Arts Lab 5.0: Ahmed Hakmi, Morocco - Month 2

Salut! I'm having a great time here in Târgu Frumos! I've been spending wonderful moments with my friends, making lots of memories. It's been my second month here, and it's been incredible to see the results of my hard work paying off both personally and professionally.

The month started with completing a major project, a mural at Petru Rareș Highschool. It was a challenging and stressful project that took more time than expected. Although I'm always seeking perfection, everyone else loved the result, and I'm happy with it too.

One of the good moments during this month was making a small surprise for Mihaela's birthday, although we celebrated it two days later. We went to a hill where we could see the entire Târgu Frumos and had a photo session for the catalog.

We had the opportunity to host around 50 students from Iași and conducted workshops with them. It was an incredible experience, as they were lovely and most of them spoke English,  so we connected.

I'm proud that I created the catalog and banner for the MAF exhibition. It was a unique experience to complete an 80-page catalog within a tight deadline. It was challenging, and I even stayed up late some nights to meet the deadline.

The exhibition day was nerve-wracking as I presented my personal projects and interacted with the public. Although I was stressed, once people started coming, I felt comfortable showcasing my artworks and sharing my experiences during the MAF. For me, it was a successful exhibition, and in the next one, I'll put in more effort to make it even more interesting. We celebrated the exhibition's end by going out for pizza with Mihaela.

I also want to mention the day we went to the immigration office for our residencies. It was a long wait from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., but I met seven Moroccans there. I exchanged contacts with them and occasionally texted them. It felt like home to finally speak in my mother tongue face to face.

During our free days, we decided to visit Suceava, which was a breathtaking city known for its nature. Although we didn't have enough time to see everything, we visited the important monument "Cetatea de Scaun a Sucevei," some churches, and the mall.

Then, we started our new artist residency at Garabet Ibrăileanu school under Cucuteni Alternativ musuem. I was thrilled because the students were friendly, and more than 30 of them showed interest in my workshop. It was a bit challenging at times, as some students didn't have tasks and were just hanging out. However, I tried my best to involve everyone, and the result was amazing. The students created everything themselves, and I provided guidance. The best part was that we finished the mural on time, unlike the previous one

That's all for this month. I'm enjoying my time here and eagerly looking forward to facing new challenges in the upcoming months.

Ahmed Hakmi is from Morocco and he's doing six months volunteering in our organisation, within Arts Lab 5.0, a project co-funded by the European Union through the European Solidarity Corps.