UA&ST: Day 8

Yesterday night participants were enjoying a farewell party with typical Spanish and Malagan food, sharing their last hours together.

After a week full of dance, music and colors, we greeted our participants who went their homes. We are a little bit sad, but in the same time happy and pleased we participated in this project. These young artist have learned a lot, developed new skills, acquired/improved competences and, what is very important,
strengthen their will to continue with the urban art and become more than just artists. Now they are able to become social transformers.

We hope we will continue to collaborate and create much more events and cooperation in the future!

Thank you all! :)

UA&ST: Day 7

The highlight of this day was definetely the big event of the open doors in La Caja Blanca (art and cultural center of Málaga City Hall) which we were preparing for a long time. In this event participated more than 250 persons throughout the whole day.

In the morning we had basic and advanced workshops of the different elements of hip hop. Our participants were teaching classes and implementing foreground and background in the training course.

In the afternoon we started to present the "Urban Art & Social Transformation" project and the Erasmus+ program. Ana Belén Dominguez from "Iniciativa Internacional Joven" and Alejandro Morales from "El Circulo Breaking" explained their objectives, activities and results achieved throughout the week. Our international participants were sharing with the entire local population emotions and impressions and explained how they came to engage in the street art, how their desire to professionalize and act as social transformers came to their hearts.

Later in the afternoon all participants were able to show the local population their artistic skills. The DJs had a possibility to start the musical afternoon together with Dj Wave and DJ Bionic Escasso. The rapper who won the competition the previous day had the opportunity to perform in front of a large audience.

The graffiti artists participated in a competition made by Taco Bell, which requested certain parameters and provided the prize, won by Sidney from France.  The jury was formed with Malagan writer Lalone and Alfonso Navarro, representative of Taco Bell.

Finaly, there was also a break dance competition where a lot of people gathered to see the glorious energy of bboys and bgirls. DJ Wave and DJ Bionic Escasso were in charge for music and judges were XVen from Málaga, Muñeco from Badajoz and Chicano from Madrid.

Basic workshops and masterclasses at “La Caja Blanca"

This morning the participants of the Training Course “Urban Art & Social Transformation” are putting into practice what they have learned during this week. They are teaching hip hop elements to all the children, young people and adults interested on it. Come to “La Caja Blanca”, it’s for free!

UA&ST: Day 6

After very long and fulfilled Friday, participants used Saturday to prepare their workshops for Sunday's event at La Caja Blanca. They were preparing two classes (one for basic and one for the advanced level) by selecting the content and activities, preparing a pedagogic approach, dividing responsibilities between them, etc. Tomorrow they will offer to the population of Málaga workshops of hip hop elements for free.

Moreover, we present the Erasmus+ programme, which has financed this training course. We spoke about its objectives, its key actions, the possibility that young people have to participate, deadlines, etc.  

All participants showed great interest in all these actions, especially for the European Voluntary Service, youth exchanges and training courses.

Afterwards they were also introduced to Youthpass, a certificate that the European Union gives and where all learned skills and adquired competences are recorded.

With the help of the trainers, our participants drafted their youth certificates, reflecting their new skills adquired throughout the course.

And then we went to “La Cloaka”, an alternative place which is very close to “La Noria”, where young people usually gather to enjoy good music and cultural activities. There all the youth could participate in a rap competition open to everyone. The judge was Little Pepe who declared Mc Farina as the winner. But this night wasn't only dedicated to rappers, but as well to all the bboys and bgirls who could show their dancing skills, and graffiti writers who presented to us their artistic works.

Make the Street Happy (Alegrando las Calles)

After many hours spent in La Noria center, participants of the training course "Urban Art & Social Transformation" went to the streets and had some outdoor activities. First of all, they enjoyed a graffiti tour around the Soho neighborhood (Málaga has plenty of graffiti!) and they found out about the "Maus" project.

Afterwards they all made streets of Málaga more happy and alive by following the idea of Freddy Cross (one of the participant of "UA&ST" training course). The concept of this activity was moving to different points around the city and show their artistic skills at each one. They went to two very central places of Málaga, the square in front of the Contemporary Art Centre (CAC) and Calle Larios, the most popular and important street of the city. This way they gave visibility to European Union and Erasmus+ program as an important part of social transformation among youth and European citizens.

They also participated in a break dance jam and set an exhibition of graffiti art. All this was possible thanks to Erasmus+ program, which intents to liberate the space for young people to share their experiences, skills, knowledge and culture through various exchanges, training courses, seminars, etc. Through these mobility activities young people and professionals who work with them can learn and enrich their personal and professional portfolio. 

UA&ST: Day 5

Today we listened to experiences of some persons who had their work recognized by many people who appreciate passion of urban art, at local, national and international level. There was Little Pepe, who we mentioned before, then as well Roborob (bboy), Dadi Dreucol (graffiti writer) and DJ Pera.

Participants were divided afterwards according to the element practiced and reflected on the various career opportunities related to their passion. Group work always brings many ideas, and so did this time. We hope that many young artists got inspiration and that they will continue to fulfill their dreams.

Little Pepe in the training UA&ST

Hello to all of you!

Here we are at our international training course "Urban Art & Social Transformation" with Little Pepe. He is sharing with us how the neighborhood of Las Flores de Málaga has come to engage in reggae in Spanish and how he wanted to highlight the importance of fighting for dreams, pursue what you love and truly love what you do. Little Pepe will be with us tomorrow night at La Cloaka and perform at La Caja Blanca on Sunday 9th.

UA&ST: Day 4

In the middle of this exhilarating training course we took a little bit slower pace because we have really busy weekend in front of us. In the morning we analyzed the keys of the success for hip-hop professionals and career options. It was very useful and motivated to hear the stories of Francisco Reyes and how we could become a professor teaching hip hop in the Complutense University of Madrid. We spoke also about social entrepreneurship and the steps that are important to create an enterprise that can solve social problems. 

Our two participants from Cyprus shared with us their experience and how they opened their hip-hop center in Nicosia.

In this training course we put a huge accent on how to make this passion a profession and some participants have already successfully started their ways in the world of urban art. 

Fransisco Reyes in the training UA&ST

Thanks to Francisco Reyes, teacher at the Complutense University of Madrid and director of "Ritmo Urbano", we are discovering the history of the hip hop movement and its elements in Spain. A very interesting speech with one of the first Spanish breakers who achieved to make his passion a profession.

UA & ST: Day 3

Today in our international training course “Urban Art & Social Transformation” we talked about key concepts of integration and social intervention in the urban art field, and we analyzed the key competences of a successful youth leader or street educator.

In the afternoon we had a pleasure to meet some urban artists. First of them was Antoni Gabarre, a very experienced graffiti writer and muralist who worked as social transformer in Bosnia during war, as well as in Northern Ireland. Next one was Eskarnia, a rapper from Malaga who explained us her long way in the music, from a young amateur to a professional rapper who lives (or, in her words, “survives”) by her passion. She also shared with us her experience as rap teacher in the small rural villages of the province of Málaga. The aim of the project was to bring rap and other elements of hip hop to children and young people of those municipalities.

Culmination of the afternoon was the presentation of DJ Wave, a Dutch who have spent half of his life in Malaga. After he explained his path as a DJ, he showed us how he makes his unique music with keyboards, mixer and percussion. Spontaneous as they are, participants of the project started clapping and dancing, and soon everything turned into a great and energetic show! After emotions calmed down a little bit, El Circulo Breaking went on the scene with their story of a young group with zero funds, but a huge will. During the years they developed their passion up to the point where they have to decide whether to take another step forward and make it a profession. 

In the evening we had an Open Space, where all of the artists exchanged their knowledge and skills and they transformed La Noria in a space full of music and colours, where everyone could breathe a lot of energy and art.

 

UA & ST: Day 2

Yesterday we had really intensive but fulfilled day in La Noria. After official welcome of Soraya Garcia, the provincial coordinator of Andalusian Institute of the Youth and representative of the Erasmus+ programme in Malaga, participants designed creative presentations of their organizations, revealing their artistic skills. 

While in the afternoon, they analyzed the situation of hip-hop in each country (its historical development, supports, rejections and the current situation). Exchange and fun continued also in the evening at the intercultural party, where we all enjoyed food, drinks, dance and games from different countries.