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Exhibition "Europe : from one street to the Other – Multicultural houses"
The "Europe: from One street to the Other" project, launched by the Council of Europe in the framework of its heritage education activities, took place in its pilot phase during the school years 2002-2003 and 2003-2004. Pupils aged 9-12 took part in it in more than 20 European States parties to the European Cultural Convention of the Council of Europe.
This exhibition shows some examples of houses – imaginary or real – made by pupils from nine participating schools and reflecting elements, especially multicultural ones –
"the heritage from elsewhere, the heritage of the Other" - discovered during their work on the street. The words of the children expressing their vision of Europe and of the project also accompany this exhibition.
The project offers many activities centred on a street in the neighbourhood of the young people concerned, making it possible not only to pursue an active educational approach to the school curriculum but also to reach out towards "the Other", in other words towards people who are different from them, in order to improve mutual understanding, raise awareness of Europe's cultural diversity and highlight the multicultural and intercultural aspects of Europe's common heritage.
In seeking to bring together the peoples of Europe, the project reflects one of the Council of Europe's fundamental tasks and can provide an ideal means of promoting tolerance, citizenship and peace and preventing conflicts.
By teaching the pupils to be more observant and perceptive, the project makes it possible to compare and contrast streets throughout Europe.
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Belgium
Ecole primaire les Tilleuls, Brussels
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"The street is a place where people from many countries live"
 Archaeology. Ruins of a Gallo-Roman villa and a Frankish cemetery were discovered during the foundation of the streets in our area. (1)
History. In the Middle Ages, pilgrims stopped in Anderlecht to bathe their feet in the village waters, which were well-known for their healing properties. The Chapter, a religious community devoting itself to study, gave shelter, in different periods, to Dietman of Bremen (Philip the Good’s doctor), a number of outstanding prelates and scholars like Adrian of Utrecht (later to become Pope Adrian VI), the philosopher and humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam and the geographer Mercator. (2)
Architecture. The Béguinage building has its origins in a Rhenish context; in Erasmus' house, we can admire the wall-coverings of Cordoba leather. In 1612, an Italian painter Remiggio Cantagalina created water-colours here of ruins of the castle of Aa, as well as pen-and-ink drawings of St Guidon’s church. (3)
Nowadays, the area is multicultural. We find children of 17 nationalities in our school. In the streets we can see Greek, Italian, Portuguese and Chinese restaurants, where one can drink the famous Brussels Geuze flavoured with Macedonian raspberries. (4). |
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France
Ecole primaire, Saint Romain
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"Europe is a continent composed of multiple countries which are united and will never make war"
Sometimes by digging the ground, we find pottery, coins, or even sarcophagi of sandstone. It proves that our village is very ancient and received elements from other countries. (2)
Inscription stones: on one house there are messages in English, German, Hebrew or Latin, one of these phrases tells us that the house is open to any honourable man. (7)
In the land register of the city council, there's a gentleman named Jean-Christian Volhoff: he bought house n° 3, lives in Switzerland and was born in Sofia (Bulgaria). (8)
A native of St Romain, Auguste Ponsot, travelling around the Turkish Empire saw some people burn gum benjamin (benzoin) in their houses. As soon as he came back to France, he invented the incense paper, called "Armenian" and made with gum benjamin and 90° alcohol. It smells good when it burns. (9)
Macadam: this surfacing used in all streets is named after its Scottish inventor McAdam (1756-1835). (10)
Barrels produced in our place are sold to different countries of Europe and throughout the world; our wine goes to England, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Greece, Belgium, etc. (12)
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Georgia
The Byron School, Tbilisi
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"A continent with countries which have things in common"
The façade of the house bears witness to the history of the city, with features of Renaissance, Baroque and Moorish styles alongside local traits. At the end of the 19th Century, Art Nouveau and pseudo-Georgian styles prevailed. (3)
Well-to-do Georgians used to furnish their houses in "European" and "traditional Georgian" styles, with Chippendale tables, commodes, Becker pianos, oil paintings by European artists, Sèvres china, books by Shakespeare, Byron, Hugo, Balzac, Heine, Goethe and others in the original. They dressed in European clothes - "thanks to the French colony, composed mainly of dressmakers and merchants of Paris fashions and linens, Georgian women are behind the fashion in the Opera Italien and the Boulevard de Gand by only two weeks", wrote Alexander Dumas. (4)
Many Georgian houses of the 19th Century still preserve a Latin inscription "Salve" ("welcome") inlaid in marble tiles at the front entrance. (7)
From the backyard, one can see the Mushtaid Gardens, designed in the 1830s by the religious leader of Shiites, Mujtahid, whose wife was Georgian and was buried in this garden. In 1935, the first children's railway began to function here. (9)
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Hungary
Gárdonyi Géza Általá Iskola Szeretet, Miskolc
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"European countries are like a large family"
The picture from Hungary offers a view of the Tulip House built in 1910 by Miklós Korach for Dr Singer Henrik (14), a physician. This was built at the cross-roads of North-South and East-West transport routes, near a stream, and presents a marvellous example of Secession style; (2) Besides this, one can find many elements that come from elsewhere – from abroad or other places in Hungary:
Pavement of special stone (1): formed of pebble and cement from Alsózsolca and Hejocsaba, Hungary; terracotta ornaments from Mályi made by Eva Varga from Miskolc, Hungary (3, 13); balconies with wrought iron grids: iron techniques brought from Germany (7); Romanesque windows made of wood from Transylvania (8); geranium and plants from cooler and wetter areas: Austria, Switzerland, Germany (12). The building accommodated a lively trade – most of the goods came from Europe, Turkey and China (11). A memorial tablet on its wall commemorates the very young Emese Misley killed during the Revolution in 1956 (9). Pigeons and swallows come here to make their nests (10).
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Italy
Istituto Comprensivo, 4 Novembre, Roma
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"Europe: from one street to the Other means: to go from the point of view of a street to the point of view of a person"
In Rome approximately 200.000 cats live free in green areas and in the ruins. (1)
The rooflight was a kind of big window on the roof to illuminate the staircase. (2)
Windows and shutters: the first shutters were used in Spain (16th Century). (3)
Many artists from different countries lived here: e.g. R. Wagner, J. Keats, W. Goethe, G. D’Annunzio, A. Canova, P. Mascagni. (4)
The laundry: room used by all tenants to wash clothes. In the 19th Century, people washed their clothes in the river Tiber or in public places. (5)
* The craftsman’s shop (now almost vanished) was often near to his house or in it. (6)
The couture-house: Roman nobility followed English fashion for gentlemen and Parisian fashion for ladies. Nowadays, the boutiques of the most famous Italian and foreign fashion designers are in this area. (7)
* The baker: Roman bakers bake and sell many different kind of bread. (8)
The tavern: this was the traditional place for meetings and popular pastimes; people could socialise, eat, drink, play, sing and dance the “salterello”. In the tavern, poetry competitions took place – and sometimes conspiracy too. (9)
The “sacrae aediculae”: As Rome was the centre of Christianity, the residence of the Pope, made the city a “holy place” by antonomasia. (10)
The “sampietrini”: little paving stones from a volcanic rock, roughly cut into a pyramidal or prismatic shape, and found in other countries, whose name comes from the workers who paved San Peter’s Square. (11)
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Lithuania
Kauno Panemunes Pradine Mokykla, Kaunas
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"Europe’s a nice and peaceful corner in the world where people live in friendship and community"
The architecture of the house is not typical of the traditional Lithuanian style; it is mainly Gothic, influenced by German and French styles. It was built at the end of the 15th Century as a dwelling house, probably for a merchant of the Hanseatic League. Situated near the estuary of the river Nemunas at the crossing of East-West and North-South routes (wood, furs, honey, grain, tar), it could serve as the Hansa's office.
In 1643, it was reconstructed and became a Jesuit chapel, then a school, and in the middle of the 19th Century, the first drama and opera theatre was founded here. Its repertoire included operas of Rossini, Donizetti, etc. In the middle of the 20th Century, it became an archaeological museum.
Today you can find a souvenir shop here and an information centre for the numerous tourists that come to visit our country and the city of Kaunas. To the left, on the first floor, there’s a pleasant café. You can order Italian and Lithuanian meals but most of the food products, vegetables and fruit come from Southern Europe and Africa. On the second floor, there are two big exhibition halls where the works of famous European and Lithuanian artists are presented.
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