Malta to join 37 countries in 'dialogue night' tomorrow

Malta will form part of a chain of 37 Euro-Mediterranean countries that will be holding a Dialogue Night tomorrow aimed at promoting intercultural dialogue by helping people rediscover common roots and heritage, fight racism and xenophobia and challenge extremism.

As part of the Anna Lindh Foundation's 1001 Actions for Dialogue campaign, seven local projects have been awarded grants to organise various activities throughout this year, labelled the European Year for Intercultural Dialogue.

The main objective of the Anna Lindh Foundation is to promote dialogue between cultures and contribute to the visibility of the EU's Barcelona process through intellectual, cultural and civil society exchanges. Anna Lindh was Sweden's Foreign Minister from 1998 until her murder in 2003.

Some of these projects will form part of tomorrow's Dialogue Night, taking place in all Euro-Med countries. They will include a youth theatre performance, a concert by international students and an exhibition in Vittoriosa organised by St James Cavalier, Aterlier Culture Projects, Fondazzjoni Temi Zammit and the Vittoriosa Local Council; and two classical music activities in Valletta organised by the University of Malta's Mediterranean Institute (the head of Anna Lindh's Maltese network).

The seven Maltese projects awarded the grants were yesterday announced during a press conference held at St James Cavalier, Valletta, that is the national coordinating body for the European Year for Cultural Dialogue. Parliamentary Secretary for Youth Clyde Puli was present during the event and underlined the importance of dialogue in bridging different cultures and combating extremism.

Representatives from the organisations involved then gave a brief description of the projects.

One of the projects includes Concerts For Dialogue organised by St James Cavalier which will aim to create dialogue and exchanges among musicians from different cultures during two separate events. One will feature young people and students while the other will bring professional musicians together.

Fondazzjoni Temi Zammit was awarded grants for two projects that include: Project Twelve by One during which the best 12 artistic works reflecting intercultural dialogue submitted by artists will be selected to form a calendar; and project Alice in Ourland that will encourage students to write short stories about intercultural dialogue that will be narrated during an event in November.

Malta Intelligent Energy Management's project Sinbad the (Intercultural) Sailor will include a treasure hunt held on Sunday around Valletta's intercultural sites and the publishing of an illustrated adaptation of the story of Sinbad, who sets sail from Valletta and visits ports and sites of intercultural interest.

Atelier Culture Projects will be holding creative workshops for youths on intercultural dialogue and words emerging from the workshops will be projected during various cultural events including tomorrow's Dialogue Night in Vittoriosa.

On the night, the Vittoriosa Local Council will be organising street theatre by the youth group Square Wheels with the participation of young immigrants and will also play recordings of songs by youths from the locality and refugees.

Finally, in the seventh project, on May 2, the Senglea local council organised dialogue opportunities between groups of young people and adults from different cultures.

For more information: www.1001actions.org, www.dialoguenight.org.