new media center_kuda.org

http://www.pozitiv.si/dividedgod/

The main topic is the role of religion that conditions different cultures of the European continent and is often in the background of individual concrete problems and conflict situations. Do religions contribute to tolerance and to solving of the afore mentioned concrete conflicts or do they to some extent actually generate these problems? The answer to this question is in no way one-sided but multifaceted. In the project Divided God we will attempt to approach it through experimental research which will be based on young people spending time with each other.

From July 18 - 23rd, group of around 50 young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Turkey and Germany will come to Novi Sad, where they will represent results of their work while realizing their research in the same time. Besides that, series of cultural events will be organized in Youth Center CK13 in Novi Sad, while this group is in the city.

Program in progress could be found here:
http://www.pozitiv.si/dividedgod/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&...

Young people will participate in:
- research based video workshop
- public panel discussions /talks/ organized as a part of youth exchanges
- Internet forum etc.

Research will be substantiated by the participation of experts from the fields of humanities and intercultural studies providing their expertise and mentorship, by anthropological-sociological video research and by interactive media and website communication.

The final results – the proposed goals of the project will be:
- an interactive and inter-media web page that will contain updated results of the theoretical and practical research and will keep track of the development of the project,
- a publication that will publish theoretical contributions of the experts, thoughts and opinions of the participants and the whole breadth of the conducted research along with the complete results of the project,
- a video-documentary and other shorter video creations that will be the product of the research-based video workshops taking place in the countries and cities of the partners participating in the project.

The project will be executed in the year 2007 and will end in the first half of the year 2008 with presentations in all the participating partners’ countries.

We are presently witnessing the proliferation of negatively polarised social structures, such as the appearance of new conservatism, which is increasing in Europe and elsewhere. This can be observed in post-communist countries, which tend to revert to left-wing values unacceptable to contemporary capitalism.

There are also many revisionist right-wing histories of World War II now being published, attempting to rehabilitate Quislings and Fascists, not only in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Slovakia, but also in Germany and the United States. There are also increasing signs of xenophobia in traditionally open societies such as Holland and France, while religious-based conflicts between Muslims, Christians and Jews continue to develop on a global scale.
Despite – or perhaps as a consequence of – the new logic of globalisation, individual attachments to local environment, family, education and religion do not diminish or disappear. The question arises: Is the increase of the new conservatism, xenophobia and religious fundamentalism reflective of a basic human or social need for identity and a sense of security and belonging to one’s own community? Or is it the consequence of social engineering by manipulative religious teachers, politicians, and elders who exert influence on the development of children and young adults?

Organizers and partners of the project:
http://www.pozitiv.si/dividedgod/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogc...

* KUD Pozitiv and Dijaski dom Ivana Cankarja, Ljubljana, Slovenija
* Terra Film, Playground production and New Media Center_kuda.org – CK 13, Novi Sad, Serbia
* Cultural Studies Programme, Istanbul Bilgi University and TOG - Community Voulonteers Foundation, Istanbul, Turkey
* FilmArche and Mladi Most - Balkan Black Box, Berlin, Germany
* Mladi Most and Film klub Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina