The city of Bergamo was running to be the Capital of Culture in 2019, but the application was rejected. One of the reasons stated by the  Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali (Ministry of cultural heritage and activities ed.) for this rejections was the lack of European dimension of the city. That’s the reason AEGEE-Bergamo created a new project for the city of Bergamo, under the name of “Bergamo is Europe”. The three-year project focuses on six constituents of the arts, each of which is developed using three different methods: online, local and European level.

The idea came to light during a sleepless night, caused by the difficulty of sticking to the idea of culture that was outlined by the administration of Bergamo (and also by everyday life) in the application for Bergamo Capitale della Cultura 2019. That night, AEGEE-Bergamo reconfirmed the office at Polaresco (where many AEGEE-members stayed for the NWM) and a new frontier for the local.

“Bergamo is Europe” is a project that starts from crisis and is structured in the crisis and the practises of voluntarily work. It must be held together with the help of those who live in this cultural, social or economic crisis every day. Active culture is immersed in the city, so “Bergamo is Europe” means participation, “Bergamo is Europe” means freedom. For you and your cities all this may be obvious, but for those who live in Bergamo, in a dormitory town, with a certain way of seeing things and a certain way of looking at life, it is not that obvious.

AEGEE-Bergamo decided to organise this particular type of activity because the problem of cultural entertainment is a very salient issue in the provincial and Nordic parts; where in the national debate the only concern seems to be unemployment, the monetary value of things and not to disturb the neighbours. The Northern local is trying to bring a little sense of Europe into Bergamo, because an airport is not enough.  The city needs to engage in some social activities seriously and, at the same time, it needs people who are willing to take the risk.

If we take a look around our own musical tastes, most of us will agree that there are so many songs, from traditional ones to pop musicc, that don’t reach a major audience because of the language barrier. What is more, we would find it hard to find any song related to European integration at all, or barely no European symbols in the latest videoclips.

With these ideas in mind, AEGEE-Düsseldorf member Benjamin Feyen has decided to take up again an idea he had many years ago in order to connect two of his passions: music, and AEGEE. He has found in music a perfect channel to spread ‘Europtimism’, and he is currently looking for motivated members that would like to embark on his project called FAME, which stands for the multilingual  name Fabrik AEGEE-ènne de Müzik Europea. The AEGEEan has just had a chat with Benjamin about the idea behind this new musical project.

Benjamin, how did you come up with the idea of launching a project about music?

I love music, so it is quite obvious to combine this with another thing I love: AEGEE. However, the basic idea of what will now be the FAME project came up already six or seven years ago, even before I joined AEGEE. At the beginning there were two things that I noticed: I would probably never have known many great songs written in languages other than English if my friends from abroad hadn’t introduced them to me. And, feeling more and more European, I became aware of the fact that there are not really any famous pop songs dealing with Europe or aspects of the European integration, neither are songs that make the European flag appear in a music video clip (which I believe it deserves, just as the US flag, for instance).

Connecting those two things, the basic idea for this project was born, and after I joined AEGEE I felt our association was the perfect environment to make it possible. Together with other AEGEE members (at this place I should not forget to mention Alperen Yavuz, Rüya Beril and Dawid Sierzant), the idea was then further developed during the “European Ideas Factory” of AEGEE-Europe which took place in Gliwice in 2010. Unfortunately, we never managed to start off with the project. But I believe it is never too late for a good idea, so now the time has finally come.

Which is the main aim of the project? Would you like to promote European integration through music?

Yes, that’s the main aim indeed – and music is a perfect tool to spread Europtimism, because everyone listens to music and it can be used in many ways. But even more than that, FAME also wants to foster the variety of European languages and musical traditions. Music is an important part of our culture, but at the same time it also carries culture, e.g. languages, typical sounds, rhythms, instruments or dances, and thus tells stories.

Besides that, worldwide hits such as Dragostea din tei or Gangnam style prove that it is not crucial to understand the songs’ lyrics if the tune is catchy enough, so why does the English language have to be so dominant in modern pop music? Personally, I would also love to hear more non-English music in the clubs during AEGEE events, but that’s a different topic…

And which are the type of musical creations you would like to see in this project? 

Everything is possible, as long as the songs fulfill two criteria:

1. The lyrics have to be written in at least two European languages;
2. and they have to deal with Europe or any aspect of the European integration in a positive or constructive way, taking AEGEE’s values and mission into account.

The rest is open to the creativity of our participants. The “perfect” FAME song would actually combine those two criteria and even refer to it in the way it is produced. To give an example: A love song ballad about – let’s say – a Russian and a Spanish who meet in Greece. It could be a duet between the two of them with the verses sung in Russian and Spanish and the chorus in Greek, using the balalaika and flamenco guitar and combining it with some syrtaki-style rhythm.

Or, to give another (less complex) example: a hip hop song about the EU’s founding father Jean Monnet, using sound samples from a speech. Or a hard rock song complaining about still existing borders in Europe that need to be overcome. You see, there is lots of space for the FAME participants to unleash their creativity.

Each song will be a little project on its own, providing the greatest possible freedom for the participants (i.e. songwriters, musicians, producers etc.) within the basic guidelines of FAME, as well as ensuring an individual sound.

Do you look for members who are experienced in music, or any AEGEE member can join?

Indeed there are many ways to contribute for every AEGEE member, even if you’re completely non-musical. Of course we need songwriters, musicians and singers, too. But in order to promote the songs in a proper way, many more things have to be done. An important aspect of the project will be the production of video clips for the songs – therefore we need e.g. screenplay writers, film editors, actors and actresses, costume designers and many more.

Of course this also depends on the money we’ll be able to raise, thus we also need people experienced in fundraising as well as experts for social media and viral marketing. This project definitely has the potential to become really huge, but even if it attracts only a few AEGEE members and if we have no money at all, it can still be realized on a small scale. In fact it could be just me recording a little song at home with my guitar, but of course it would be so much more awesome to get dozens of AEGEE people from all over Europe involved.

As you have mentioned, the project could not be possible some years ago in your first attempt. Why was it?

When we developed the project during the “European Ideas Factory”, we were all very enthusiastic, but quite soon we realized that we were too busy with other stuff, inside and outside of AEGEE. Even though we had already started promoting the project within AEGEE, it was still not too late to stop it without harming anybody. Concerning my personal situation, from April I will be out of the AEGEE-Düsseldorf board after three years as its president, so now there is some space for me to dedicate myself to the European level of AEGEE.

And why do you think AEGEE needs a project related to music?

Because there is none yet, at least not such a big one, and I know many AEGEE members who make music and would certainly like to join such a project. Whenever I told somebody about FAME in the past, the reactions were very positive. Plus, the idea behind this project perfectly matches the “Spreading Europtimism” part of the new Strategic Plan.

Do you expect to make it an official AEGEE project?

That would be great, but of course it depends a lot on the project team I’m about to start forming. As I said above, I believe that FAME has the potential to become a big project, and it would be awesome to have it as an official project of AEGEE-Europe. But step by step, first let’s see if anybody is interested in joining me in the project team.

And have you already found some members interested in it?

Indeed the first participants already joined and started working on a song, however in the project team I am currently the only one. But it’s been just two days now since the project was officially made public within the AEGEE world by sending the open call for team members via ANNOUNCE-L, so I’m expecting the first applications during the next days.

Apart from that, it’s definitely nice to see that the number of “likes” for the Facebook page as well as the number of subscribers to the mailing list FAME-INFO-L has begun to grow constantly. So I assume there must be a general interest in this project.

So, as soon as you have your first team members, which are your first plans going to be? Will we see the FAME project in Patra?

I hope we will be able to get into work very soon: preparing fundraising activities, making the project known among AEGEE members, building up a communication infrastructure, starting to cooperate with other bodies in AEGEE, sending out a first open call for songs, and so on.

Without promising too much, I can say that the plan is indeed to release a first FAME song including a videoclip already in April! I mentioned above that some people are currently working on a song, and I am confident that the final result will be impressive. I hope that the song will also help to make the FAME project popular among AEGEE members, and it would be great to present the video clip at the AGORA and maybe even play the song during the parties. But that depends on the Chair Team and the local organisers, of course..

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona/AEGEE-Leuven

What does Europe sound like apart from the political debates about debts and power? Isn’t there something that created a deeper connection and understanding among different nations, a part of culture we all share? And what role did and does music still play in the process of European integration?

The event Music – Connecting People organized by AEGEE-Passau in cooperation with the music festival Young Classic Europe gathered people from all over Europe to deal with all these questions.

The European Union was first founded as an economic community but as Jean Monnet, one of the founding fathers of the European Union, already indicated, it is above all a cultural community.

“If I could seize a fresh opportunity for the political integration of Europe, I would start from culture and not from the economy”, he said, illustrating what is the most important premise for successful European integration. Mutual understanding, exchange, awareness about a common past and a culture we all share are the foundations for a deeper integration and they make Europe come alive.

Music is a language that everyone can understand and that does not have to be translated. Today the unifying power of music is a topic that is addressed in many concerts, festivals and conferences where people from different nations are brought together to create and enjoy music.

Also during the event in Passau we were all able to experience this power. We sang, we danced and we went to a classical concert together, and even though we only spent one weekend together we could feel a great atmosphere and a special connection between the participants.

Having a look at the European history, we realised that the European roots lie way further back in the past. The engagement with the similarities and differences of music in Europe started long before the idea of political and economic integration in Europe was even born.

Already thousands of years ago, the Gregorian musicology existed as a common European style of music that stretched across Europe. Moreover, in the following centuries many composers were famous beyond the national borders and the coexistence of different cultures sometimes even created a completely new style of music.

One of our workshops for example was about ancient music in Andalusia, a combination between Christian, Arabic and Jewish music. Professional trainers taught us a lot and in the end our participants were able to play one of these songs themselves.

A cultural simulation game aimed to raise awareness about cultural differences. In groups, the participants made up their own cultural norms, composed a hymn and managed to overcome cultural borders by cooperating with other groups.

All in all, we had a great weekend, we learned a lot about music and intercultural communication and experienced a great atmosphere within the group of our participants. After this event my answer to whether music can really connect people and different cultures would definitely be yes.

Written by Veronika Hönes, AEGEE-Passau