Arts Lab Report: New learnings

June has passed and I now find myself in the half of this volunteering experience in Târgu Frumos. More than the previous months, June has been full of new encounters and trips to discover new places.

During the first week we visited the Jewish cemetery, a place rich in history, located in the hills around the city. The place is unfortunately left in a state of semi abandonment with most of the gravestones covered with vegetation. Here I met the caretaker, a lady who lives nearby and who told me something about the history of the place and how even today, despite none of the Jewish community is living in the city, somebody still comes from other cities to visit it.

Near where the cemetery is located I also met some families belonging to the Rroma community, with the help of a local volunteer I talked with them and took some photos that will become part of the photographic project through which I am documenting Târgu Frumos.

As I like drawing in the computer I collaborated in the editing of a recipe book that collect dishes and drinks from our countries and I designed an idea for the new Act House logo, inspired in the Cucuteni symbols.

This month we also managed to finish recording for the video of the song about our arrival in Târgu Frumos. We walked around the city and filmed in different places in relation to what is written in the text, shooting this video has been a good way to get to know new places in the city that I hadn't visited yet.

This month I also started to plan a crowdfunding project that collects photographs about what I find beautiful in Târgu Frumos. For this project I chose to focus on what most attracts me when I walk the streets: details of houses, people, the fresh market, the hills around the city, etc. Taking these photos allowed me to research and focus on the different aspects and connections among the various elements that characterize the city.

During the last week of the month we also started to plan the first meeting with the new local volunteers who joined us starting from July and who will accompany us in the realization of projects and activities we carry out.

As in the previous months, also in June we continued with the Romanian lessons and the weekly Art Frumos appointment, where we talked with different guests about Cucuteni art, photography, music, cinema, etc.

I finally can say that June was a month full of new learnings, which allowed me to travel more and get to know more about the country and some aspects of its culture, its music and art better.

Written by Eliana Colzani

Eliana is European volunteer for 8 months, in Arts Lab 2.0 project,  funded by European Solidarity Corps, with the support of European Union.