Arts Lab Report: A busy last month

Here is it, my last month of volunteering in Târgu Frumos! It has been a very busy month and also full of new meetings, trips and events.
 
First we went in Piatra Neamț, where we visited the Cucuteni Museum, that collects ceramics from the Cucuteni civilisation, there we saw different kinds of pots and statues, all decorated with the typical motives and colors.

During all the month, together with local volunteers, we went with the caravan to visit the nearby villages where we held our workshops and documented the local artists. We first went to Oțeleni where we met an artisan who is specialized in making  the traditional Ia and a musician who sang two songs and showed his house decorated with traditional objects and textiles.

The successive caravan was in Feredeni where the hospitality of the locals was really great. They prepared for us a typical lunch and the Grupul Vocal Hugheșelul, made up of local teenagers and children, sang and danced some traditional songs for the Folcloristica Festival. Here we also met the last ceramic artist who is working with ceramica neagra. Finally, we were invited in Dumbrăveni (in the surroundings of Suceava) where we visited a school and met a singer and a priest who works with wood, making tools with different shapes and decorations. We also visited the artisanal ice cream factory of the city.

We presented our projects and workshops at a conference in Durău, where some teachers and local representatives took part. I showed them my methods for a photography  workshop, some photos from the Folcloristica festival and the watercolors postcards from Târgu Frumos and the surroundings. In the last day all together we went hiking in the mountain, it has been very nice to spend these 4 days together with all the local volunteers.

In the youth center, I did the crafting and photography workshop and in the last week we organized the last atelier for the local volunteers and asked them about their learning achievements and feelings related to volunteering during these months. I also collaborated in recording and editing a video for the song Dragă Soacra Mea.

In the last days of the month we went to Hârlau for the last caravan and we did the final mentoring. For the last Sunday we organized the final event to show the results of our project and workshops in the youth center: we presented an exhibition of the work developed in this months and we had a goodbye party with the volunteers and people we met during this volunteer experience.

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.