course, when each group performs their piece in the Sala Barts auditorium in a show that is open to all and in which other social theatre entities also take part. The occasion offers these young people the chance to act “in a real-life theatre” whilst also getting a feel of how a theatre works and its facilities and equipment. Furthermore, the initiative allows the public to get to know these young people’s reality, as after the show there is a forum where the public ask the project participants questions. The experiences lived through Deslimita’m have borne fruit, and some participants have even gone on to start their own theatre company. According to Corbella, what happens is that “they get hooked on theatre, and a lot want more”.
Restaurant La Trobada
A restaurant as a link to society
Theatre isn’t the only way to bring people at risk of exclusion into society. The restaurant La Trobada in Terrassa was born of the same spirit as the above-mentioned projects, but is based on a gastronomic initiative that is aimed at groups affected by the recent wave of poverty. Trying to get away from a culture of dependency, La Trobada encourages social reintegration through time exchanges: participants work a certain number of hours at the restaurant, and in exchange they can enjoy the meals. “Through their time at the restaurant, they regain work habits and self-esteem, and put themselves in a good position to find work,” spokesperson for the initiative Xavier Casas explains. Volunteers also learn to work in a group, and participants make friends and new contacts. Their time at La Trobada helps them to have self-confidence and to face life with optimism and good spirits whilst also learning new things.
The restaurant can accommodate between forty and fifty participants, who work for up to four months, so as to avoid situations of dependency. At the same time, the restaurant is open to anyone who might like to go to have lunch there. This is a way of strengthening ties between conventional clients and volunteers that also foments community cohesion. La Trobada is an initiative of the Associació Local d’Entitats per a la Inclusió de Terrassa (the Terrassa Association of Local Entities for Inclusion), and it offers locally sourced, seasonal home-made food.