On Saturday 5th September 2015 the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in Tottenham will be transformed as it hosts Taking Part – a celebration of the role the arts and cultural learning is playing in building a new Europe.

The event will mark the end of the three-year European Cultural Learning Network (ECLN) – a unique network project funded by the European Union’s Lifelong Learning Programme.  ECLN brings together 12 partners from 11 member states.  It will also showcase the outcomes of the Aspire2Create Leonardo da Vinci project.

The event will start with a conference between 9.30am – 12 noon, for all those interested in lifelong learning, vocational education and the arts, at which the launch of three new qualifications and new curricula in Cultural Learning will be featured. Manoj Ambasna, Chief Executive of Collage Arts, which leads both ECLN and Aspire2Create and which has been working closely with Rinova on both, said “These partners are achieving social and economic change in their communities – whilst delivering performing and visual arts of the highest standard. So we are celebrating all that these organisations have achieved. We believe now is the time to bring together our creative energies to show how participation in arts and cultural activities can help shape the Europe we want to live in and where no one gets left behind.”

To reserve your place at the conference, click here.

Taking over the whole of the Bernie Grant Arts Centre, the conference will then be followed by a free Festival, Taking Part, from 12 (noon) until 5 pm, featuring performances and contributions from those that have been involved in ECLN and Aspire2Create. A ‘Doing Zone’ will offer chances for people of all ages to work with international artists to learn new skills or participate in master classes. A ‘Thinking zone’ and Film Lounge will boast a programme of talks and films about the relationship between the arts and society.

Artists and cultural learning practitioners that have participanted in ECLN and Aspire2Create will be on hand to explain how the work they do is contributing to society and to lifelong learning.

Highlights of the afternoon will include: Jazz from Italy, Folk from Poland, Circus and Acrobatics form Croatia, Exhibitions from Cyprus, Street Artists from Spain, Films from Slovenia and Estonia, Speakers from Greece and Netherlands, and storytelling from Denmark. There will also be a ‘Young Gifted & Back’ stage featuring many of the successful young artists from Tottenham and Haringey with many special guests, Johnny Kalsi and the Dhol Foundation, Amina Khayyam Dance Company, Street Performers of all sorts, stalls and much, much more…….

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.