A creative educational programme for young people in unstable regions of former Yugoslavia with unsolved ethnic problems, conceived to help in establishing a dialogue between the citizens of different national groups.

The programme is conducted in various regions with groups of 20 young people of different nationalities. Photography is used during the process as a tool as one of the most objective art mediums for establishing communication. The photographs produced by young people on different subjects during the process of the workshops become a reference point for their mutual communication. During the period of 13 weeks, young people learn to observe the world, their lives and the lives of others more openly and with less prejudice. The final products of the project are exhibitions in the cities where workshops were conducted, as well as in the major cities of the region, and a publication with the photographs and the statements of all participants.

After the wars in the former Yugoslavia, there are still many unsolved problems and possible zones of conflict in the region. Before the civil war, Yugoslavia was famous for its multi-ethnic character and the fact that all these different nations and religions lived together in peace in the same territory. After the war, nationalities of the former country were divided and lived with growing prejudice and animosity towards each other. Despite democratic changes happening in all countries of the region, societies still remain closed and xenophobic. One of the big problems that is still waiting to be solved is the lack of capability to face war crimes of the past and establish genuine communication between different nationalities.

That is the major reason why organisers think that these kinds of workshops and alternative, creative educational programmes with young people in the region are still more than necessary. The Communication project challenges and examines the possibilities for a constant dialogue between members of different ethnic groups, while applying the communication methods based upon photography workshops.

The Communication project started in 2005 in the South Serbia region with a group of 20 young Albanians, Serbs and Roma of high school age. The idea was to create a group of young people to work together in an environment where they don't have much chance to meet and communicate, even though they live in the same city. In the first stage of the project, organisers decided to work in the city of Bujanovac, since the south of Serbia is still the most prone to future crises - not only because of its closeness to Kosovo, but also because of the extreme poverty in that part of the country. After the results from the first year of the project, Kiosk decided to continue working on the project in three more areas of the region. In 2006 workshops were held in South Serbia, Kosovo, Sandzak and Vojvodina. Three more Belgrade-based artists were involved in the second year of the project as trainers and total of 80 young people went through the process.

The major target group of the Communication project are young high-school age children, the future decision-makers in the region. The organiser's feeling is that it is more than necessary for them to establish a dialogue with their peers of different nationalities and overcome the prejudice for the well-being of the future in the region. The target group of the project is also local communities of the regions where workshops are held, since during the process of the workshops, families, friends and neighbours of the participants are involved in the project as subjects of many photographs. Finally, the target group of the Communication project is the wider public of the former Yugoslavia region, since exhibitions and promotions of the publication are public events with strong media coverage.

The project includes:

1. Preparation of the project: creation of partner organisations network, selection of the participants, training of the artists/ photographers.
2. Workshops:13 workshops in each city, one workshop dedicated to the organised field trip. Participants are producing photos on 12 different subjects and these photographs serve as a base for their communication and exhibitions and promotional material; their discussions and workshop process are documented for the promotional materials of the project.
3. Preparation of the presentation of the project: editing of the photographic material produced in the workshops; scanning of the photographic material; graphic design of the publication; preparation of the texts for the publication; translating of all texts; work on the material for documentary video material; printing photographs for the exhibition; organising exhibitions in all cities where workshops were conducted and the final exhibition in Belgrade.

The role of artists collaborating with Kiosk on the Communication project is to act as workshop coordinators. Local partner organisations are helping the organiser to select a group of workshop participants and to find a work place where the workshops are conducted. During the course of the workshops, they act as local group coordinators. In the promotional phase of the project, they help Kiosk to organise local exhibitions.

The most important aim and result of the project is enabling communication between young people of different nationalities and the promotion of multi-ethnic dialogue. Participants of the workshops are gaining basic knowledge of photography and photographic tradition as well as working methods in multi-ethnic workshops that they could use in simillar projects in the future. They are trained to think critically and to take a more active role in the community. Since 2005 there was a total of 100 young people from the region involved in the project. Three local non-governmental organisations worked with Kiosk on the project and gained the basic skills to conduct this specific kind of workshops. Three Belgrade-based artists were trained to conduct the workshops. The Communication project was presented at nine exhibitions in Serbia and abroad and in two publications. Media coverage of both years of the project was excellent so the project gained visibility and public recognition.

Kiosk is working on the fundraising for the third year of the project that will take place in South Serbia, Sandzak, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. In this phase of the project, a Regional Youth Action Platform will be created and it will gather participants of the project starting from 2005. In cooperation with local partners, Kiosk will try to provide participants with the basic facilities (such as working space, computers with internet access they could use, etc.) for their future involvement in the Platform. Also, Kiosk will create a Communication Web Platform so participants from different regions will be able to get in touch with each other, but also to show their work or share opinions with young people from around the world, since the project will be linked with the similar initiatives abroad. Kiosk will continue with the practice of presenting the project at exhibitions, but it will also be possible for interested people to buy photographic works of the project's participants. By doing that, it will enable a fund for initiatives happening through the Youth Action Platform.

Cross-cultural cooperation is important for the more than visible reason of rising xenophobia and national and religious animosities in today's society. Very often, art and culture are the only real grounds for dialogue, so in cases where any other dialogue does not exist, it might be said that it is the responsibility of contemporary culture to enable it or initiate it if possible.

The project is funded by international organisations. The first year of the project was funded by Olof Palme International Center (13,500 EUR) and the second year by the British Embassy in Belgrade (50,000 GBP).