In 1998, Roxana Vilk and I were asked by the founder of War Child “Holland” to establish a community music and arts project in the Republic of Georgia. We co-founded the creative music and arts programme between 1998-2001 collaborating with Dee Isaacs, Miriam Nabarro, Prof Nigel Osborne, Tony Pesikan….
After an initial assessment of needs visit on the ground, travelling most major towns to the West in Kutaisi, Zugdidi, a week long winter camp in Bakuriani and liasing with the United Nations, Medecins Sans Frontieres and local NGO’s we set up the blueprint for a long term project - which is still active across Georgia today!!
In Tbilisi, the capital, a project with street children centre and orphanage was established, in collaborations with local NGO “FDHR”; weekly music, arts and education programmes were born, many of which, are still active today
In Zugdidi, on the frontline with self-proclaimed Republic of Abkhazia, we teamed up with local NGO “Atanati” - this programme worked with young IDP’s (Internally Displaced Persons) establishing a creative and therapeutic outlet for children who have suffered from the trauma of conflict and ongoing tensions.
Drum, dance, song, mask, visual paint, sound design, cello, guitar, saxophone, congas, djembe, dun dun,
The 3 of us Roxana, Toni & Pete teamed up with a local busking duo of guitar and baritone saxophone and collaborated on a full week’s residency at the Jazz Bar in Tbilisi in 1999.
The creative team responsible for making this project a huge success between 1998 and 2001 and helped put it where it is today were Roxana Vilk, Anton Pesikan, Dee Isaacs, Miriam Nabarro and Prof.Nigel Osborne. With financial setup from War Child Holland, our labour in kind and exit-strategy collaboration with War Child Holland.
Pete shared these experiences of working on frontline community music, collaborated with other practitioners and led sessions for training of new musicians going into Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Bosnia during Weekend Courses for War Child in 1999 & 2001 in Amsterdam & Edinburgh
