Snapshots of history International youth exchange Chernivtsi, Ukraine, 5-18 of August 2013 Call for participants About the project “Snapshots of history” youth exchange will gather 26 participants from 5 countries (Ukraine, Italy, Moldova, Estonia and Slovakia) in Chernivtsi, with aim to explore history of the city, exchange about history and remembrance in European context, and discover multi-cultural community of Chernivtsi. Participants will study history of the city through replicating historic postcards and making photos of modern look of same places, discovering stories and histories behind photographed places, interaction of different minorities of this multi-cultural city, and making a photo exhibition of historic postcards and their modern replicas. The exchange program and exhibition will cover such places as Metropolitan residence becoming university and UNESCO world heritage site, Jewish temple becoming cinema, national houses of ethnic minorities, historic cemeteries, area which was Ghetto during WW2, town districts which were populated by different ethnic groups etc. The program of the exchange, and the exhibition will reflect special feature of the city - its multi-ethnic and multi-cultural history and community: stories of Jewish, Polish, Romanian-Moldovan, German-Austrian, Ukrainian life in Chernivtsi, as well as interaction between different ethnic groups (as Trayan Popovici case when Romanian mayor saved almost 20 000 Jews, and Jewish girl Miriam Taylor surviving ghetto in Chernivtsi, or Romanian and Turkish mass graves at the Jewish cemetery etc). Below you can find more info, historic and cultural background of Chernivtsi, and http://goo.gl/maps/r33Nx here you can find virtual tour around the city. The project is organized with support of Youth in Action programme Executive Agency. The program of the youth exchange will include following activities: workshops and discussions in the group on memory and remembrance, history, multiculturalism meeting representatives of different ethnic minorities, learning about their history free time, excursions and study trips in Chernivtsi and around, research and learning about historic buildings and areas of the city photography work in the city to replicate historic postcards and prepare exhibition of historic postcards and their modern replicas, promotion of exhibition in the city, preparing workshops and discussions with guest speakers during the exhibition photo exhibition “Snapshots of history”, collecting its materials and preparing possible follow up (for instance photo blog with virtual exhibition) Financial conditions All costs concerning meals and accommodation, as well as the program and materials will be fully covered for the whole duration of the youth exchange. Travel costs will be reimbursed 70% with the following maximum: 50 Euro for Moldova, 100 Euro for Ukraine, 350 Euro for Estonia and 250 Euro for Slovakia. We encourage you to consider environmental impact of the trip, and use environmentally friendly transport means. Participants profile: Able to work in English, knowledge of Russian would be an asset Interest and motivation to participate to the project and contribute to its program with ideas, information, proposals for discussions etc. Interest in history, multiculturalism and photography Between 18 and 25 years old Available to join for the whole duration of the project Resident in one of the 5 countries involved in the project Application procedure Deadline for applications is July 5th, 2013 A completed application form with any other relevant information shall be sent to: Ukraine – incoming@svit-ukraine.org Italy Slovakia Estonia Moldova All candidates will be informed by email about the decision shortly after the deadline Looking forward to welcome you in Chernivtsi! Chernivtsi – historic and creative background for the project Chernivtsi (Ukrainian:Чернівці́, Romanian: Cernăuți, Polish: Czerniowce, German and Yiddish: Czernowitz) is a regional center in Western Ukraine, close to the Carpathians. Along with Lviv, it is considered to be a cultural center of Western Ukraine. The city has a rich history, architecture and cultural background (in different periods it was part of the Turkish Empire, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, The Kingdom of Romania and The Soviet Union. The city is called “little Vienna” or “European Alexandria” because of its rich cultural and historic background and very multi-national community. According to the population census in 2001, 65 different nationalities are living in the city, which has a total population of about 250 000 residents. One of the biggest ethnic groups is Jewish, and before the 2nd World War, the Jewish minority was playing an important part in the life of the city. One of the traces left by the Jewish community is a cemetery of the 19th and first half of the 20th century, which has many tomb stones made by famous artists. During the 2nd World War the Jewish population suffered terrible losses at the hands of the Nazis. Those who survived the war mostly emigrated. Other bigger nationalities are: Romanians, Poles, Russians and Ormanians. Romanian and Polish community the same as Ukrainian and Jewish are organized within National Houses and publish their own newspapers. This multinational history and culture is visible during two festivals, organized in the city: Folk Festival: “Bukovinian Meetings’ and International Poetry Festival “Meridian Czernowitz”. The name of the city, as one of the versions says, comes from Chorne misto (black town), as people called a fortress built in that area around the 13th century, which was destroyed by nomadic tribes and rebuilt on the right bank of the Prut river. The first time the town is mentioned in written documents is October 8, 1408, in letters given to traders from Lviv. This date is now considered as the “birthday of the city”. In the second half of 19th century many buildings were built in the city, which made it famous: the University - former Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans and Unesco World Heritage Site, Philharmonics building, the Palace of Justice (now Regional administration), the Drama theater, city hall, Polish, Ukrainian, Jewish and Romanian National Houses and many others. Among the cultural and historic monuments of the city are two cemeteries, which are located close to each other: the old Christian and the Jewish cemeteries, which are both part of one history heritage site, since 2008 there are volunteer projects organized to clean Jewish cemetery from weedy vegetation, and preserve it in order to revive the memory of the Jewish history of the city and the contribution the Jewish community to its development. The city, which used to have more book-stores than bakeries, and speaking 5 languages, has a lot of stories to share – of its buildings, streets, and people. Some stories are well known – former synagogue becoming cinema, Romanian city mayor Trayan Popovici rescuing 20 000 Jews from deportation, Jewish girl Miriam Taylor surviving ghetto in Chernivtsi, as well as stories of famous people from Chernivtsi – as Paul Celan, Rose Auslaender, Mihai Eminescu, Olga Kobylyanska and many others – who created what we know now as cultural mythos of Chernivtsi.