Children's culture flourishes – 42 projects receive funding
Two projects connected to the City of Hafnarfjörður receive a grant. The allocation for the Icelandic Children's Culture Fund took place yesterday, and 42 projects received a grant from the fund this year. The fund's role is to support a diverse range of activities in the field of children's culture, with an emphasis on creativity, the arts, and the active participation of children in cultural life. The City of Hafnarfjörður received a grant for the project 'The Youth Town Council', a role-playing game. Another project, FLY – Iceland 2, which is linked to three primary schools in the municipality, also received a grant.
Children's culture is flourishing – two projects connected to the City of Hafnarfjörður receive a grant
Allocation Children's Culture Fund of Iceland took place yesterday, with 42 projects receiving a grant from the fund this year. This was the second allocation of the fund, which was established to mark the centenary of full sovereignty. The fund's purpose is to support a wide range of activities in the field of children's culture, with an emphasis on creativity, the arts, and the active participation of children in cultural life. The City of Hafnarfjörður received a grant for the project 'Youth Town Council', a role-playing game connected to an exhibition by the artist duo Ólafur Ólafsson and Libia Castro, which will be staged at Hafnarborg this winter. Another project, FLY – Iceland 2, which involves three primary schools in the municipality, also received a grant.
Children's culture flourishes: 42 projects receive a grant from the Children's Culture Fund of Iceland. Photo: Stjórnarráðið
A total of 112 applications were received this year, with an emphasis on projects meeting the diverse needs of children and young people. To this end, factors such as age, background, ability, economic circumstances and place of residence are taken into account. Furthermore, the fund's allocation also takes into account the emphasis of the current cultural policy on collaboration between institutions, schools, voluntary organisations and individuals.
About the Youth Town Council
The Youth Town Council is a role-playing game for one year group from Hafnarfjörður's primary schools, where young people take on the role of town councillors for a day and work on issues of their own choosing. The project is linked to an exhibition by the artist duo Ólafur Ólafsson and Libia Castro, which will be staged at Hafnarborg this winter. It explores the constitution of the Republic of Iceland, as the duo have spent the last 10 years working with the constitution and freedom of expression in their work.
The project promotes the democratic participation of children in society through an active connection with cultural life. In the project, children have the opportunity to experience a performance that explores how the constitution and freedom of expression are the foundation of democracy in Icelandic society. Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees children the right to express their views in all matters that concern them, and the project will work with their real ideas and convey them to the authorities. Democratic working methods are the top priority for the young people to gain a better understanding of through the project. In addition, the project aims to enhance students' understanding of the organisational structure of the City of Hafnarfjörður, the functions of the town council, and democratic working methods. Representatives of the Hafnarfjörður Youth Council will advise on the preparations and will ultimately finalise and present the proposals to be worked on in the Youth Town Council for the Hafnarfjörður Town Council. The first group is expected to meet on the 15th. October, on the Day of Civic Awareness and Democracy, but the Council of Europe encourages local authorities in its member states to organise a Democracy Week around this date. On this day in 1985, the European Charter of Local Self-Government was opened for signature.
About FLY – Iceland 2
FLY – ICELAND 2 is a continuation of a project that aims to introduce new teaching methods in the field of visual storytelling in primary schools. The project is based on workshops for teachers and their pupils, along with the creation of teaching materials and the sharing of knowledge and experience from a similar project in Denmark. The first part of the project received support from the Children's Cultural Fund in 2019. It is Ari Hlynur Guðmundsson Yates, in collaboration with The Animation Workshop/VIA University College in Viborg, the Department of Art Education at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, Lækjarskóli, Setbergsskóli and Hraunvallaskóli in Hafnarfjörður, Garðaskóli in Garðabær, Fellaskóli in Reykjavík and Landvernd, who applied for funding for the project.
For example, students from Lækjarskóli, Setbergsskóli and Hraunvallaskóli have already taken part in a short film-making workshop with Martin Spenner from Lommefilm, thereby joining this international FLY project, which aims to engage with and use film literacy in the teaching of children and young people. The acronym FLY stands for Fly Literacy Years. The origins of the FLY partnership project can be traced to Denmark, but the project has a wide reach and has been establishing itself in Iceland in recent months and years. The development of a collaborative network of teachers in Iceland is underway, connecting with an international network of teachers with the aim of sharing methods that use short film and animation creation as a tool and methodology in teaching.