Poetry and art promote spiritual and cultural development for traditionally excluded groups. The Medellin Poetry Festival is a path to confront violence related to other forms of human rights violations such as exclusion. 120000 people from all social strata attend the Festival, which helps build peace and coexistence through congregational, learning and social inclusion practices. This project aims to hold three 23 Festival events (10000 people) and broadcast one of them on local TV
Colombia: 3 generations of youths have been lost in war, and subjected to social, cultural and political exclusion. Poetry and arts must act, restoring their ability to become more involved citizens, through the regenerating exercise of language. The vulnerability of the social fabric of Medellin leads to dispersion, mistrust, and low levels of cultural and spiritual development. This in turn leads to an apathetic population, deficient in their citizenship skills.
Prometeo's work makes its contribution through social, cultural and pedagogical action, educating audiences that are increasingly qualified and skilled for coexistence and the construction of social fabric, with the aim of overcoming the city's constant state of violence. The democratization of better poetry and a more qualified exercise of language add to a more comprehensive education of the individual, thus contributing to the formation of a humanist culture in defense of life and the Earth.
In 22 years the Festival has made the city a worldwide center for poetry. Poets from 150 counties have nourished the city with a range of cultures, languages and trends. The Festival brings about brotherhood and spiritual growth. Poetry allows the reconstruction of the human spirit and a reconnection and recovery of nature. The interaction among poets and public has had a strong impact, giving way to the World Poetry Movement to strengthen the globalization of poetry. 120000 local beneficiaries
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
