Sorocity: co-créations et voix de femmes artistes face à l’invisibilisation

Sorority as a rhizome in the city today, a form of resistance in the face of identity-based isolationism: this is the theme of the initiative by the non-profit organisation Cultures & Publics, which with its project "Sorocity: co-creations and voices of women artists in the face of invisibilisation" project, Cultures & Publics is responding to a request from Brussels-based women artists from cultural minorities to invite them to genuine multicultural and multi-faith encounters based on one or more artistic presentations of works and audiovisual testimonies by women artists in Brussels and at our French partners' venues. The project stems from this desire to develop the Sorocity initiative in Brussels on a European scale. Its aim is to give a voice to women artists who are absent from the screens of media visibility in Europe, and to increase their visibility or combat their invisibilisation through the development of joint societal artistic work; and, in so doing, to bear witness to the discrimination they have suffered, with a view to overcoming it and breaking down the stereotypes that prevail in relation to many European minorities in order to (re)build society through artistic practice.

The project aims to actively question the transformative potential of art on mentalities, to counter cultural stereotypes of all kinds and to participate in its deployment in social space. A specific field of community exploration has been identified: that of women artists from minority backgrounds who are victims of cross-discrimination. In order to support these artists and strengthen their positive identity, the project intends to develop a number of educational tools so that their art can become a tool of resilience, helping them to overcome their invisibility. The concrete objectives are as follows: - To organise small and large-scale cultural, educational and artistic activities in Europe with our French partner, starting in September 2022; - To develop a training framework to support women artists on the proposed theme, with a view to exhibiting and supporting them in ways of dealing with a specific theme linking art and the fight against all forms of discrimination. - Develop a common European culture through inclusive exchanges based on positive assertions of identity - Establish a dialogue with women's and anti-racist associations in our respective partner countries

-Qualitative and quantitative surveys in the form of semi-structured interviews with 'invisible' women artists in Paris and Brussels. -Organisation of meetings around events with a view to exchanging artistic practices and transferring skills between Paris and Brussels -Communicating the project's activities with a view to making them sustainable -Designing training courses, forums and empowerment and agentivity workshops on these themes, such as -women's well-being workshops, yoga and women's circles to boost creativity by reconnecting with the body -inspirational and resilient forums textile co-creation workshops -nomadic' workshops in schools to raise awareness of discrimination issues among young people -Development of the digital testimonial platform to enable online interactivity between artists and make it a transnational tool -Production of a documentary 'Résilience#3' featuring the testimonies of women artists interviewed on the theme of 'How to make a living from your art'; -Organisation of 2 Sorocity arts festivals co-organised with the partners, one in June 2023 at our French partner's venue and the other in October 2023 in Brussels.

-2 festivals of multicultural encounters, one in Paris 'Le Marathon des Invisibles' on 09.06.2023 and a closing festival in Brussels on 21.10.2023 with an exhibition of the textile works, a forum led by Enda, a literary encounter with Sorocity member authors, a slam by pupils from the Edmond Peeters school on discrimination and a screening of the documentary 'Résilience #3 ou comment vivre de son art'. 15 months of work together -1 'Women and co-creation' exhibition from 13.03 to 25.03.2023 -2 Sorocity artists' trails at We-Art-XL on 16-17-18/09/22 and 12-13-14-15/10/23 -6 forums: 3 forums in Brussels, 2 in Paris and 1 forum organised by Paris in Brussels as part of the partnership mobility scheme. -3 event days: 1 women artists' day on 11.03; 1 socio-educational day with the E. Peeters school on 25.06; 1 inter-association day on 20.10 - 7 textile co-creation workshops over 7 months - 4 nomadic workshops at the E. Peeter school -16 'feminine well-being' workshops: yoga and women's circles - 1 Sorocity 2.0 interactive online platform - 14 field surveys (8 in Brussels and 6 in Paris) - 1 documentary 'Résilience#3' on the theme of "how to make a living from your art".