Hope For Children and artist Stefanos Papadas bring attention to the benefits of foster care

To address the growing need for foster families in Cyprus, “Hope For Children” CRC Policy Center (HFC) and interdisciplinary artist Stefanos Papadas have come together to raise awareness of foster care and its benefits to children in need of alternative care.

HFC and Papadas’ project, “From Hope to Home”, invites the public to learn more about foster care through a treasure hunt and a multisensory audiovisual art installation on Friday 6 September 2024. During the treasure hunt, organised in collaboration with the Oral History Project “People of Cyprus’’, the participants will be provided with information about foster care in an interactive and participatory way. The event will then culminate in Papadas’ art installation aiming to evoke empathy and commitment to child safety.

Event Details:

• “From Hope to Home” public event – treasure hunt and audiovisual art installation to raise awareness and provide information about foster care.
• Treasure Hunt at Nicosia Municipal Garden at 18:00.
• Art Installation at Stelios Philanthropic Foundation (Markou Drakou 5, 1102, Nicosia) from 19:00 to 21:00.

Register for the public event here.

The concept of the project, From Hope to Home, embodies a transformative journey divided into three parts – The Hope, The Transition and The Home. Beginning with the treasure hunt in Nicosia Municipal Garden, the participants will embark on a communal journey, engaging in conversation on foster care. The journey will then take them to the Stelios Foundation near Paphos Gate of Old Nicosia, where participants are enveloped in a multichannel, multisensory audiovisual installation utilising various mediums, such as sound, moving images, space and music. A public figure who is also foster parent will share his deeply personal story on fostering.

“As visitors immerse themselves in this transformative experience, they are invited to explore the depths of empathy and compassion, igniting a collective commitment to fostering a safer world for children,” Stefanos Papadas described his vision for the installation.

“From Hope to Home seeks to strengthen and enrich the concept of fostering by presenting everyday and symbolic images that reflect the experiences of foster parents and children. The Stelios Foundation house is symbolically used as the home of a foster child, where these images unfold and are displayed,” said Papadas.

Marianna Savva, the Coordinator of HFC’s Foster Families Department, believes that the event will help raise awareness of foster care as a life-changing initiative.

“Foster care is a magical journey to hope, and this is what we wish to convey to those who will participate in the "From Hope to Home" event on September 6. Participants will be invited to discover through play and through experience what foster care is all about. We hope to make them feel the importance of foster care, as foster families can be the reason that changes children’s lives," said Savva.

Hope For Children plays an important role in the foster care system in Cyprus, having been appointed by the competent authority, the Social Welfare Services of the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, to provide specialised evaluation and support services to prospective and approved foster families across all districts of the Republic of Cyprus.

The “From Hope to Home” project is funded by the Arts for Social Action small grants programme (ASA), which is implemented by Visual Voices, the Civil Society Initiative, and The Management Center of the Mediterranean within the framework of Building Community - Arts for Social Action Project (BCASA), made possible by the generous funding from the European Union under the EU Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community. The BCASA project commenced in March 2023, and is scheduled to continue until March 2025 with additional activities. It involves artists and activists collaborating with CSOs and local communities to address environmental and social issues, promote dialogue, and foster positive change.

For more information about the “From Hope to Home” project or foster care, call “Hope For Children” CRC Policy Center on 22 103234 or text at the online chat: www.uncrcpc.org.cy.

For more information about ASA please visit https://visual-voices.org/asa or contact arts@visual-voices.org | contact@visual-voices.org.