The Dancing Histor(y)ies project is coming to an end after years of intense, challenging and deeply enriching work.
Last week, we gathered in Mérida for our final meeting, filled with emotion, celebration, and reflection on everything we have built together. It is inevitable to feel nostalgia and longing for our partners, but also enormous pride in the collective journey we have undertaken.
The charm of European work lies in this constant discovery of others and in the continuous learning that arises from the encounter between theory, action research, training and artistic production. For Mapa das Ideias, this project represented a unique opportunity to explore training models based on participation and co-creation, mediating creative processes that brought archaeological sites of a strongly scientific nature into dialogue with talented dance companies from different regions of Europe.
The main objective of the project was clear: to design, test and evaluate a model for enhancing heritage sites through the performing arts, community involvement and territorial development.
This objective has resulted in the transnational mobility of artists, the exchange of practices between professionals, and above all, the quest to restore local communities to an active role in cultural participation and enjoyment.
The heritage sites involved are located in southern European countries (Spain, Italy, Republic of Serbia), while the artistic companies come from northern, central and eastern Europe (Sweden, Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria), promoting a dialogue that transcends regional borders and builds a true European space for cooperation.
The diversity of participating institutions — twelve organisations from ten countries — enabled a pluralistic and collaborative working process, reinforcing the role of culture as a driver of dialogue and the construction of a common future.
For Mapa das Ideias, it was a privilege to be recognised as a technical partner specialising in cultural management and mediation, contributing our experience in co-creation processes, training and evaluation of European projects.
It is in this place of mediation and cultural management that we affirm our value and commitment to building projects that connect heritage, communities, and contemporary arts.