Arts Lab 6.0: Ziad Ameen - Month 2

I am here for 2 months already! My second month was full of events, activities, challenges, and many different feelings. I will start with the on-arrival session which was for 5 days and was a really good opportunity to meet other volunteers from different countries here in Romania but from another side, it was a bit long time, I think if they change to make it offline would be better for the next years. And then during the folklore event of the House of Culture, we organized workshops for the kids, I collaborated with Savane for a workshop on how they imagine Târgu Frumos in 2028 through drawing and painting on the stones, and at the end they wrote their wishes in the wishes box for 2028, It was a really enjoyable workshop and at the end 2 of the kids gave me their favorite painting as gifts. 

After this we traveled to Iași to give workshops at Școala Gimnazială Otilia Cazimir. I organized a workshop on how to make architectural sketches of Jemom Museum, it was a bit challenging because the students are switching every 15 minutes but from another perspective, there wasn't a language barrier because most of them knew English. After finishing we went to palace mall, and to palace of culture which was amazing gothic building, I hope I visit it soon to explore the different museums inside specially Cucuteni Museum. During these events I was working on my artwork which was an architectural proposal for Jemom Museum. It was stressful and a bit challenging for me but I was able to finish it and participated in our first exhibition here in Act House which was a great feeling and also I felt proud of my colleagues because each artwork has a deep meaning beyond it. 

After a few days, we had another exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Iași, it was a really good opportunity to share our works at bigger scale and with professional academic staff. Also for me, it was a really good experience to speak in public and explain my ideas about my proposal for the Jemom project. 

The day after we traveled to Iași to submit our papers for the residence permit and they told us that we could get ID on 10 December. After finishing we had a walk at the University of Arts, where we found so interesting sculptures. In this month we started working on the heating system it was totally new thing for me to deal with the fire and wood for heating. 

Our last trip this month was in Bacău, we organized workshops at Colegiul Tehnic Anghel Saligny, which was a really good opportunity to communicate with young people, show them our artwork, and interact with it. I collaborated with Nikola and Soukina to make collage artwork with the students, it was really fun. In the end as usual I enjoyed the show of Yasser and Rahaf. After we finished the workshop at the school we went to an art gallery in the city centre of Bacău. The gallery was interesting because was about the impacts of the Chornobyl disaster on people and the community. 

The Syrian night was so enjoyable for me, I enjoyed the food, songs, games, and dancing. Nowadays I'm working on a workshop about folklore at the school of Petru Rareș in Târgu Frumos, the students are talented and they let me know more about folklore and Romanian legends, and I'm sure it will have a great impact on working on MAF museum and my artwork. One of the most highlights of this month was that I saw snow in real life, maybe it is a normal thing here but it was an amazing feeling to see and touch it for the first time.

In the end, I would say that it wasn't an easy month due to the sensitivity of the subject of Jemom and what happened to the Jewish people from ethnic cleansing in Târgu Frumos in 1941, and unfortunately, it is still happening now in Palestine, Lebanon, and Sudan and some other countries even we are in 2024. That was the painful point in my opinion. But what motivated me to continue was that our efforts would be a message and raise awareness to stop discrimination for any human whatever religion, color, or ethnicity. 

For the next months, I wish I visit more places to learn more about the Romanian culture deeply and enjoy my moments because when I have many things to do I forget to live and enjoy every moment. 

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.