About Formaat

WORKPLACE FOR PARTICIPATORY DRAMA

Formaat exists since 1999 and is based in Rotterdam Delfshaven since 2007. Formaat uses the method Theatre of the Oppressed (TO), developed by Augusto Boal.The workplace of Format is a place where vulnerable residents from the city meet each other, find support, and through theater they make their voices heard to engage in dialogue with a wide audience. Together we make the step to change. With its activities Formaat strengthens the potential of Rotterdam from the conviction that art and culture is an essential contribution to stimulating creativity and connecting vulnerable and less vulnerable residents.

In the recent years Formaat performed a wide range of projects with different marginalized groups such as local residents, elderly people, undocumented migrants, people with a psychiatric background, youth at risk, people with addiction, etc. Formaat works always with partners from the sectors welfare, health, arts & culture, education.
One example is the recently completed pilot project Bridging the Divide. In four interactive dialogues were six hundred Rotterdam with super diverse backgrounds into conversation on topics such as discrimination, loneliness, crime, education.

Formaat has a place in the international TO network that stretches from New York to London, from Maputo to Calcutta and from Rotterdam to Tel Aviv and Ramallah. The research center has its own education program, provides training and publishes books in Dutch for professionals who work with the methodology. Formaat regularly provides guest lectures for social programs at Universities. Formaat regularly invites experts from around the world to share knowledge with professionals in the Netherlands and to work towards a more humane, participative world. A movement in which citizens regain self-direction, can participate and get empowered.

Since 2008 Formaat is part of E-motive – a matchmaking network of organizations around the world, aimed at sharing innovative social solutions to global and local problems. Within this framework, we have conducted exchange programs with different organizations.
Next coming exchange is in December 2015 during a festival, you are welcome to join us! See you in Rotterdam!

During this festival there are several workshops and interactive performances with groups from India, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Israel and Palestine. Check this page for more information about the program.