Art Aparat

Art Aparat was founded in 2015, with the desire to use music and sound as a tool for making a change in society. Through different projects, we focus our support to those who don’t have so many opportunities to learn and develop their skills and who often feel excluded and isolated.

Here are some of our projects:

Svi UGLAS! (Everyone in unity!)

Svi UGLAS! is an unusual music choir. Through music singing, the choir particularly empowers a marginalized group of Roma children and youth. The choir also gives the opportunity to all the people who like to sing and want to learn about Romani culture to meet, create and perform together with the Roma community, thus creating empathy, tolerance, and solidarity in our society.

Everyone in unity! The Singing Shelter (Svi UGLAS! - Raspevano Svratište)

“The Singing Shelter” is a project that uses music and choral singing as a tool for empowering street-involved Roma children. The project gives a voice to the children who live in extreme poverty, irregularly attend school, and don't have many opportunities to communicate outside the Roma community. Through singing, professional recording, and concerts, the project strengthens the confidence of these children and shows them how talented they are, but also helps them develop different psycho-social and cognitive skills. Through the concert activities, the project raises awareness of the general public about the difficult position of the Roma community. The project celebrates the versatility of Romani culture that remains underappreciated and unrecognized in Serbia.
The project went through different phases; at first, only Roma children sang in the choir, and since 2019 we have been functioning as an intercultural choir.
From 2016 on, the project involved around 300 street-involved Roma children and 80 members from the general population. So far, we have held five concerts (the last two at the National Theater in Belgrade) and professionally recorded various materials - movies, songs, and radio dramas in Serbian and Romani.

Everyone in Unity! - Youth Voices

Youth Voices Sing! is a subproject of the platform Everyone in Unity, and it focuses specifically on the inclusion of youth at risk through music. The project aims to build communication and cooperation between marginalized youth and youth from the general population through music and singing. Additionally, through an educational program, the project aims to help young people get acquainted with salient social issues (human rights, discrimination, gender issues) and develop mutual support. The choir recorded one song, available HERE

Work with seniors

There is a secret connection. Do you think you are too old to sing? Never! In this regional project, members of the elderly population from Bosnia and Herzegovina have the opportunity to socialize and develop their talents through singing workshops and painting workshops, which we conduct together with the association "Naš most" from Zenica.

Work with the youth from the refugee population.

We engaged youth from the refugee population in joint singing with youth from Serbia, and our intercultural choir performed two times on World refugee day events. Besides that, we composed music for animated videos, theater plays, and films that explore the significance of the Middle East culture.

Why do we need your help?

Our musical platform Everyone in Unity!(Svi UGLAS!) achieved a lot – we recorded songs and films, organized five concerts, and created a strong and growing community. Still, we cannot provide funds for the most talented students and support their individual growth. There are at least 15 kids in our choir who would benefit substantially from learning how to play an instrument. We want to start with helping at least one of them, for the beginning.

Adem, who is 16 years old and is very talented in music, wishes to learn to play guitar. With this skill, Adem would not just have a great new hobby but could also join our band and accompany the choir in our concerts. Like any other teenager, he finds himself surrounded by both good and bad influences. Learning how to play guitar would mean less time on the streets and more time with the guitar. We also believe this would help him a great deal to build confidence and to experience parts of the childhood that he was deprived of.

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