Project

WISE faces the existential problem of people over 65, who have been actively involved in the society and its history, and are now compelled by their age and the new social structures to accept a marginal and isolated position in society. To help them discover new possibilities in their life’s condition, we have developed a process of care through practices borrowed from the scenic and performative arts with a philosophical approach (P. Ricoeur). The participants will get acquainted with narrative techniques. Dialogue training will prepare them for interview situations and discussions. With the last step participants will re-create their own biography telling their story as a theatrical narration. The dramaturgic script obtained from the discourse of the learners will be structured as a sort of European "Bildungsroman" and presented publicly. The learners (in a range from 8 to 15 in each country) will be identified at urban level in 4 municipalities of different sizes: from a metropolis like Berlinto the town of Ancona. The process will thus be a way to reassign value to the political and civil real life of the seniors, who become aware of the continuation of their action as moral legacy. They can learn to be "generative" (E. Erikson), contributing to the enhancement of the contexts in which they participate, reinforcing social institutions, enriching the social network and ensuring continuity across generations. The witnesses of the recent history will become the protagonists of a renewed sense of community.

The phenomenon of rapid ageing of the society is increasing exponentially. Furthermore, in the last years, in many European countries the condition of the elderly has been the focus of a heated debate due to the continuous reduction of the social services and the consequent marginalization of the elderly themselves. In addition, worsening the situation, the ongoing process of cultural change puts into question the very moral concepts that the older generation has developed in their biography after the wars and the totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century.The idea of politics as a project - on which the historical reconstruction of each country was based as they entered the new historical phase of the civil society - is put into doubt by phenomena like degeneration of power and excessive private interests.In this context, the elderly are often abandoned to their mere biological function. The involvement of seniors in a working group on memories, experiences, thoughts and values with immediate relapse in practice and in a perspective of exchange with the community, will help open up new possibilities. Thus the elderly will be educated through techniques, so far unknown to them, which have emerged from the specific artistic research in recent years. With a change of perspective, the elderly are no longer the fringe of society, but its heart: their moral legacy will not be ignored

The seniors take part in a transnational project, contributing to the realization of a series of common artistic products. The conductors of each laboratory will stimulate the learners' awareness of being part of a European network. This will gain evidence with the presentation of the dramatic script, the performance, the documentary film and the website. This will allow participants belonging to a generation usually bound to a concrete and local dimension, to make a real experience of contemporaneity, being in a relationship with their European peers.The multiplication of the points of view will let emerge contradictory, even opposite visions, and will nurture dialogue.