Impact Stories: Art as a pedagogical tool
Art and Languages
Our various stays gave us the opportunity to immerse ourselves in a constant mix of foreign
languages. While English was the official language, arrangements were made to allow us to communicate with each other. This was the case, for example, with our exchanges with the Italian team, which took place in a joyful blend of Latin languages. A sixth Latin language emerged, blending Italian, Portuguese, French, and Spanish without any specific rules.
We experienced the difficulty of making ourselves understood precisely. English is an ideal language for communication, but for me, it hinders and limits me in expressing my feelings precisely.
In any case, being immersed in languages and having no choice but to speak, accepting sentences full of errors, is educational. Once we agree to let go of the precision of our sentences and invest more than necessary in body language, things become fluid. It’s a wonderful experience of immersion and learning. Understanding and expressing oneself is more about the desire to
connect than about language level.
Upon returning from Muizeberg, this experience was put to good use in a project on the German border called Art and Languages. We spent two weeks in schools and colleges in villages in the Vosges Mountains, using theater and storytelling to teach languages. We had to work on German, English, and Spanish. The goal was to immerse the students in the language and ask them to speak even if they only had a few words. We performed, drew, and danced in foreign languages.
The result of this immersion was convincing because, beyond academic learning, we were able to associate the foreign language with play and fun. For our part, the experience was similar. I didn’t speak a word of German at the beginning, and I left with a whole range of words and expressions without having made any effort… The magic of the group!
Milena Lachmanowits, L’Engrainé (France)
Healing through Art – a Visit of the Butterfly Art Project.
In the midst of the township, in the midst of a place that has been abandoned by governmental institutions and structures, there lies this sanctuary of colorful painted walls, green surroundings and emotional nourishment. Through the support of people who work their magic with art therapy, children can face their trauma in a secure place and develop an artistic form of expression and thus commence the process of inner healing.
The mission is visible even through the property itself – once you open the gate, a green field welcomes you, a colorful painted house meets your gaze, along with the lovingly restored and upcycled garden in front of it – one can see what the aim of this place is: Creating a community of healed people.
How precious this place is and the people that fill it with life and motivation! Working at the roots of trauma can plant a seed of change. I could feel it growing there, in this hopeful place.
Sarah Pint, Starkmacher e.V. (Germany)
Big Game / Kamishibai
We’re increasingly developing the great game tool during our gatherings. It’s about creating an atmosphere, a setting, a theme, and playing with it. Participants are assigned roles and must create a space that they will decorate according to the atmosphere they wish to create. Typically, there are six or seven
different spaces and about ten organizers. The audience moves from one location to another to solve a riddle that will end the game.
The idea is to create collaboration: collective development of a riddle, the setting created by the group, and the audience must interact to reach the solution…
Beyond that, the game develops creative skills and gives each member their own role (actor, decorator, mediator). The game’s theme also has an educational value, as the topics covered aim to introduce participants to a specific area. In the case of our stay in Aniane, the idea is to share knowledge about French farming and winemaking traditions.
The game lasts approximately two hours and ends with a large gathering where the teams present their findings to the group. The outcome is collaborative, and no winner is chosen.
During our festival, we would like to introduce this great game in several languages with the help of our foreign partners. In addition to introducing the tool, it will allow our audience to learn from our guests about language, culture, and tradition.
This will also be an opportunity to work on artistic expression, which is one of the key themes of our project.
Milena Lachmanowits, L’Engrainé (France)
Upside-Down Theatre
The first thing I noticed was the dust. Then the debris. Then, lying across the dirt like a forgotten stage prop, a weathered, upside-down sign that once read THEATRE.
This was Vrygrond — a township on the outskirts of Muizenberg, South Africa. The moment I took that photo, I wrote:
“Is there any time to process? Any space where thoughts can soak up?”
It felt like a theatre of inequalities: disorienting, raw, and painfully real. But as I soon discovered, the script being written here was one of resistance, healing, and imagination.
We were guided through this environment by Bryan, a local resident who grew up sorting through the city’s waste just to make ends meet. His work — hands deep in garbage, eyes fixed on survival — exposed him to the brutal gaps in our global systems. Yet Bryan did not speak from a place of bitterness. With grace and strength, he shared how he now supports community-led sustainability efforts, advocating for dignity and education. It was humbling. In that conversation — his openness, his patience, his pride — I felt something shift. He wasn’t just answering my questions. He was handing me a mirror.
Later that day, we visited two remarkable projects nestled within the same township: the Butterfly Art Project and the Vrygrond Peace Garden. At BAT, I witnessed how children who face violence and instability are given the tools to express their inner worlds through art. Zaid, one of the educators, embodied calm leadership. Through paint, rhythm, and color, the children were rewriting their own stories. It was clear: this was not just art. This was healing.
A short walk away, the Vrygrond Peace Garden revealed another layer of community resilience. Amid urban sprawl and economic hardship, this vibrant green space—supported by Amava Oluntu—teaches urban farming, environmental stewardship, and food sovereignty. I paused to watch a bee land on a yellow flower. It struck me how, in this garden, beauty and resistance grow from the same soil.
What I experienced in Vrygrond changed my understanding of sustainability. No longer is it just about systems, structures, or strategy. It’s about people. About small wings flapping — a mural painted, a seed planted, a child listened to — and the ripple effects those acts can have on entire communities. It’s about building futures rooted in care, creativity, and connection.
Back at my organization, this experience has become a compass. I now approach projects not only through technical lenses but through human ones. We need to prioritize partnerships with grassroots leaders. We need to ask deeper questions, making more room in our schedules for listening.
The upside-down theatre wasn’t just an image of despair. It was a prompt: to look again, to think differently, and to begin anew.
Ivana Ristovska, Eufemia (Italy)
Body Theatre and Culture
Theater in another country allows you to learn how to communicate. In Muizenberg, we attended a play for young audiences intended for schoolchildren. The first striking feature for me, as a European, was the students‘ origins. While the law dictates that colors must be mixed, all the schoolchildren are Black. I imagine that in other places they are all white, and that diversity remains a vague concept. Once I realized this, I felt the joy of this group of children. They were excited and totally open to the theatrical experience. I don’t know if this is a rare or recurring event, but the fact is that they were happy to be there.
The play is in several languages. If I understand correctly, the actors alternate between English, Xhosa, and Zulu, and the students can identify more or less strongly with certain passages, depending on their origins. For me, creating a multilingual piece to respond to the cultural complexity of the country is something new.
The play is also very musical, rhythmic, and dance-like. It evokes memories through song and sets the body in motion. At the end, after a few questions, the connection between the stage and the audience is established through the body. Dances, sounds, and animal poses are reproduced.
There’s a mix between the Anglo-Saxon aspect of the „show“ with a presenter, an awards
ceremony, a very enthusiastic tone, and something deeper that comes through a lively and direct connection in dance and music.
How this influences my practice?
For me, it was a very instructive and moving moment.
Until now, I would develop a discussion after the show and then move on to games. This play seen in Muizenberg made me want to mix things up. From now on, I create endings to shows where we create a connection through the body before moving on to workshops with the children. From now on, I hope to end each theater workshop by sharing a physical experience with the children and teenagers in front of us.
Milena Lachmanowits, L’Engrainé (France)