Passionate Barents youth gathering in border town
In a four days passionate event, 80 youths from all over the Barents region will display their conceptions of Barents through art. – It will be a celebration of the good life in Barents, says the organizers in the Barents Regional Youth Council.
What is your passion? That’s the main question when 80 young Barents enthusiasts gather in the border town of Kirkenes this week. The Barents Regional Youth Council’s (BRYC) main object is to highlight the possibilities for youth living in the Barents Region and make the region more attractive for young people. By initiating the Barents Passion Week, BRYC hopes that they might come up with more conceptions of what describes youths in the Barents Region.
The event participants represent a mix of the diversity of the Barents region, with origin from different groups of people, ethnicity and culture. Naturally the slogan for the workshops is that diversity is the Barents identity.
Celebration
The Barents Passion Week’s aim is to celebrate the good life in Barents by inviting the participants to let their regional passions loose.
- We want to let youth display their passion for the region through art, says Halvard Rundberg.
Starting Thursday, there will be workshops divided on eight topics, all within different art forms. Each workshop is headed by young talented artists from the region specialising in their topic, who will guide the participants in their work.
The good life
The workshops will end up in a show in Kirkenes on Saturday in the Barents Passion Cafe, which will give some answers to the central theme; what is the good life in Barents.
- We believe that the grand finale on Saturday will give a lot of new angels and maybe some answers to what is the good life in Barents, says Ylva Marie Pavval.
The Barents Youth Programme consists of youth between 15 and 30 years from all four Barents countries. The programs aim is to contribute to increased contact among youth across borders and promote active citizenship. The Norwegian Barents secretariat is the main financial contributor to the Barents Passion Week and to the Youth Program.
