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The project seeks to repurpose a vacant municipal building in Kömür into a culture and art centre to cater to the town’s needs. The centre will offer activities to be held by the Önce Çocuklar Derneği (Children First Association), including educational workshops (painting, handicrafts, technology and design, cartoons and photography) and training sessions for children. Ma Music Centre, a well-established institution in Diyarbakır, will contribute to the project by offering music, musical instruments and rhythm lessons. Additionally, Amed Şehir Tiyatrosu (Amed City Theatre) will provide training sessions in theatre and acting. The objective is to provide essential cultural and artistic activities to Kömür’s young residents aged between 5 and 20, allowing them to explore their talents.
Kömür Municipality Culture and Art Centre is intended to be a sustainable venue for cultural activities in which different institutions and non-governmental organisations can host culture and art-oriented trainings and creative workshops.
The materials and shows (theatre performances, musicals, educational workshops, etc.) produced in the workshops will be showcased to everyone in town and neighbouring regions during the Kömür Children and Youth Festival. The festival will ensure the continuity of culture and arts activities, and address the need for access to culture and arts, which is especially vital considering the changing demographic structure of the region after the 2023 earthquake.
Art workshops are scheduled to commence in the third month of the project, concurrently taking place in Adıyaman and Diyarbakır cities. These workshops, conducted in collaboration with the Ma Music Center and Amed City Theatre, will offer training in photography, cartoons, painting, handicrafts, technology/design, theatre, music, and rhythm. Additionally, theatre groups and choirs will be formed. The project aims to facilitate the involvement of children and young women aged between 5 and 20 from Kömür town and Diyarbakır.
The culmination of the art workshops, including the produced works, materials, and shows (such as theatre plays, musicals, educational workshops, etc.), involving children and young people, will give rise to a festival titled the “Adıyaman Kömür 1st Children and Youth Festival”. This festival, crafted with sustainability in mind and engaging numerous stakeholders, including the local government, aims to unite all residents of the town and neighboring cities. Furthermore, it seeks to enrich the cultural and artistic ecosystem of the region.
The project will provide training sessions on protective and preventive measures, as well as psycho-social support, for the instructors, volunteers, and culture and arts professionals involved. This support will be facilitated through cooperation with the Diyarbakır Bar Association Child Rights Commission/Center, Adıyaman Bar Association Child Rights Commission, and Shuder (Association of Social Workers).
Önce Çocuklar Derneği (Children First Association) was founded in Diyarbakır in 2017 with the goal of supporting, developing, and conducting studies on the psychosocial, cultural-artistic, linguistic, mental, and physical development of children. The association conducts all its activities in reference to the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. It also carries out studies on the psycho-social, cultural and artistic development, as well as the linguistic, mental, and physical development of children. In addition to organising technical and scientific workshops and training sessions to prepare children for the advancing age of technology and science, the association also works with immigrant and refugee children, combats child labour, and collaborates with individuals and organisations operating in this field. Focusing on cultural rights, the association strives to develop tools that support the cultural development of children while working to ensure that children who cannot fully benefit from their rights have equal opportunities in both individual and social spheres.
Kömür Municipality (Adıyaman) is the project partner and it actively participates in the design and implementation activities of the project’s art workshops and the festival.
Ma Music Centre was established in 2017 and specializes in designing and implementing training sessions and workshops with children and young people in the field of music. Founded by artists who studied at Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Aram Tigran Conservatory, Ma Music offers lessons to children and young people in music history, music forms, orchestra, repertoire, solmization, and musical instruments.
Amed City Theatre was founded with the experience gained at Diyarbakır City Theatre, which was established by Diyarbakır Municipality in 1990 but subsequently underwent changes and closure due to local governance issues. Amed City Theatre, established by professional actors from Diyarbakır City Theatre in 2017, has organised four theatre festivals, one children’s festival, and staged 14 plays, including four plays for children, in the last five years with a team of fourteen people.
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