Cross-cultural, intercultural and multicultural don’t mean the same thing.
Although these terms are often used interchangeably, they do, in fact, have very different meanings.
Cross-cultural, intercultural and multicultural don’t mean the same thing.
Although these terms are often used interchangeably, they do, in fact, have very different meanings.
Accents are an amazing window onto our history. As accents die, so too are accents born in response to changes in our environment.
In ‘The Lost Cockney Voice’ available on podcast via Radio 4 downloads, Cole Moreton talks about the unique cockney accent of his grandmother’s era.
Multicultural teams are now the norm within many of our larger companies, organisations and brands.
Challenges relating to communication, trust and morale within culturally diverse teams are common.
The culturally homogenous team is a thing of the past in most international organisations and companies.
More and more teams are made up of people with different nationalities and therefore different cultures, languages, ideas, behaviours and ways of doing things.
Working internationally comes with certain challenges - navigating cultural differences is just one.
Being able to work, communicate, sell to or buy from people in different countries, working in different times zones, with different ways of doing things is essential.
"Understand the differences; act on the commonalities." - Andrew Masondo, African National Congress
The nature of our workplaces has changed.
Working with people from different cultures is becoming increasingly more common; however it can also give rise to challenges. Thankfully, Erin Meyer has recently published a book that provides a framework on how different cultures across the globe view communication at work.
Being surrounded by other cultures can bring a great deal of benefits: new research has shown that living in a culturally diverse community can even make you smarter!
Conflicts are never beneficial for a working environment – cultural conflicts are one of many challenges that need to be avoided at all costs.
A recent study, however, revealed that avoiding cultural clashes in the workplace does not only result in a more peaceful environment, but can aid the creative process within companies as well.
As a team manager leading a multicultural team, you go through the stages of team development perhaps a bit longer than when working with most monocultural teams.
When you feel you’ve had enough of battling the cultural differences, and that you just want to call it a day, don’t despair – keep in mind that due to the diversity, the ups and downs feel extreme however in the end, there is simply much more to gain.
The Interculturale Theatre Storytelling Laboratory
Presents
the gift of diversity
Intercultural Theatre Storytelling Festival
II Edition - Rome, May 8-24 2008
The idea
Interculture means confront, exchange and communication among diverse cultures, towards an opened view and a larger dialogue between differences, against each discrimination. However, somehow, privileging interest to origins and traditions of the person that we meet - even if he is rich and amazing - and that normally we call a stranger, we may risk to forget his true particularity, maybe the most important thing: his story and not his country's one, his experience and not his people's one, his emotions and feelings, not his race's one. So, we can make the mistake to build a weak and false image, a masquerade, where people are just playing roles: the African, the Chinese, the Arabian and so on. Words are important and, when concepts linked to them have a fundamental value in our life, contradictions are not possible. We are different or equal? We can't be both, this is our provocation. If you think we are all unique, then, maybe, you could agree with the idea behind this project: the most powerful, significant and revolutionary way to have an intercultural point of view, in other words, to underline the importance of differences and richness inside our individuality, is to show the diversity of people that often think themselves as equal (not celebrating the equality of strangers...), to tell how much they are interesting to listen when they are speaking of themselves and how all become wonderful if they are so proud to mix each others.
II Edition
In May 2008 we’ll present the second edition of this festival. The last year, the first one was thought to put the bases and this time we whish to show our idea of interculture. Local or foreign artists, considering their diversity as a gift, will tell their story with their personal language or dialect. Because Italy and all countries in the world are wonderfully multicultural places even without immigrants, which are just other colours to improve the rainbow…
Almost seventy artists and companies, since North to South, sent us their proposals, convincing us that our point of view is not so crazy. After a hard selection will present nine shows from all Italy. The aim is to create a space where, thanks to Theatre Storytelling, interculture will become just culture, while actors and public will agree that diversity is the first value to celebrate.
The participants are, in order of appearance:
May 8, 9.00 p.m.: “Scantu[1]”, by and with Adele Tirante, “Cosa sono le nuvole” and “Viaggio inverso”
May 9, 9.00 p.m.: "Francesco Pileggi, the true story of a man of honour[2]",
by and with Andrea Chianelli
May 10, 9.00 p.m.: “Calafrica[3]”, by and with Manuela Valenti
May 15, 9.00 p.m.: “Refugees”, by and with “Rataplab”
May 16, 9.00 p.m.: “Zagara”, by and with Maria Cristina Sarò
May 17, 9.00 p.m.: “It’s spring”, by and with Antonio Carletti
May 22, 9.00 p.m.: “Horrible heritage on the lake[4]”,
by and with “The differents, almost equal but different”
May 23, 9.00 p.m.: “The town of Punt”, by and with Elisa Menchicchi
May 24, 9.00 p.m. : “The true story of Jean Baptiste du Val-de-Grâce, orator of the human race”,
by and with Alessandro Ghebreigziabiher and Cecilia Moreschi
The festival will be at the Studio Uno Theatre (www.studiounoteatro.it), in Rome,
Via Carlo della Rocca, 6.
The Laboratory:
The Intercultural theatre storytelling laboratory is directed by Alessandro Ghebreigziabiher (www.alessandroghebreigziabiher.it), with the precious collaboration of Cecilia Moreschi.
Information:
Luisa Moreschi
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: www.narrazioneinterculturale.org
34 New House, 67-68 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8JY, UK.
1950 W. Corporate Way PMB 25615, Anaheim, CA 92801, USA.
+44 01963 23253 or +1 (315) 215 1652