CCA – Clarity, Creativity, Action

The idea for this method was born from the experience of the Milan Art Therapy Center in Jordan in 2021, as part of a project involving Syrian and Palestinian refugee children, some of whom have severe disabilities.

Built upon professional structures working with refugees, the project introduces an innovative approach through the CCA method, integrating body and artistic therapies to address trauma. In partnership with organizations from European and non-European countries, the project seeks to collaborate, share skills, and promote international cooperation. Partners include Latitudes Contemporaines (France), CAT Centro Arti Terapie (Italy), Nadiya (Finland), Future in Our Hands (Armenia), Al’Aadoun (Jordan), and Project School (Italy).

European countries are welcoming refugees from war-torn areas. Some organizations are taking care of them by providing services such as housing, food, and legal assistance. The CCA project aligns with the approach of providing care through the body and the arts. Alongside professionals in refugee support, local institutions and communities, and the beneficiaries themselves, CCA aims to offer an innovative resource using body and movement-based art therapy, driven by the urgent need to address the traumas created by exile.

Kick-off meeting of the CCA project in Lille, January 2024

“International Academies” are working sessions organized by each partner organization to test the CCA method in practice, after several months of theoretical co-construction.
The Latitudes Contemporaines team participated in two International Academies.

The first one took place from November 9 to 11 in Nuuksio National Park, Finland, organized by the Nadiya association. During this session, artist and researcher Leidy Luz Jalk Barrios, invited by Latitudes Contemporaines, led a drawing workshop based on her research and fieldwork in art-therapy for 20 participants, including artists, humanitarian workers, and healthcare professionals.

The second International Academy took place from December 10 to 12 in Abovyan, Armenia, organized by Future In Our Hands. During this academy, choreographer and dancer Pol Pi, invited by Latitudes Contemporaines, led exercises focused on body and movement.

International Academy team in Finland

CCA – International Academy
29 – 31 January
Le 188, Lille

From January 29 to 31 2025, the CCA team invites individuals working in the support of people in exile to explore art therapy workshop formats, which can be used in their work with beneficiaries.
The workshops will take place over three days, focusing on the theme Link, Unlink, Reconnect. They will interweave three practices: body grounding (Clarity), artistic and creative expression (Creativity) and drama therapy (Action). These three areas will be led by three expert artists invited by Latitudes Contemporaines, who will share their practices with the project’s international teams.

Whats’on:

Invited expert artists:

LEIDY JALK BARRIOS

Leidy Jalk is a visual artist and researcher born in Barranquilla, Colombia. She graduated from the Fine Arts program at Universidad del Atlántico in 2008. In 2015, she moved to Lille, France, to pursue a two-year Master’s degree in Intercultural Mediation: Art and International Social Responsibility (ARSI) at the University of Lille. In December 2023, she defended her doctoral thesis in Fine Arts, titled: “Poetics of Hospitality and Knowledge Exchange Through the Drawn Narratives of Immigrants: Towards an Artistic Hospitality?” In 2017, she won the “Your Talents for Refugees” award from Amnesty International-France, and in 2019, she was selected as a recipient of the “Scholarships for Colombians in the Process of Artistic and Cultural Training Abroad.” Currently, she lives and works in Lille, where she balances her academic research, artistic practice, and professional work. She primarily works in her personal studio at the independent creative space Le Nouveau Lieu and holds a part-time position at Sauvegarde du Nord – Espace Claude Chassagny, where she leads a drawing workshop. She is also active as an independent artist-author.

POL PI

A dancer for more than 10 years, a musician since early childhood and a choreographer as a field of study, Pol Pi is a transmasculine Brazilian dance artist based in France since 2013.
With the company NO DRAMA, Pol Pi has created the solos ECCE (H)OMO (2017), ALEXANDRE (2018), ME TOO, GALATÉE (2018), LÀ (2019), Schönheit ist Nebensache ou la beauté s’avère accessoire (2021) and la grotte (2024), as well as the trio daté·e·s (2020) and the quartet IN YOUR HEAD (2022 – in collaboration with the Berlin music ensemble Kaleidoskop). His work has been presented in venues and contexts.
Pol has been sharing his dance practices for over 20 years, working with amateur groups, the medical-social sector, the queer community, art schools and dance training courses. He is currently interested in intuitive listening as a mode of creation, altered states of consciousness, care as an artistic practice and creation as an approach to care. He is currently learning to dance with horses near his home in Dordogne.

SOLÈNE RACLOT

Solène Raclot is a drama therapist and puppeteer. She trained as an art therapist specializing in drama therapy during her two years of Master’s studies at the University of Psychology Paris Descartes. Her work focuses on the relationship between mediation and resilience with adolescents and social workers. She is currently working with several institutions and groups: child protection services, excluded middle school students, and mutual aid groups.
She leads workshops using various forms of mediation: writing, kamishibai, body awareness, storytelling, theater, puppetry, photography, and short films. She also works in schools, conducting cultural and educational workshops.
In parallel, bridging the gaps between artistic spheres, Solène Raclot is a puppeteer trained at the Théâtre aux Mains Nues (2019-2020). She is both a visual artist (painting, drawing, sculpture) and a performer. She is currently collaborating with magician Edi Rudo on his show The Daydreamer, which is currently on tour..

Salah Aldin Falioun

Salah Aldin Falioun is a Syrian management and educational consultant, researcher, and artist from Damascus. With over a decade of NGO leadership and program design across the Middle East and Europe, he currently serves as COO and Programmes Manager of Souriyat Across Borders and its twin partner Al’Adoun. Holding an M.A. in Peace and Conflict Studies from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, he combines humanitarian work with artistic inquiry. Salah’s artistic practice bridges Syrian mosaic patterns and Japanese origami, exploring memory, identity, and healing through tactile forms. A bilingual poet and translator, his writing reflects themes of exile, belonging, and resilience. He has co-authored academic works on ethnography, trust, and technology in crisis, and remains deeply committed to creative education and trauma recovery for refugees and humanitarian workers.

Reem Ghalawnji

Reem Ghalawnji is a Syrian architect, humanitarian professional, and artist from Jableh, a Mediterranean coastal city in Syria. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Jordan. Over the years, she has collaborated with numerous local and international NGOs, focusing on refugee support, recovery, and inclusive community development. Currently, Reem serves as Communications Officer at Souriyat Across Borders and its twin partner Al-A’doun. As an artist, Reem uses color, ink, and form to explore emotion, memory, and healing. Through her workshops and art-based interventions, she helps refugees transform trauma into creativity, turning colors into a language of resilience and hope. Guided by her background in architecture, Reem’s approach integrates spatial design with humanitarian values, envisioning what she calls “humanitarian architecture”, where built environments reflect care, dignity, and emotional restoration. Passionate about the intersection of art, architecture, and humanity, Her work focuses on creative communication and storytelling, using art and design to amplify voices and foster resilience.

On October 22, Reem and Salah offered participants a creative and artistic expression workshop to explore the connection between their inner and outer worlds through the symbolic act of painting on masks.

Glenda Pagnoncelli

President and Co-founder of CAT.
Trainer, drama therapist, and teacher of drama/theatre therapy for over 20 years.

From a very young age, she began studying dance and theatre, making it both her living environment and her profession. A passion that has never faded, which she decided—after graduating in Education Sciences—to dedicate to others, specifically to exploring the resources that theatre can offer to everyone’s life, every day. In 2017, she founded the Centre for Arts Therapies.

Her academic training combined with her creative path allows her to gently and lightly guide people in discovering themselves and developing relational and communication skills, in order to regain personal well-being, overcome anxiety and shyness, and understand how to “play” with the stage that is life.
In more than twenty years of professional experience, she has trained thousands of professionals in the social-healthcare and educational fields, as well as numerous medium-to-large companies, in transversal skills, creativity, and motivation.

She is the creator and educational coordinator of the Advanced Training Course in Arts Therapies at Università Cattolica di Milano. She was a founding member and board member of S.P.I.D. (the National Association of Drama Therapists).

Ilaria Gandossi

CAT Member and CCA Project Manager for CAT
Her passion is to strengthen the right to happiness for every human being and to nurture the beauty that each person carries within.
This passion led her to study human rights, two international languages—English and Chinese—and to work for the United Nations in contexts such as Syria and Afghanistan.
Her original passion for human rights shifted from the legal perspective to embodiment through yoga. Through years of study and practice of hatha, ashtanga vinyasa and trauma sensitive yoga, she discovered that guiding others to feel at home in their own bodies can facilitate a process of genuine empowerment.
Ilaria creates safe spaces of connection where people can explore their bodies, enhance self-awareness, and support conscious choices.

On October 22, Ilaria  led a Clarity session focused on breathing and body grounding, while Glenda facilitated a drama therapy workshop exploring the expression of emotions through movement.

Tigranuhi Aleksanyan

Tigranuhi Aleksanyan is the Director and Operations Officer of Future in Our Hands (FIOH) Youth NGO in Armenia — a driving force behind empowering young people to take active roles in shaping their communities. A graduate of Yerevan State Linguistic University, with a specialization in Linguistics, Intercultural Communication, and International Tourism, Tigranuhi’s journey has been deeply rooted in internationalism and human connection. Her volunteering and academic experiences in Bulgaria and Czech Republic ignited her passion for intercultural dialogue, creativity, and youth empowerment.

With a proven track record in youth work, non-formal education, and international project management, Tigranuhi has successfully led and implemented numerous Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps projects across Europe. Her initiatives focus on civic engagement, inclusion, digital transformation, and mental well-being, creating meaningful opportunities for young people to grow, express themselves, and collaborate beyond borders.

Renowned for her strategic vision and innovative approach, Tigranuhi integrates art-based learning, digital tools, and experiential methods into youth work, transforming ideas into impactful educational experiences. Through her leadership at FIOH, she continues to build sustainable partnerships, inspire active citizenship, and champion a new generation of young leaders dedicated to positive change in Europe and beyond.

On October 21, she introduced participants to the CCA method through practice, with a creative workshop focused on self-portrait and an “action” workshop centered on collective energy.

Alona Budina

Alona is a certified art therapist, somatic therapy practitioner and a creative writer who deeply believes in the transformative power of community and creativity.
Originally from Ukraine, Alona has lived in Finland for more than 3 years because of the russian aggression resulting in full-scale war in Ukraine; so she has experienced being a refugee herself. In 2023 Alona joined Nadiya Association based in Finland, which serves to support integration and trauma recovery of the refugees and others confronting life’s challenges by providing holistic tools for regulation, resilience and resourcing, cultivating hope, peace and a sense of belonging. The work of Nadiya Association is rooted in Embodiment, Creativity, Nature and Community.
Alona has facilitated family and female art therapy workshops and circles, combining therapeutic art practices with somatic techniques to foster healing, self-expression and connection. Her focus is on creating a safe space for people to be able to express themselves and share their vulnerability with others.
Curious about the richness of human experience, Alona observes and explores diverse cultures to reveal the idea that “there is always another way”, encouraging others for greater self-discovery and growth.

On October 22, Alona offered participants an art therapy workshop on Artistic Collage of Self-Expression, guiding participants to explore their personal experience and discover new insights about themselves.

Leidy Jalk Barrios

Leidy Jalk is a visual artist and researcher born in Barranquilla, Colombia. She graduated from the Fine Arts program at Universidad del Atlántico in 2008. In 2015, she moved to Lille, France, to pursue a two-year Master’s degree in Intercultural Mediation: Art and International Social Responsibility (ARSI) at the University of Lille. In December 2023, she defended her doctoral thesis in Fine Arts, titled: “Poetics of Hospitality and Knowledge Exchange Through the Drawn Narratives of Immigrants: Towards an Artistic Hospitality?” In 2017, she won the “Your Talents for Refugees” award from Amnesty International-France, and in 2019, she was selected as a recipient of the “Scholarships for Colombians in the Process of Artistic and Cultural Training Abroad.” Currently, she lives and works in Lille, where she balances her academic research, artistic practice, and professional work. She primarily works in her personal studio at the independent creative space Le Nouveau Lieu and holds a part-time position at Sauvegarde du Nord – Espace Claude Chassagny, where she leads a drawing workshop. She is also active as an independent artist-author.

Hussain Noori

Born in 1977 in Kabul, Hussain Ali Noori spent many years between Iran and Afghanistan, where he pursued various artistic trainings. He specialized in Persian calligraphy, stone engraving, wood sculpture, and engraving on jewelry and glass, producing remarkable works in each of these fields. In 2021, following the Taliban takeover in Kabul, Hussain Ali Noori emigrated to France and settled in Lille with his wife Nouria and their five children, where he continues to live and pursue his passion for the arts. He has also been leading calligraphy workshops for various audiences, including adults and children.

Solène Raclot

Solène Raclot is a drama therapist and puppeteer. She trained as an art therapist specializing in drama therapy during her two years of Master’s studies at the University of Psychology Paris Descartes. Her work focuses on the relationship between mediation and resilience with adolescents and social workers. She is currently working with several institutions and groups: child protection services, excluded middle school students, and mutual aid groups. She leads workshops using various forms of mediation: writing, kamishibai, body awareness, storytelling, theater, puppetry, photography, and short films. She also works in schools, conducting cultural and educational workshops.

In parallel, bridging the gaps between artistic spheres, Solène Raclot is a puppeteer trained at the Théâtre aux Mains Nues (2019-2020). She is both a visual artist (painting, drawing, sculpture) and a performer. She is currently collaborating with magician Edi Rudo on his show The Daydreamer, which is currently on tour.