In-fusion. Cultural heritage and diversity

General Information
اسم الشخص / المنظمة صاحب / صاحبة المبادرة: 
FARO (Flemish interface centre for cultural heritage)
الشركاء: 
Minderhedencentrum (Forum of Organisations of Ethnic-Cultural Minorities )
Type of best practice: 
Publication
Brief description: 

In-fusion was a project about cultural heritage and diversity. It travelled along ten different hospitals and their environments. It was initiated by the Minister of Culture who wanted to stimulate networks of intercultural exchange between organisations of minorities and the heritage sector.

In-fusion consisted of:
- A travelling exhibition in hospitals about 7 twin themes (beginning and end, children and illness, the elderly and health, pain and medicine, body and soul, seeing and understanding, day and night): exhibition of portraits, a booklet with interviews about the themes and a ‘listening box’ (to listen to the interviews). The exhbition stayed for a month in each hospital. Instead of holding the project in museum, the choice was made to exhibit in hospitals because of the possibility to reach visitors who are not regular participants of cultural events.
- During the span or the exhibition, organisations of minorities and heritage organisations were stimulated to joinlty set up an activity about the themes. This resulted in more than 100 activities: local exhibitions, meals, interviews about rituals and feasts, about medicine, migration, …
- The work around the Cosmogolem (a big wooden statue). In every city 1 primary school was involved. For a month the Cosmogolem resided on the playground as a ‘global citizen’ that needed to be stuffed with stories, words of hope a.s.o... The children worked around the 7 themes and left their material literally in the heart of the Cosmogolem. After 3 weeks, a local artist reinterpreted the material the children had made and together they created a new work of art based on their experiences.
The Cosmogolem itself was constructed with the help of a secondary school.

Specific Information
Strategic field: 
Cultural Collaborations
Geographical coverage: 
Local
Geographical coverage: 
National
Target Groups: 
Youth
Target Groups: 
Migrants
Target Groups: 
Other
Please specify: 
Minorities
Main Objectives: 

- To establish networks, encounters and activities between organisations of minorities and the heritage sector.
- To stimulate cultural participation by people who otherwise wouldn’t take part in cultural events.
- To stimulate the notion of global citizenship among children and youngsters between the age of 2,5 and 20.

Main Outcomes: 

- A central travelling exposition in hospitals built up arond 7 twin themes (beginning and end, children and illness, the elderly and health, pain and medicine, body and soul, seeing and understanding, day and night): exhibiting portraits, a booklet with interviews about the themes and a ‘listening box’ (to listen to the interviews)
- Local activities: in each location: activities (exhibition, a meal, a publication, a guided tour, …) were organised by heritage networks and associations of minorities.
- Educational spin-off for primary schools about global citizenship symbolised by the Cosmogolem (a huge wooden statue by internationally renowned artist Koen Van Mechelen).

Funding bodies: 

- Flemish government (subsidy)
- Cera (cooperative fund, used to develop the Cosmogolem)

Contact Information
First name: 
Katrijn
Surname: 
D’hamers
Phone Number: 
+32 2 213 10 60
Fax Number: 
+32 2 213 10 99
City: 
Brussels
Postal Code: 
B 1000
Country: 
Belgium
بريد إلكتروني: 
katrijn.dhamers@faronet.be