01 / Keep the source
A Palace in a Pocket
Léa asks. Mireille remembers.
“Mamie, how can a stone start a palace?”Conversation · Transcript · Photographs
Our mission
Preserving
cultural heritage.
One story
at a time.
Children interview elders and record the stories of their communities.
Scroll to see how
One voice can carry a thousand stories.
How we work
Bring generations
into the same
conversation.
AVOR works with governments, schools and communities on programmes where children interview elders, record what they hear and use it in class.
GovernmentsSchoolsCommunities
Introducing Atlas
Every place holds a story.
Let it travel.
Atlas will keep recordings, transcripts and photographs together. Students will be able to find an interview from another place and make a book, film or performance from it.
Scroll to open AtlasInside Atlas
An interview worth keeping.
Atlas is designed to keep a recording beside its transcript, photographs, location, sources and permissions. Students can find the interview, understand where it came from and see what others made with it.
An example of a story kept in Atlas.
ATLAS / STORY RECORD01 / 03
Find the story. Check its source.
- Place
- Hauterives, France
- Voices
- Léa + Mireille
- Find by
- Memory · Making · Place
The full record can include its language, date, sources and reuse permissions.
Students build on the interview.
Amani and classmates in Nairobi turn the interview into an illustrated book.
INTERVIEWCLASSROOM BOOKFILM IDEA
Working together
Our partners.
Meet the organisations working alongside AVOR.
Partner / Education & research
Mirror Foundation
Based in Amsterdam, Mirror Foundation develops research and practical tools to help primary schools understand how children learn.
Its work examines how policy, disruption and educational support affect learning, giving teachers, school leaders and policymakers evidence they can use.
Explore Mirror FoundationPartner / Sport & youth
Carlos Takam Foundation
Founded by French-Cameroonian boxer Carlos Takam, the foundation promotes boxing in Africa and opportunities for young athletes.
Its academy project in Kigali, Rwanda, brings together training, mentoring and personal development. The ambition is to help young talent build a future in sport on the African continent.
A shared commitment to young people, their communities and what they can become.
Discover the academy
Partner / Heritage & place
Castillia
Castillia connects people with historic venues for events, celebrations and cultural experiences. Its collection includes castles, vineyards and other places with a story to tell.
AVOR gathers the stories and memories tied to place. The two organisations work together to preserve both historic places and the stories connected to them.
Explore Castillia
Working with schools
A conversation that starts in the classroom.
Students interview an older generation, record their memories and turn what they learn into books, films and performances.
Teachers guide each stage, with AVOR helping schools bring the work into their curriculum.
SwitzerlandOmanGermanyKuwait
Final agreements are being arranged with schools in these four countries.
Meet a storyteller.
Ask a grandparent or community elder about a place, tradition or moment they remember.
Keep the original voice.
Keep the recording, transcript and photographs together, with permission, in Atlas.
Learn across borders.
Share stories with students in other countries. Ask questions, compare experiences and learn about each other’s cultures. Use those exchanges to create a book, film or performance together.
Our people
The people behind AVOR.
Key members
Princess Sophia Wolkonsky
Founding Member
Princess Dr. Michaela Wolkonsky
Founding Member and Chairman
Virginie Bourdin
Board Member
Sam Kovacs
Treasurer
Maryam Al Buloushi
Curriculum Director
Splinther van Everdingen
Operational Assistant
Board of advisors
Larisa Claru
Carlos Takam
Partner with AVOR
In a world that has gone global,
let’s not lose what is local.
Your support helps schools record interviews, preserve them with care and give students the tools to create from them.
GovernmentsSchoolsCommunitiesCreators