The Transparent Boundaries EU project (www.transparentboundaries.com) has now concluded and on Tuesday April 29th we had our final partner meeting. Joining us at UCA Farnham were representatives of all partner organisations, which afforded us the chance for reflection on all that we have achieved, which amounted to an amazing 49 events. But of course what we have achieved does not lie in numbers alone. As we went through the different Interventions we all realised that was important were the people who were involved and the connections made across nations, cultures and generations. The outstanding, and moving, commitment to the various Interventions from artists and participants was the ultimate testament to the success of the project.
Of particular note were the groups who have carried on, for example the amazing Electric Elders in Recanati, Italy who now run workshops for others and will be collaborating later this month with Salts Mill Lead Artist Helen Cerina. We are delighted with the publication which we have brought together as a lasting record of the project. We were also joined by the Project Evaluators who delivered their initial findings, which very much echoed what had been said by all partners earlier in the meeting.
Once the meeting ended we gently segued into a celebration event to which we had invited participants in the project, members of UCA staff and students, plus members of other organisations who had interest in the project. We showed four of the project videos: the Greek choirs, the interview after the performance at Salts Mill with the artist Helen Cerina and participants in her dance project, the Danish fishermen, and our final wonderful video 'The Perfect Form' - the dance collaboration between Guilio D'Anna (choreographer), Cinzia Camela (video), Ann Dickie and Nicholas Minns (dancers) and Diana Harrison (textiles).
Uwe Derksen, Assistant Director of Research and Enterprise at UCA, spoke about the background to the project. I spoke about the project itself and Diana Harrison described the work she had created for Poland and the workshops she held there.
And so Transparent Boundaries ended, with so much to remember. However...such bonds will not be totally cut! The next day many of us met with new possible partners from Poland and Portugal to discuss the next project! And so we hope to continue....