MOSAIC - The training kit for Euro-Mediterranean youth work

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Variations
As an alternative, participants could be given the task of creating a monument out of
different materials (paper, card, wood, etc.) instead of using their bodies. This has the
advantage that the monuments can themselves become a fixture in the room where
you are working, a reminder of the participants’ initial perceptions.
You may wish to provide the groups with themes to work on, rather than asking them
to decide on this among themselves. This might be helpful either when time is short
or when there are sensitive issues that you do not wish to address in this forum.
Ideas for action
Ask participants to carry out a study of monuments or other official representations of
the past that are to be found in the local neighbourhood. Ask them to think about the
extent to which these monuments might have influenced their view of the locality.
Would the presence of other monuments have encouraged a different view?
Suggestions for follow-up
You could follow up this activity with “Heroines and heroes” from Compass, which
looks specifically at gender stereotypes and the role they play in the retelling of history.
Alternatively, try Activity 6 “Did I forget something?” in this T-kit, which looks at
personal memories of conflict and points up the selective nature of the way we
perceive past events.
Further information
The activity was inspired by the work of Augusto Boal, founder of the Theatre of the
Oppressed, and also by an activity in www.facinghistory.org. Various other methods of the
Theatre of the Oppressed can be found in: Augusto Boal, Games for actors and non-actors,
London: Routledge (1992) or at www.theatreoftheoppressed.org.
Making memories