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Youth Exchange: Strip it! The naked truth about xenophobia drawn by young comic artists
Start date: Sep 1, 2009,

Strip ¡t! Is a 9-day youth-exçhange held in Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia in the third week of September 2Q09. It gives young and creative comic-writers of 5 different European countries the chance to explore the power of the image as a communication tool in getting to know more about other cultures and countries. The project revolves around the theme of European Superheroes. Participants f rom Spain, Serbia, Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Croatia create, throughout the week, comics and cartoons in which the so-called European Superheroes represent common European values like tolerance and liberty, while European Villains represent common concerns such as xenophobia and prejudice. The objective of the project Is to experience European cultural diversity first hand, and to learn to appreciate these differences while also exploring our common values and shared cultural beliefs. The superhero genre fits the objective perfectly: the black-and-white moral world of the superhero confronts us directly with our differences and our shared values. Will a superhero defending gay rights be equally popular with all participants? Should The Separatist be a hero or a villain?Belgrade is chosen as venue, because the city has been be the blooming centre of the Ex-Yugoslavian comic-writers-underground. Too, it is the urban crossroad of different European cultures, such as the central-european, the oriental, meditteranean and slavonie eastern and offer therefore the perfect ambiance to do exercises In which the participants discuss cultural diversity. A practical reason for choosing Belgrade as venue is that the locally based SKC will be organizing a Comic-Fest at the end of september. The results of YE Strip iti, in the form of some comic-stories on European Superheroes, will be exposed and presented during the Belgrade Comic Fest in SKC, This presentation will focus on the European dimension of cross-border cooperation between young artists and contribute to the awareness of the European citizen. Being part of European culture is not so strange to comic Writers anymore, who traditionally have a broad view and International orientation - due to the marginal and "undergrounď'-posltion of this type of art.Other planned results and follow-ups of the YE are the publication of the stories, written and drawn during this YE, and the start of an internet community of young European-minded comic-writers from all over the continent. This internet community will have a space where comic writers can keep in touch, comment on each others' work and get inspired to develop new ideas and stories.

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