MuRem

Content /Topic:

Sound in the Silence is an interdisciplinary remembrance project aimed at encouraging secondary school students from around Europe to actively reflect on difficult aspects of 20th-century history using artistic means.

International groups of students and their teachers spend around one week in memory sites that were the scenes of crimes during the Second World War. During this time, students get to know the history of the place and they participate in artistic workshops. Drawing on their reflections and emotional reactions, they work together with professional artists to create a performance based on acting, choreography, sound and creative writing. At the same time, teachers take part in workshops on innovative and interdisciplinary ways of teaching history.

The conclusion of the project is a final performance put on by the youth for the local community. The show is followed by a discussion about interdisciplinary methods in formal history education with the policymakers, educators and journalists invited to the event.

The programme started in 2011 and since then it usually takes place yearly. Each edition revolves around a specific location and its history. Until now, Sound in the Silence has taken place in Neuengamme, Borne Sulinowo, Gdańsk, Auschwitz-Birkenau/Terchova near Žilina and Ravensbrück, as well as in Warsaw and Bremen, Kaunas and Gusen/Mauthausen.

Target groups: Secondary school students aged 16-19 years, humanities teachers.

Method / Format: visits to memorial sites, art and history workshops for students, workshops for teachers, performance, discussion.

Language(s) of the project: English.