On 9/11/2009 the conference/festival ‘Our European House’ was organised at School for the Future in Den Bosch in the Netherlands. It was the presentation of To-Gather 2006-2009. Lectures, workshops, exhibitions and performances were experienced by 200 participants from all over Europe. The highlights for the audience were the lecture by Edward de Bono, the dance by Margarita Kamjaka and the music by Audiofeel.
The conference/festival was also a cross-over to To-Gather 2009-2011 in order to implement and multiply the project at schools in Europe.
When we think about the important dates there are some common dates like New Year’s Eve we always remember without thinking. Without thinking means in our brains we already have a ready picture unconciously. So the date 9/11 became one of them for the people who have been there. It is still shaking the memories of the participants. The scene was never alone. An art performance and an important creative conferencier was chasing eachother. Never was let to be boring.
The word ‘conference’ itself is very possible to seem boring when mentioned somewhere. Making a successful conference is not easy. Because people has different fields of interests and ofcourse it is very difficult to take attention of the crowd and to keep it for a long time specially in big conference halls. “Our European House 9/11/2009” broke the walls of this general belief. Everything had thought before it’s too late.
Creativity started from the first night with the Meeting Reception in Jheronimus Bosch Art Center. It is a huge gothic building full of spirutuality. It takes you to the Medieval times with the high ceiling and the magical atmosphere around all the paintings. Not possible not to be influenced. It was a very proper place to show the clip, to meet the old To-Gather friends and making new ones.
In the morning of the conference day people were choosing the workshops. And it is very intelligent to give options to participants to choose. The possibility of choosing something makes us more happy and feel more free. It was the sign of a surprising festival.
I have been in many conferences till now and the To-Gather bag was the heaviest conference file I have ever seen. It was heavy in material but when you open they were colourfull like rainbow and each one had attraction to check and to read. Otherwise usually people likes to throw away this kind of brochures and materials. But in this bag everything was carefully created to be kept. It must be a big effort.
“School Vor de Toekomst” was hosting the conference with its future promising young students and helpful workers. The school has very different and interesting rooms. Participants had chance to see them in workshop hours and as a journalist curiosity ı had also a small private tour guided by a teacher from administration. And ı saw the oldest historical Dutch classroom with old desks and furniture inside. It was amazing.
What can ı say about the keynote by Ettore Deodato! He said all: “Young people can travel, nowadays, from Talinn to Porto without passport, thanks to the Schengen agreement and using the same currency. So, idiots had failed?”
Indian women were there too with all mimics on just one face. From beginning till the end the whole conference hall was in silence when Vasumathi Badrinathan started her performance. And when Margarita Kamjaka was on stage the mystic East and the modern dance were combined To-Gather.
At conclusion the band Audiofeel was hero of the rock music and everybody was moving, jumping and dancing with full of positive energy. Who can stop this To-Gather community?
Joseph Mifsud, Edward de Bono… and all the other supporters; ı can call them just as nameless heros (not to write a long name list). It is a big success to bring all these valuable people to gather. So the savant is, Wim Kratsborn who dreamed all and managed in reality, ı guess it was almost as close as his dream. And more dreams are coming to reality soon.
Burcu AKKAYA
In the clip ‘Come to gather’ the idea of Europe is personified in a young woman through music, words and images. Students from the School of Education of Hanze University Groningen and students from the minor ‘Your identity in Europe’ were the stars in the clip.
In the clip ‘Song for Europe’ the band Audiofeel takes you on a journey through history.
This clip may be used as a source of knowledge about history with images and music.
Children of the primary school ATVASE in Jurmala, Latvia made a theatre play ‘To- Gatherland’ in which they visualised their learning process of three years of working with To-Gather.
The children followed all the five learning routes in previous years. The star was the little dragon ‘Mu’ and for the children he was the identification of their father who went away to Western Europe to find a job.
At the end of the theatre play, they gave Mu and farewell letters to Wim Kratsborn and asked him to take Mu to other children in Europe.
