Basic information:
⦁ Partner 3 – DMP Bodø
The former Jewish school has not been used for years and its technical condition is bad. The building also makes part of the cultural heritage – Levice Synagogue. It is an architectonic jewel of functionalism (architectural style developed shortly after the World War I. It was spread around together with the famous art-deco style despite the fact that the two styles differed from one another very much. Functionalism is the style where every part of the building has its purpose with the resulting absence of ornaments or symmetry or decorations. All of this should meet the motto “Form follows function”), so we care about its destiny.
For many years, the City Cultural Centre of Levice in cooperation with the city of Levice have been interested in creating educational and cultural premises as a creative centre of the city and the region with a permanent exposition regarding the lives of Jewish citizens in the city of Levice and its surroundings.
The reconstructed building will be used as educational premises. It will be our pleasure to welcome especially students and their teachers at interesting discussions and lectures. In addition to the permanent exposition regarding the live of Jews in our city and its surroundings, a virtual reality visualization of the ghetto in Levice will be established there, presenting names of deportees and their deportation on 13 June 1944 from the city to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The aim of such realistic and strong presentation form is to understand where we can get with prejudice and racist thinking. The interesting format will make part of experiential learning and we believe that we will help teachers to present the sad and tough history to young people in an attractive way.
The Tolerance Centre, as we named it, will also be used for organizing interesting exhibitions, cultural events (small stage form theatres), concerts, workshops, presentations of folk artists and craftsmen enabling visitors to learn forgotten crafts and to develop their creativity under the supervision of skilled lecturers. We will offer premises for meetings of seniors and disabled persons and for a meaningful use of the time spent at creative work and in a group of people. As we know, socialization at the later age, psychological well-being, and work help people stay healthy and keep positive thinking and thus also physical health.
We also plan to open a small shop offering visitors possibility to buy souvenirs, products from our workshops, and technical publications focused on the Jewish culture or history. This will also include a small coffee shop allowing visitors to have a good coffee or a cake and artists to have a pleasant background here for coming back to our city with pleasure.
By means of the permanent exposition, coffee shop, and the virtual reality exhibition, we will establish a tourist centre in the city of Levice operated during all year round to increase its attractiveness.
At the same time, we believe that, by presenting minorities and pointing out history of the Jewish community in our territory, we will achieve positive effect on the society.
The EAA allowed us to involve a wide spectrum of activities in the project and the key partners in its implementation to keep those partnerships even after the end of the project implementation.