Arts Lab 6.0: Ziad Ameen - Month 1

I'm Ziad from Egypt. Today, I have been in Târgu Frumos for almost one month. My flight took a long time from Egypt because I had a transit in Athens for 9 hours. It was a bit stressful, but I’m glad that I finally arrived in Romania. I was overthinking how daily life would be with the other volunteers, especially since we are living in the same house. But from the first moment I arrived, they welcomed me very warmly, and I gradually got used to this change in my life — living with different characters and backgrounds. What gathered us is art by Arts Lab 6.0. 

I was lucky to catch the Romanian Intercultural Night the day after I arrived in Târgu Frumos. It was such a great start to being involved in Romanian culture. I learned many facts about Romania through playing Kahoot with my colleagues and local people from Târgu Frumos. It was the first time for me to hear many Romanian traditional songs and see many different traditional dances in real life. In addition to trying Romanian food, I had the opportunity to taste zacusca and Snow White cake, and I started to add them to my favorite Romanian dishes.

On our trip to Iași for the first time on 26 September, I felt so familiar with Iași after arriving because it is a bit like Alexandria, where I studied at university in Egypt. We were invited to the French Institute to interact with local young people in Iași and learn more about French culture. After this, we visited the exhibition of the students of the George Enescu University. I liked the artworks of the students, and I was fascinated by the library. It looked so classic, like in the Harry Potter movies. Then we visited the Jewish Museum, which was the hardest and saddest part of the day because it narrated the genocide that took place in Romanian cities against the Jewish community during 1941. Borderline Gallery was our last destination in Iași. There was a visual exhibition that was bold and shocking, but I liked its concept and how the artist expressed her idea perfectly.

Two days after visiting Iași, we visited Muzeul Etnografic Gârbea and some crafters. We were welcomed very warmly. I was very impressed by the museum because the person in charge of it is trying to preserve the local cultural heritage, simulating how life was in the past. I was very inspired by the details of the patterns on the traditional Romanian clothes, fabrics, and carpets.

Our workshop with my colleague Saleh at Liceul Special "Moldova" involved training students on how to make a 3D model by recycling some materials and using sustainable materials within the framework of the Jemom Museum. The plan was to work on a model to create visualizations and design visions for the Jewish cemetery in Târgu Frumos because it is part of the cultural heritage of the city and also to honor the souls of the 640 victims. Five students attended this workshop, where we started with some engineering games to create surfaces on the ground. Then we discussed with them what happened in the past to the Jews of Târgu Frumos who lived here and that we should immortalize the memory of the victims by making a model of the cemetery to make it a shrine for the people of the city of all ages. The students were teenagers and had good insight, except for Ștefan and Claudiu, who had some challenges, but all five students did very well. As we made the models together and designed the forest areas, on the fifth day we finished the model and wanted each one of them to write what they were feeling on the Braille typewriter. 

Working on the Jemom workshop was a really big challenge for me, even though they are teenagers, and because of the language barrier. We dealt with this by using Google Translate. Also, because the topic is hard for them, but from another perspective, it aims to raise their awareness against racism toward any segment of society. I also felt that if this hadn’t happened to the Jewish community in Romania, our present would be better. Unfortunately, genocide is still happening in Gaza against the Palestinian people.

During my second time in Iași, we visited many exhibitions with different styles of art. I was really inspired by the artworks of the artist Maia Mocanu. 

I also enjoyed attending the Folcloristica Festival in Tătăruși, although I was tired because we traveled for three consecutive days, and it is an hour away from Târgu Frumos. It was an unforgettable experience. The welcome and hospitality were very special. On the first day, we visited the Tătăruși Heritage Museum and saw more details about the traditional costumes and some handicraft tools. They hosted us for lunch. From this point, I liked sarmale very much. It is very similar to a popular Egyptian dish called mahshi. In the evening, we enjoyed singing together our favorite songs. On the second day, before going to Tătăruși, the team had a surprise to congratulate me on my birthday. They made my day. After that, we visited the church in Tătăruși. I liked the building from the outside more than the inside because it contains many details, gilded engravings, and icons. After that, we went to have lunch in a traditional restaurant. After serving dessert, my colleagues surprised me again by celebrating me. They made me happy for the second time. Then we went to the area to graze sheep, and the green hills looked magical with the bright sunlight in the background. We tasted very delicious cheese made from sheep milk, and the shepherd taught my colleagues how to play the wind instrument. There was a beautiful dog who was 20 years old, and when I asked if he was still guarding the sheep, they said no, he had retired! After that, we went to the forest for a short while, then back to the stage where the celebration was going on. We participated by presenting some dances and songs from where my colleagues come from. In the end, they congratulated me on my birthday on the stage, and one of the famous singers sang "Happy Birthday" to me in Romanian. They made me happy for the third time on the day I turned 31.

The third day was the day of the competition and presentation of the groups from other villages, including Tătăruși. I was impressed by their outfits, the variety of Romanian patterns on their costumes, and the fact that each village has a specific dress. It was inspiring, and it will help me create visual artwork related to Folcloristica. During the event, while every team presented its show, I was drawing a portrait of the mayor of Tătăruși. It was a bit challenging for me because it had been so long since I last drew a professional portrait. But by the end of the event, I finished it, and I was glad that he liked it. This encouraged me to draw more artwork.

Through this first month, I started learning a few Romanian words, and I hope to improve gradually in the coming months. For me, I’m so excited and curious to explore more Romanian cities and villages to learn more about Romanian traditions and give my artwork a deeper meaning and value.

Report by  Ziad Ameen, a volunteer from Egypt and one of the 14 participants in Arts Lab 6.0, a project co-funded by the European Union through the European Solidarity Corps program.