ECHO II: Traditions in Transition is a project co-founded by Creative Europe Culture Subprogramme ‘Support for European cooperation projects’ 2020 EACEA-32-2019 – Smaller scale cooperation projects (COOP1). The Creative Europe Programme finances transnational cooperation projects, so as to help Europe’s cultural organizations cooperate across borders. Examples of transnational cooperation projects consist of cross-border exchange of works of art through lending, international tours and exhibitions, as well as co-productions, joint tours and performances of cultural organizations from different countries.

ECHO II is an international project in the field of arts, culture and heritage. It is the continuation of the ECHO pilot project implemented in 2018-2019 exploring Dark Cultural Heritage of the Balkans and within the framework of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018. ECHO II emanates from a deeper need to support and realize the concept of the EU motto “united in diversity”. In particular, traditions constitute parts of local identities that are defined by the use, re-use, change and transformation of traditions in the course of community life. These traditions shape and are shaped by the group and significantly determine their culture. The existence of significant traditions is a common element among European people. Re-exploring and revisiting traditions through a new lens can benefit communities and mobilise them in order to reconsider existing perceptions of static traditions that need to be protected and reintroduce these traditions in their group life. ECHO II focuses on Traditions in Transition. This is an alternative viewpoint to the established concept that tradition is fixed and in need of protection and as such we have to preserve it as an object of musealisation.

Alternatively, ECHO II sustains that in order to keep alive local traditions that are important for the ingroups, it is more fruitful to understand and accept their changing, dynamic character according to the each- time needs of the communities.
ECHO II aims at tightening and promoting the link between artistic creation and local traditions, enabling contemporary artistic creation based on cultural elements from different European communities, and with the participation of the following partners: Inter Alia, Sfera International, Pro Progressione, Balkan Beyond Borders, Open Space Foundation and Postscriptum.

The duration of the project is 22 months.
Discover ECHO II here: https://echo-ii.eu

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