The idea of the Didi’s project called: “Hand made Sound System” came about together with his mate, in a mental all night rave in a squat in Sant Andreu del Palomar during the summer. The aim is to create a youth movement in the city. All the same, the essence and main objectives of the project are the self-direction and sustainability – creating the speakers with our own hands, to build up an alternative youth recreation, to promote young artists and to create support network between social organizations in the city.
Didi was selected for the project “European Youth at the frontlines of active citizenship: A Roadmap towards a collective South-North-East-West Momentum” organized by Volunteers Centre Skopje and supported by European Commission due to Erasmus+ European Youth Together programme.
Who are you? Explain to us how you define yourself?
– My name is Dídac Espí Vallvé, people usually call me Didi and I like to define myself as an “odd ball”. I’m 20 years old and I’m a young man from my city: Santa Coloma de Gramenet. I consider myself to be an active and responsible person and committed to the values that I defend. From a young age I have felt challenged by the different existing social issues and I never doubted in channeling my anger through political and social activism, a process which I have enjoyed throughout my adolescence and which I keep on doing to this day.
How did the idea of the project come about?
– The idea of the project itself (Building a “Hand made Sound System”) came about together with my mate, in a mental all night rave in a squat in Sant Andreu del Palomar during the summer. And it kept on developing in the same place (always with a pint in my hand). It came out of the need to respond to our worries about our experiences.
Who will support you and is immerse themselves in the project?
– Previously mentioned, my mate Alberto and more recently the group of friends from the neighborhood, the majority of which we’ve already shared spaces of youth activism and militancy with. Even so the project sets out to be much wider and you only have to be motivate to take part. It is one of the many projects that we have carried out under the name of the youth organization “Col·lectiu l’Altraveu”.
What is the aim of the project?
– The aim is to create a youth movement in the city. All the same, the essence and main objectives of the project are the following: self-direction and sustainability – creating the speakers with our own hands. Build up an alternative youth recreation – challenging youth leisure which is geared towards us, where the basic principle is consumerism. Promotion of young artists – especially in the field of music, as they can be: DJ’s, singers. Create support network between social organizations in the city.
Do you think it will have an impact on your community?
– Logically, it will have an impact and the fact that it already is in the moment that 7 young people sit down to talk and question what society has prepared for us.
Do the people around you believe in the project?
– Yes, they believe in it and also take a chance on it.
Do you think that your project could be your only job in the future?
– I hope it would be, although in that sense I dismiss it because it isn’t the right moment or the right project. Right now, I have to admit that I wouldn’t resign myself to work at something that I don’t like at 20 years old, I will keep taking a chance on what I feel and what I like and when the time is right to make the change I’ll do it.
Can your project be adapted to the needs of the current situation?
– Yes of course, but we haven’t spoken these days about the measures of the new (sub) normality yet. Although I think it will be an achievement finally, to get your own square metre to dance. Sound is thought out to be done in open spaces, as far as the environment and the participants, we like to observe how, as a result of COVID-19, the workings of the leisure industry have been carried out so far.
What is the main obstacle that you can come across in the process of your project?
– Without thinking about the ones we are going to put on ourselves, the power of the speakers can and will be a problem, just as much as the paternalism that is embedded in our organizations.
How did you feel when you were chosen to participate in Mundus?
– Very happy and satisfied with the work carried out so far. To be able to participate in the project “European Youth Together” allowed me to build more solid foundations, meet extraordinary people and travel. I take the chance to congratulate and give sincere thanks to the huge work that Asociación Mundus carry out promoting and taking a chance on young people.
Dídac Espí Vallvé