Millions of people continue to travel the paths of exile in search of refuge, a home, and shelter.
The stories #ECOS tells carry us to the present as well,
allowing us to think about the construction
of places of belonging in Europe today.
Partner Universities and Organisations in the construction of Europe’s memories. #ECOS is a partnership between:
Centro em Rede de Investigação em Antropologia, CRIA
Associação de Exilados Políticos Portugueses, AEP61-74
Association Mémoire Vive / Memória viva
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) – tutela URMIS
Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Universidade de Copenhaga
Casa da Esquina – Associação Cultural
CRIA is an inter-institutional research unit, and the main platform in Portugal dedicated to research and scientific dissemination in the field of anthropology. Its activity contributes significantly to the building of relations with society through a variety of initiatives aimed at diverse audiences, including film festivals and seasons, museum projects, exhibitions and conferences; recently, it has been creating new platforms for the dissemination of information (eg Canal Antropologia, Podcast Entrecampos). CRIA promotes novel articulation with different university institutions, as well as with a variety of non-governmental organisations. It has collaborated in devising policies on intangible cultural heritage, being one of UNESCO’s consulting institutions; it has also been developing extensive work on contemporary mobility, following the Mediterranean crisis through different initiatives focused on these contexts.
Associação de Exilados Políticos Portugueses, AEP61-74 (Association of Portuguese Political Exiles)
AEP61-74 brings together a group of former deserters, draft evaders and Portuguese political exiles in Europe. Its goals are the publication of the book Exílios testemunhos de exilados portugueses na Europa (1961-74) (Exiles, testimonials of Portuguese exiles in Europe (1961-74)); the collection and dissemination of memories of exile in the 1960s-1970s; the creation, production and support of multimedia communication about the same period; the support and development of initiatives for peace and human rights, against war.
AEP61-74 is a non-profit organisation and is open to advocates, activists and initiatives related to these issues. It forms a package of living memories that can be shared in schools and libraries, together with information / documentation about this period of contemporary Portuguese history. Furthermore, the association contributes to the development of local tourism projects through the creation of political and nature tourism routes in the border regions, mobilising municipalities, schools, cultural societies, and local development associations.
Association Mémoire Vive / Associação Memória Viva (Living memory Society)
This group was created in 2003, in Paris, with the aim of collecting and communicate the memory of Portuguese immigration in a spirit of exchange and openness. Since its members have first-hand experience of immigration, or are linked to it through professional or private ties, it seeks to explain the historical, political, economical and social conditions surrounding the phenomena of emigration / immigration. In this sense, the association wants to act as a place of witness, but also of dialogue, research and promotion of knowledge about the ‘Other’. It works towards publishing and disseminating educational materials (books, DVDs, exhibitions) on the subjects it promotes. It is also responsible for the creation and promotion of an archive on Portuguese immigration at La Contemporaine documentation center (Université Paris Nanterre). This archive gathers a variety of materials from private donors, as well as interviews with exiles.
Center National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) – under the URMIS
CNRS is a public research organization (a public scientific and technological institution, under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation). The Centre produces knowledge, and puts that knowledge at the service of society. It has around 32,000 members (of which 24,552 are permanent staff – 11,137 researchers and 13,415 engineers, technicians, and administrative staff) and operates in all fields of knowledge, with more than 1,100 research and service units all over France. The CNRS’s participates in the project through its URMIS (Unité de Recherche Migrations et Societé) research laboratory (http://urmis.unice.fr/?lang=fr), a joint research unit supervised by the universities Paris Diderot and Nice Sophia Antipolis, the Institute for Research for Development (IRD, UMR 205) and the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS, UMR 8245).(CNRS, UMR 8245).
The New University of Lisbon participates through its Faculty of Social and Human Sciences (FCSH). This institution promotes free thinking and critical reflection as fundamental behaviours in the development of informed, responsible citizens, equipped to take on their professional activities and face the complexity and dynamics of current societies. At NOVA FCSH, one finds state-of-the-art research together with high quality teaching, bringing together the knowledge of the arts, social sciences and humanities. It will carry out scientific monitoring in all activities in the project and promote the dissemination of the finds among Portuguese society.
Copenhagen University
The University of Copenhagen (UCPH) is the largest university in Denmark, with around 40,000 students and more than 9,000 staff. According to the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2017, the UCPH is the 30th best in the world and the 6th in Europe. The University of Copenhagen participates in the project through its ENGEROM Department, which covers teaching and research in the main European languages, including subjects in the field of culture, namely literature, history, translation, and cinema. The department thus contributes to the development of knowledge in languages and cultures and to a better understanding of cultural, historical and social matters. The department is strongly committed to disseminating this knowledge not only through teaching, but also through extensive interaction with the business community, the media, schools and public institutions that depend on knowledge of historical and contemporary cultures and languages.
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Casa da Esquina – Cultural Society
Casa da Esquina was founded in Portugal in 2007. It enjoys financial support from the Portuguese Ministry of Culture, which has allowed it to promote programming and creation in four areas: 1) Theatre; 2) Artistic residencies for young creators in areas such as theatre, performance, illustration, writing, cinema and music; 3) New projects exploring issues related to living places, domesticity and artistic intervention in the urban space; 4) Esquina (‘Corner’) projects – projects created within the Casa and that become autonomous.
Casa da Esquina has co-produced projects with several institutions, including the National Theater D. Maria II, CCVF, TAGV and the Teatro Aveirense [2018]; it created educational projects for Skimstone Arts in Newcastle, UK [2011/2012], Covento de São Francisco in Coimbra [2016 and 2019] the Teatro Virgínia in Torres Novas [2017/2018 and 2018/2019], Bienal de Arte Contemporânea ANOZERO by CAPC [2015 and 2017] and Cine Teatro de Estarreja [ 2019] among others.