Suitcase of my life in Azerbaijan

Objectives of the Activity

The overall aim of the project is the promotion of intergenerational and intercultural dialogue through arts and creativity.

The task to produce suitcases creates an environment in which two persons who wouldn’t contact each other under normal circumstances can talk openly about their lives. Tandems consist of participants belonging to different groups, e.g. an older person who experienced war + a younger person who grew up in peace, members of two opposing groups,…

The dialogue that arises in this way can be an effective tool for remembrance and peace education as it allows individuals to listen to and understand diverse perspectives, fostering empathy and respect. respect. By engaging in respectful conversation, they can learn about the experiences and perspectives of others, which can help to build bridges and promote greater understanding. Young people are sensitised for effects of warlike conflicts and group-focused enmity. Through this non-formal educational method, they are encouraged to actively counter historical revisionism and group-related hatred. 

Description of the activity 

The organizational process starts with the matching: the participants are introduced to the project and get to know each other. Two individuals from different groups (e.g. seniors and young people) are matched on 1:1 basis. The facilitator will take care that the tandems feel comfortable enough to share their life stories with each other.

After the matching phase, the tandems meet up to get to know each other. They share life experiences, memories, personal thoughts and ideas. To get the conversation going they can use the conversation guide provided by the facilitator. 

Then they create objects, photos, videos, audio files, drawings etc. that stand for the various experiences they made. At the end each participant will have created his own individual “Suitcase of my life” with the support of the matched person. 

Number of participants reached/ involved

No. of participants in total:

No. of young people, who participated: 

Quote of an involved young person 

“I am very grateful for the exchange of our different perspectives and have taken a lot away for myself. Every single meeting was a beautiful encounter, after which I always felt good.“ Paul , young participant 

Quote of an involved staff member

„The participants discovered a lot of similarities. They have exchanged many memories and really learned a lot from each other.” – Perdita, project coordinator

“Some participants told me before, that they don’t really want to do handicraft and also that they aren’t good in being creative. But after I showed them some tricks on how to do easy handlettering all of them finished with at least trying writing their name in handlettering. Some even got inspired and showed me a collage afterwards with their name on it. It was a very feel good atmosphere and the tandem just found each other naturally – we don’t even needed to match them.” –Martina, involved staff member.