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28/ 2010
Bonn, 21.06.2010
"Powerfully painted - Creative steps to working life" - BIBB presents artwork from youths and young adults
"Powerfully painted 0 Creative steps to working life" is the title of an exhibition with which the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) in Bonn will be presenting to the public some 50 paintings and other works of art by young people in the coming weeks. BIBB is treading new 0 artistic 0 ground with this exhibition, which opened today: The artists are youths and young adults who received so-called 'activation assistance' at the Siegburg-based lernen fördern ("foster learning") training provider on behalf of the ARGE Rhein-Sieg (Rhine-Sieg district branch of the Federal Employment Agency that is responsible for ensuring the basic minimum income level of job-seekers) and during recent months created the works of art that are now on display at BIBB.
Speaking at the opening of the exhibition, Manfred Kremer, president of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, was impressed by the young artists' abilities, "With their impressive and expressive paintings, these young people have provided clear proof in the truest sense of the word that they have enormous creative potential." President Kremer paid tribute to the work done by the participating bodies and stressed how important it is to have a good-functioning regional transition management system that assists youths and young adults who are making the transition from school to vocational training. "Tried-and-tested models for vocational orientation and preparation for choosing an occupation 0 activities that centre on assisting the individual and practical relevance 0 and effective alternatives for supporting underachievers, socially-disadvantaged youths and youths who are tired of school have to be implemented nationwide."
Improving the transition system and assisting disadvantaged youths are core tasks of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training. BIBB's expertise in this particular field has been bundled in the Good Practice Center (GPC) which focuses on assistance for disadvantaged persons in the vocational training system.
The Activation Assistance project in Siegburg concentrates on the phase prior to vocational training and employment. Its aim is to foster motivation and self-confidence in disadvantaged youths and young adults. Through their active participation in the project, these individuals can orient themselves at occupational and personal level and develop prospects for themselves for training or employment following completion of the project.
The Activation Assistance project is financed by the Rhein-Sieg ARGE. Its managing director Ralf Holtkötter and Robert Wagner from the lernen fördern training provider stressed in their addresses at the opening of the exhibit how necessary such activation measures are for making certain that young people are prepared for the working world on a pin-pointed basis and for ensuring that they acquire the fundamental knowledge and attitudes necessary for successful vocational education and training.
The exhibition shows paintings and artwork that deal in fascinating ways with a variety of issues including concerns arising from (everyday) life such as young people's fears about and hopes for the future, migration, and the sense of abandonment. Visitors will see not only the finished works of art but also the steps taken from the initial idea to the final version.
The art exhibit "Powerfully painted 0 Creative steps to working life" can be viewed workdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (after registration at the entrance) until 9 July 2010 at BIBB which is located in the office complex of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety at Robert-Schuman-Platz 3 in Bonn.
Points of contact at BIBB:
- Monika Welter, Tel.: +49 (0) 228 107-2819, E-mail: welter@bibb.de
- Markus Linten, Tel.: +49 (0) 228 107-2130, E-mail: linten@bibb.de
- Thomas Materna, Tel.: +49 (0) 228 107-1301, E-mail: materna@bibb.de
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