Trust Tour Workshop in Evora, Portugal – Training in the ExQuorum method

In the framework of an intercultural workshop of the Trust Tour project, 12 participants met in Portugal from Friday 26 to Monday 29 November 2021. This was the third workshop of the project and the first workshop to be held face-to-face! The teams were hosted by the project partner Ex Quorum in Evora.

A European workshop in Evora to discover ExQuorum's Trust Tour method

Through theatre and co-creation, the Trust Tour project questions the relationships between native and local inhabitants of the European territory. Inspired by various experiments carried out from 2016 to 2019, 4 European artistic partners (from Germany, France, Italy and Portugal) propose to collaborate and design innovative artistic methods to help any multicultural group to create theatrical performances.

Trust Tour aims to provide a space for creation and reflection for young and old, artists, teachers and the European public. A space that stimulates creativity to imagine the future of society together. By providing new artistic tools to create ‘commons’ and build new narratives, Trust Tour aims to empower young people living in Europe and, through them, social cohesion for our future.

In 2021 and 2022, Trust Tour is developing a series of 4 European workshops in Dortmund, Paris, Évora and Rocca Sinibalda, all of which will be stages in the development of creations that question the issues at stake (interculturality, human rights, creation of the commons, etc.) and train citizens in the project’s 4 methods.

In November 2021, 12 participants from Germany, France, Portugal and Italy met in Evora, Portugal, to be trained in the artistic methodology created by ExQuorum. The objective was also to create a performance based on the method explored. This method puts into perspective the 3 other methods of the project:

The method of La Transplanisphère (France) dealing with documentary theatre and choral performances
The method of KJT Dortmund (Germany) exploring initiatory journeys in tales and myths via digital artistic tools
The Teatro Rigodon method (Italy) based on Boccaccio Decameron which addresses the link between sport and theatre

Discover the 4 European partners present during this workshop in Portugal.

Day 1 - Workshop launch

On Friday 26 November, the teams were welcomed in the Ex Quorum creation space.

This was the moment for young people and artistic trainers to meet each other, through ice-breaking exercises that helped launch the group dynamic.
After a moment of exchange, the Portuguese partners explained the programme of these 4 days and the expectations of the workshop.

A visit of the city was then planned. The aim was to discover the different places envisaged to implement the artistic projects. These places are emblematic of the city and the local community, with a strong cultural and social dimension.

The day ended with a convivial meal with the whole workshop team.

Day 2 - Artistic creation

The second day was dedicated to artistic creations.
The participants were divided into three working groups with the aim of creating several artistic performances around the same topic. The methods developed by the German, French and Italian project partners were explored in the creative process of the different groups.

One group worked on the staging of the text Minhia Europa, created by Ex Quorum, a text that calls for solidarity and union in Europe.

With the aim of meeting local people and in a documentary theatre logic, one group worked on creating questions to conduct interviews with local people.

A third group worked on the creation of in-situ artistic performances based on movement and the body, dedicated to the emblematic places that the participants had visited the day before.

Day 3 - Filming and performances

The third day was dedicated to the filming and representation of the different achievements.

The participants conducted several interviews with the members of the project and with a community of women from Evora, linked to a local association. These interviews formed the basis for several theatrical scenes performed by the participants.

The afternoon was exclusively dedicated to the filming and performance of the different artistic creations that involved all the participants.

The young people then attended a theatrical performance by women from the association. The association is directly linked to the area of Evora that interested us. In the evening, the group had the chance to share a meal with these women. A great moment of exchange and conviviality with the local community!

Day 4 - Filming, evaluation and closure

During this last day, the participants carried out the last shootings of the artistic creations in the morning.

This was followed by a final moment of conviviality with the whole workshop team, around a typical Portuguese meal.

It was then time for the evaluation of the workshop for all the participants, on these 4 days of work spent in Portugal. The evaluation focused on the quality of the workshop and the skills acquired by the participants.

Feedback from participants

“I was able to get to know a new country, new people and other perspectives on the world. It was great to get so many impulses on many different levels: visual impressions and physical and artistic experiences!”

“This workshop was a great experience of intercultural dialogue and sharing around artistic practices. Meeting the local community, other participants from other countries, discussing and creating together was really enriching!”

“What strikes me most is being able to connect with other people who are in the “same boat” as me, who are driven by common beliefs and share the same passions.”

“Amazing people, very open and friendly. The creative impact is incredible.”

“We really work as a team and interact with each other.”

“Everyone was able to participate in the way he/she wanted to, with their own skills and interests. We had the initial material, but then everyone could take ownership of it and create their own things collaboratively on that basis.”

“I met a new group of lovely and inspiring people. It was really nice to get to know different neighbourhoods.”