TIME TO SAY GOODBYE - Day 10

It seems like yesterday when we arrived in Velventos from different parts of Balkans. Strangers to each others, young and bold we didn’t know what to expect. By the time of farewell ceremony has arrived we were looking to each other faces realizing that the people we have spent the last 10 days of our live are not any more strangers but friends. Probably, this is the most important outcome of the project – the opportunity to be a friend with so many people that you will never be alone while visiting Balkan countries. So, we will not say “Good-bye” now but simply, see you soon somewhere in Europe. In the mean time, don’t forget to be – Youth In Action.

THE FIFTH SENSE: TASTE THE FESTIVAL - Day 9

From the very first day we have been told that the FESTIVAL will be the venue where we will have the chance to present not only our work in the Workshops during the week but also our countries. Finally, the BIG day has arrived.

All the workshops have had to move their “creations” in the Theater so as the national delegations. Suddenly, the small building of the Theater has been alive with the presentation tables and food, drinks and presents. There was a corner with a Power Point presentation of the best photos taken during the week. There was a Wax table full with all size candles. There was a jewellery table giving the opportunity to small kids to make their own personal jewellery.

But what about the fifth sense? In the last post, we said that every WS represents a different human sense. There are different kinds of tastes. Usually, when someone says tests people start thinking of cakes and meals, drinks and who knows – cocktails. But there is also one type of taste that we often forgot about it. The taste of tasting something new with you all other senses. The participants of our last Workshop Shadow Theater have proved that one of the most ancient arts will never die. An original script, a dynamic plot and most importantly, colored puppets they has created a small universe on the stage of Velventos Theater. And just like by chance, the workshop with the most invisible work has become the most expressive one.

BACK TO BASIC: SENSES - Day 8

Humans have 5 senses – sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. It wouldn’t be too boldly to say that our Workshops are directly linked with those senses.

The beauty of wax modeling?

Do you remember walking in the long corridors of Madame Tussah Museum being amazed by the proficiency of the wax models of, J-Lo and Brat Pitt? Well, this is just the tip of the iceberg of what you can actually do with wax. The participants from Wax Workshop have proved that when it comes to wax it is always “The sky is the limit”. For five days, they have melting, colouring, shaping and reshaping wax. Each day, they have presented a variety of shapes and smells – a candle with cinnamon sticks, a candle with rose petals, a candle with strolls

That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind

On the Balkans we are used to live with the nationalistic concepts of “mine country vs. your country”. We respect borders and even though all society of Balkans are convinced that their better future starts in the European Union where borders simply does not exists, they would rather keep the concept of “mine country”. A new project is on its way to break down this stereotype – the e-Radio of U.S.B. This Workshop has proved to be the bigger challenge within the programme. The participants have had only 5 days to learn for computer radio programs, to take interviews, to make your shows, clips and to broadcast live from the venue. Sounds like a hard work! But they managed it – an interview with the mayor and local people, a radio jungle representing the sounds of Balkans, songs from all part of Balkans.

So far we have:

WS Jewellery > Touch
WS Wax > Smell
WS Photo > Sight
WS e-Radio > Hearing

But what about the TASTE? We have one more senses to discover!

Through the Pa-Pa-razzi’s Eye - Day 7

Do you fancy photography?

Do you know that if you want to be a good photographer you should take at least 100 photos per day in the next 10 years, so as to have 10 decent photos at the end?

It sounds like a hard work, doesn’t it?

 

Now, imagine that you have 10 days to improve your photo skills. But that is not all. Imagine that you have to do it in the most unpredictable weather conditions – from sun to snow, from spring to winter, from nature to urban. Imagine that you have to find inspiration after a party in ‘a la Balkan style’.

Well, that hard the photo workshop could be.

The participants have 10 days to get familiar with the camera and to start accepting it part of their body. So far, they had few walks in Velventos and today, they went to Kozani for some more street photography. And in the snowstorm, they found human faces waiting to be discovered.

Well, it is always a hard job to talk about photography? Why? Simply because the photography is about photos not words. That is why we will introduce to you some of our master pieces.

The World of Fine Art - Day 6

We have had a discussion on how to present our stay here from now on. Are we going to write each day a piece for each of the workshops? Or are we going to dedicate the daily blog entry to a particular workshop and its participants? We talked. We gave arguments. We discussed. Although there was no unanimously, we decided to go for option 2.

 

So, welcome to the world of fine art – Jewelry. 

 

One of the most divine worlds is the worlds of jewelry. It may be even called a science as it takes a lot of efforts to learn the different techniques and ways of combining the colors. That is why it’s amazing to be part of the most colorful and expressive workshops.

It wouldn’t be a lie if we say that we didn’t know anything about doing bracelets, earnings or necklaces.  But with Anastasia and Ioanna this was no longer the case. We have agreed to call them mentors instead of teachers. All in all, there have shown us the techniques and led us exterminated with the materials – fimo, beads and metals.

While we were exploring the techniques, we learned our most important lesson – One should respect its own piece of art. Most importantly, everything could be turned in jewelry.

 

Here you some samples of our work.

LET THE FUN BEGIN!! - Day 5

The new week has brought new experiences. It was time for us to step up into serious work and to explore new fields while acquiring new skills. We were divided in 5 different Workshops depending on our personal preferences and interests.

Suddenly, there was no longer "the gang from Turkey", "the fellows from Romania" or "the people from Bosnia and Herzegovina", it was only the key words E-Radio, Jewelry, Wax, Photography and Creativity. It was amazing to see how people from different nations could find common ground for experimenting and creating their own all secret society.

Each of the group have had and will have the opportunity to get involved in a particular activity, learn its basic principals and techniques as well as to get inspiration for future projects and why not businesses :-) Of course, there was some rules - be as creative as you can and let your senses to lead your way. The main plan was stricted and simple: every day we will have the opportunity to work on our own projects within the various Workshops and at the end of the day, we have presentations of our work during the day in front of each other.

We won't keep this blog entry too long as we believe that one photo says more than 1 000 words. So, we will be economic (all in all, we have not just an agenda to follow but "social activities" to be followed) and will post few photos from the Day 5.

 

Enjoy the creativity that sparks from them!

 

In the darkness of the night the Balkan creatures and spirits came on light of the dance floor. And so Halloween began… Myths, old legends and stories came into reality through  costumes and masks.

LAZY SUNDAY - DAY 4

It doesn't mean that the Sundays should always be lazy and slow. In fact, in normal circumstances it shouldn't. But after 2 challenging days of getting-to-know-each-other and few parties in the Balkan style, a lazy and a slow Sunday was exactly what we needed the most.

The day started with a solid branch that was meant to prepare us for the 4-hour-walk in the beautiful village of Velventos. We visited two of the oldest Orthodox churches in the region and the local ethnographic museum. Everyone was amazed by the history kept in those places and it was just another proof on how much history we do have on the Balkans. In the afternoon, the mountain was expecting us - we visited a beautiful waterfall and took a walk in the mountain that was preparing for the spring...

Well, to be honest and keep the protocol, there was another common thing to be discovered. We will give you a joker - it is small, sweet and comes as a desert. YES, we all had the chance to taste what is know under several names in the different Balkan countries - "touloumbaki" in Greece, "tolumbichki" in Bulgaria, "tolumba" in Turkey .....All in all, the name doesn't matter. Bon appetite!