As part of the EU programme "connect", Radio AGORA has started up a culture laboratory entitled "Kultur verleiht Flügel - S kulturo na krilih - Culture gives you wings", a project to familiarize young people with all aspects of cultural work. The main focus is on getting to know the work and productions of cultural initiatives in Carinthia/Austria, Slovenia and Friuli/Italy, paying special attention to the fact that some of these initiatives are in bilingual areas, which is reflected in their productions. We will concentrate on theatre, literature, painting and sculpture, multidisciplinary and experimental cultural expression, and cross-border cooperations. Independent cultural initiatives have an important function as - especially with respect to contemporary culture - only they provide for a cultural heartbeat in a region or village. In spite of that, their presence in the media is rather meagre. With the present project, Radio AGORA wants to focus on these independent cultural initiatives and interest young people in cultural work. As part of our project we will visit the Hexpo festival, the multimedia lab Ljudmila, and the Metelkova Culture Centre, all of which are in Slovenia, the theatre group K.L.A.S and the Center for Culture and Communication K&K, both in Carinthia, and the Festival Stazione di Topolo in Friuli.
Eight pupils between the age of 15 and 17 are taking part in the project. They shall be given extensive insight into the management side of cultural work, as well as the opportunity to get to know the ideas behind productions from a variety of cultural spheres. By discovering and exploring all kinds of jobs within the cultural scene (e.g. directing, producing, sound and light engineering, scenery, and many more), the young people involved in the project might be inspired to pursue these as professional careers.
Modern information technology provides us with many new possibilities and solutions for production and communication processes. The development and use of technology in the information society we live in, are becoming increasingly important for independent cultural initiatives and for those concerned with artistic activities. On the one hand they facilitate global networking across local and state borders, on the other hand they also enable us to find new perspectives for creative processes. The young people taking part in the project are learning how to use the internet and some of its applications like internet radio, real-time audio streaming, the world wide web and other forms of multimedia technology, and they are getting hands-on experience of the production techniques of modern radio, for example computer-aided editing of audio material, proper use of microphones, digital recording in the studio and live, and many other tricks of the trade. With the knowledge they have acquired of modern technology and the media, the young participants will be equipped with more than just the basic tools for further creative work in the fields of art, culture and the media.
Dealing with different cultural spheres and with the producers and performers involved, will result in the production of radio programmes, both live and taped ones, which will be broadcast by Radio AGORA. For the duration of the project, the participants have access to Radio AGORA's equipment, including edit stations and the main studio. We intend to have live broadcasts via the internet and to have our programmes broadcast by our partner stations, Radio Student in Ljubljana/Slovenia, Radio Onde Furlane in Udine/Italy, Radio FREI in Erfurt/Germany, and Radio Ceredigion in Wales/UK. After the completion of the project we will publish a collection of our programmes to spread the idea of the project and encourage others to do similar work.
