Aim of the project Specially Unknown is to promote the participation of refugees (TCN’s) in cultural life and society through the dissemination of the results of the Dutch oral history project Ongekend Bijzonder by implementing its innovative methods (life stories, co-creation & cultural productions) in collaboration with partners in 4 EU cities (Antwerp, Paris, Bochum, Turin) as well as to investigate in 9 Member States (NL, BE, FR, DE, IT, GR, HU, PT and SE) how cultural participation can be used as an instrument for the integration of refugees in society overall.

Activities:
Trained 16 to 32 bilingual fieldworkers (m/f) collect 40 life stories of refugees from selected communities in each city.160 interviews will be transcribed, translated into English and made accessible in collaboration with archives.
Refugee communities organize in co-creation with cultural institutions, artistic presentations based on the interviews.
A Delphi panel study in 9 Member States on cultural participation of refugees (experiences and expectations) in order to develop further policies.
A European conference in Amsterdam to evaluate and disseminate the results and develop policy advice on the integration and participation of TCN’s in social activities and cultural life within the EU.
Ca. 250 TCN (m/f, age 10-70) and 45 organisations will be directly involved. A general public of ca. 40.000 people will be reached. The project contributes to the capacity building of the fieldworkers; new working relationships between TCN’s and cultural institutions; empowerment of refugee communities and active contribution to the diversification of heritage collections. The results will be of use to other heritage institutes and governments. The interviews will teach us about the experiences of refugees with integration. Outputs: 160 interviews (in European research database), 4 to 8 artistic productions, policy advice on social and cultural participation in EU Member states and educational material.

The project has its own website: speciallyunknown.eu