Theatre enriching social work with immigrants—the case of a Finnish multicultural theatre group

Abstract

This paper is based on a research project at Helsinki University for practice development in social work and a recent study dealing with the issue of the potential role of theatre in social work. This article analyses and explores the possibilities of using theatre for facilitating the integration of immigrants into society. It seeks to bring a new perspective to social work and to the discussion on integration through a theatrical point of view by considering the concept of integration as an act of solidarity. It opens up a more holistic view of integration and emphasizes reciprocity. This article is formed around a case study on a multicultural theatre project, the Kalevala project, in Helsinki in 2005–2006. It was found to promote integration, both through cultural interchange within the group, and also by giving the immigrants both visibility and the opportunity to show their wish to participate in Finnish culture. In return they would like the majority to show some genuine interest in them and what they can bring to the mainstream culture. The research results challenge social workers to see the potential in immigrants, instead of primarily seeing them as victims or as objects that need to be integrated.

Denna artikel baserar sig på ett forskningsprojekt vid Helsingfors universitet kring praktikforskning i socialt arbete, samt på en färsk studie i teaterns potentiella roll inom socialt arbete. Artikeln analyserar och utreder teaterns möjligheter att underlätta integrationen i samhället för invandrare. Avsikten är att tillföra socialt arbete samt integrationsdiskussionen ett nytt perspektiv genom begreppet solidarisk integration. Begreppet betonar ömsesidigheten i integrationsprocessen och öppnar möjligheter till en mera holistisk syn på integration. Artikeln diskuterar en fallstudie över ett mångkulturellt teaterprojekt, Kalevalaprojektet, som ägde rum i Helsingfors år 2005–2006. Teaterverksamheten kom att främja en solidarisk integration, dels genom det kulturella utbytet inom gruppen och dels genom att synliggöra invandrarna och deras önskan att dela den finländska kulturen. Samtidigt önskade invandrarna att majoritetsbefolkningen skulle visa ett äkta intresse för dem och det de har att erbjuda. Forskningsresultaten utmanar socialarbetare att se potentialen i invandrarna istället för att stämpla dem som offer eller integrationsobjekt.

Keywords:

• Immigrants
• Theatre
• Integration
• Social Work
• Solidarity

Nyckelord:

• Invandrare
• Teater
• Integration
• Socialt Arbete
• Solidaritet

Notes

1. For more information on Monita, see: http://www.kassandra.fi/monita/English/index_html, accessed 29 Jan. 2009.

2. The term immigrant in this study includes people with very different backgrounds. One of the informants identified with the term, whereas others felt they were neither immigrants nor New Finns, a term that the leaders within Kassandra preferred to use. The way one woman put it: ‘I'm just Ana from Argentina’, shows the wish to not be labelled but have the right to define oneself.

3. In fact it can be argued that the cultural sector in much of Europe lags behind in reacting to a society which is becoming increasingly multicultural. This can, for example, be explained by the often close connection between art institutions and the nation-state and by the dominating Western conception of quality (Saukkonen, 2007, pp. 6–18).

4. Forum Theatre is one category of The Theatre of the Oppressed. It was developed by the Brazilian theatre director Augusto Boal during the 1950s and 1960s (e.g. Boal, 2002).