CALL FOR ARTISTIC & CULTURAL GROUPS
The Lelenfant project, held annually in Wrocław during the summer holidays, will take place in the second half of July in 2025. This initiative is crafted for children and adolescents aged 8-14, designed to create a peer-learning environment where „kids teach kids,” offering a global platform for young artists to develop and share their skills and perspectives, regardless of socio-economic background.
Supported by the Municipality of Wrocław since 2009, Lelenfant has grown into one of its key international projects, committed to fostering inclusion, diversity, and mutual understanding. By welcoming participants from diverse backgrounds, Lelenfant empowers young individuals who may face economic or social challenges, giving them a voice and a space to celebrate and share their unique talents.
In this creative melting pot, art becomes the universal language that transcends words, cultures, and borders. Much like the symbolism of elephants (French: l’éléphant)—known for wisdom, peace, and friendliness—children (l’enfant) carry their own innate creativity and openness. Together, they forge connections that highlight the values of empathy and acceptance.
As a successor to the #BraveKids program, Lelenfant continues its legacy, bringing even greater energy and motivation to bridge global disparities through art. It’s a project for those with big hearts, passionate about creating a future filled with cultural understanding and the joy of shared learning.
Welcome to #Lelenfant – a world of boundless creativity and compassion, where young voices inspire one another!
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT LELENFANT
The Lelenfant is a Cultural Educational and Artistic Program for children and young people (age 9 – 14 years old) from around the world in order to create a platform for participants to exchange and develop their skills and interest in an atmosphere of peer learning (so called kids teach kids).
The project has been financially supported since 2009 by the Municipality of Wrocław and is one of its key international projects with a global scope that fosters the participation and inclusion of young people through art.
With the support of artistic instructors and group leaders, young artists and adults work together to create an inclusive project for participants from different backgrounds and cultures focusing on what unites them as young artists.
Lelenfant workshops are always based on our idea of „children teach children” – peer education and intercultural education. We see great potential in every young person and we want to bring it out and strengthen it. Through joint creative work, fun and sharing each other’s skills, passion and even a helping hand, we believe that we are able to learn much more and create something unique.
The work process during the workshops is based on elements of theater, choreography or circus pedagogy with the use and based on the ideas and talents of the participants of the classes.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE THE LELENFANT ARTISTIC GROUPS?
Lelenfant Groups are made up of around 4-10 young artists accompanied by one or two adult Group Leader. The participants should be between 8 and 16 years old. Leaders must be at least 18 years of age, have strong English language proficiency, and know the children in the group well. They can be a teacher or supervisor at the children’s local organization. During the project, Group Leaders participate in their own artistic program of activities and run workshops for local children, in addition to supervising and supporting their groups.
Our project has a priority to foster inclusion which means that we invite young people coming from different social and economical backgrounds. We welcome everyone who is interested in intercultural friendship. We partner with strong, socially-minded, mission-driven organizations, but we also welcome informal groups of children who have started to practice some form of art as a way to improve their lives and their communities.
We believe that the strength of our project lies in creating it with children and young people in spirit of respect for their heritage and identity and with their full participation and agency on the final result which will be the final performance shown to a wider audience.
We invite artistic groups from any place in the world that are based on few priorities for Lelenfant Project:
– passion to practice collectively performing arts and living heritage on regular bases
– grass roots groups or NGOs
– groups that cultivate participatory rights of young people (democratic decision making approach in the artistic work and child rights philosophy)
– cultivating respect towards nature and passing the heritage of the human-nature bond of the own community to young generations
– art as a tool for social change
Lelenfant Groups consist of about 4-10 young artists accompanied by one or two adult Group Leaders.
The participants should be between 8 and 14 years old. Performing on stage will be the most important step of all, as this is when all of the arts come together and melt into one. Because of this, the artists must be confident individuals in order not to get owherwhelmed by the pressure of stage fright. For this reason we are looking for experienced artists who are sure of their abilities and are able to teach it to others.
Lelenfant 2025 will be organized in Wrocław in the second half of July in Wrocław.
1. Preparation at Homeland – Artistic and Logistic Pre-Arrangements
The first phase takes place in each group’s home city. During this stage, artists and their leaders prepare and rehearse a performance to showcase their unique artistic expression. They’ll also complete all formalities required for arrival in Poland, such as obtaining visas, tickets, and travel arrangements.
To ensure child protection, group leaders will be required to present a certificate of no criminal record. Throughout this phase, our team will collaborate closely with each group and their leaders, gathering essential information to support their stay in Poland, including dietary preferences, health details, and other specific requirements. Meetings with our team will provide leaders a clear understanding of our approach, core values, and expectations. Additionally, we’ll request stage riders to ensure smooth technical coordination.
2. Phase in Poland – Artistic Gathering in Wrocław
The second and third phases will take place in Wrocław in July 2024, where the pre-prepared choreographies will be performed.
Second Phase: Lasting approximately two weeks, this phase divides participants into three working groups (approximately 20 children total, including 4 artistic groups from Poland and abroad) who engage in parallel workshops. During this time, participants live with Polish host families from Wrocław, who care for and support them.
Final Phase: In the final 7-10 days, all groups come together to live in a shared camp in Wrocław, where they prepare for the joint grand finale performance.
Optional – Tour in August
We may offer an option to extend your stay for a few days, allowing you to present your show in other venues outside of Wrocław.
Note: This year’s program is still under preparation, so there may be minor adjustments. We’ll keep you informed about any changes as we finalize the details.
The Friendship Art Education Foundation covers the cost of food, accommodation, and local travel during the project and workshops. For groups from the Global South and from disadvantaged backgrounds, we also can cover the costs of international travel and the Schengen visa, when needed. However, we are not able to pay for issuing passports. Our ability to cover costs is determined for each group on a case by case basis. In addition, we always encourage our groups to have an active role in the search for sponsors to be able to co-finance their international travel.
✍️ Details: groups@lelenfant.org ☎️ +48 535 548 353
To learn more join our database of international groups and we will set up the meeting with you to tell you more or we will invite you to Lelenfant International Community Online Meeting.
Fill the form: https://forms.gle/R9mTFg71L2RZCAyX6
The south-western city of Wrocław was the 2016 European Capital of Culture. Wrocław, the historic capital of Silesia, is one of the biggest and oldest Polish cities.
Wrocław is full of monuments of its thousand years of history. It is best to begin visiting the town in its oldest part, or the former islands on the Odra River and its forked tributaries. The most famous of these are Ostrów Tumski and the Piasek island, a medieval residential quarter, today one of the Polish Monuments of History.
Wrocław is first Polish city to join European Coalition Against Racism (ECCAR), an initiative launched by UNESCO, a UN agency.
Check more:
https://www.poland.
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The Friendship Art Education Foundation was established in 2020 by the professional NGO people who gained several years of experience in the field of education, global cooperation, global education, multiculturalism, culture and art, as well as cooperation with non-governmental organizations and educational and cultural institutions around the world.
The Friendship Art Education has operated the Lelenfant Project (former Brave Kids) since February 2022 financed by Wroclaw Municipality and the Polish Ministry of Culture. In Foundation we share a similar vision of the world and passions.
We believe that it is possible to live peacefully and sustainably on planet Earth, therefore we invite through the Foundation’s activities to jointly search for empathetic contact with yourself, the people around us and nature.