Charpashey - Look Around!

Since 2007 the Goethe-Institut Calcutta (India) conducts the long term project „Charpashey“ in cooperation with ECOMOVE International. „Charpashey“ is Bengali and means „Look around!“ and was the slogan of a photo competition and a stage play for students in Calcutta and Hamburg in the past year.

In 2008 „Charpashey II“ addressed children in the age of 13 – 16 years with a short film project (1-minute-films) and encouraged them to make use of one of the most cherished gadgets: the mobile phone. In Calcutta and Hamburg students shot microfilms on issues to do with the environment and telling from two cultural areas.

The results have been posted on the existing website of the Goethe-Institut and have been enhanced with workshops to deepen the artistic and cinematographic potential of the participants. Visitors of the website could keep track of all the entries and vote for their favourite film. A jury of experts finally awarded a prize for the best film and compiled a selection of the best submissions.

The projects intention was to encourage children from both countries to take a closer look at their immediate environment - drawing our attention to things, issues, possibly even solutions that have hitherto escaped our (“adult”) attention. It tried to foster the cultural brigde between India and Germany and wanted to encourage young people in developing an awareness for the global responsibility of a sustainable development. The use of modern digital media in particular allowed an interactive exchange of experiences among the participants.

The following schools have participated in the project in Hamburg:

Gymnasium Allermöhe
Rudolf-Roß-Gesamtschule
Gesamtschule Harburg
Albert-Schweizer-Schule (Klein Borstel)