Arts Lab 6.0: Rahaf Ghanam - Month 6

Hello again,

Spring is coming, the weather is getting warmer 🌞 and more colourful 🎨🌼.

First, I’d like to mention the arrival of our friend Joshua as a guest artist in Arts Lab 6.0. We met him during the Mid-term in Bucharest. He’s an incredibly talented photographer from Belgium and a volunteer in one of ESC’s programs in Romania. He decided to join us after learning about our artistic activities — and we were more than thrilled to have him with us 😃.

We’re almost at the end, which gives me ache while I'm writing this report...💔

We started this month with a Turkish night hosted by our friend Sinem. She prepared the most delicious dishes and desserts 😋. 

We watched many videos showing how beautiful, diverse, and stunning Turkey is,  and how many dogs and cats they have, running the streets like they’re the bosses, and everyone just goes along with it 😎.

Of course, we played Kahoot. I was hoping to win for once 🥲, but I ended up in second place, not so bad 🙄🙏🏻. 

Then, Sara, one of the students from Moldova High School in Târgu Frumos, blessed us with a beautiful musical performance, singing with her soulful voice and delicate emotions. She sang several Turkish songs, inspired by her love for this##### culture, and ended with some Romanian songs — the final one being “Made in Romania,” which I joined her in singing. My heart melted listening to her. She’s truly a rare talent, filled with angelic emotion and presence. I wish her all the success and happiness in her journey 🙏🏻💗.

Sinem also taught us some Turkish folk dances, and some felt quite similar to Syrian dances. It was such a fun night, we had a lot of fun!

After that, we started preparing for our upcoming exhibitions and art workshops at the French Institute in Iaşi.

We opened the first day with JEMOM exhibition, where I performed a cover of "I won’t light a candle" (the English part) and "Neuitare" (the Romanian part). 

Then I led a music workshop, practicing the song "Heavy Hearts," with the participants, which we ended the day performing it together, holding candles, with hearts full of emotions. I was so proud 🤍.

Before heading home, we all went to an Arab restaurant in Iaşi "Joud" I usually visit with my friend Yasser. I was so happy we were all together. The staff were incredibly kind and generous, and the meal was more than delicious, of course 😋.

The next day, we visited the Cucuteni Museum in Iaşi. Unfortunately, I started to feel sick because of the cold and snow. I hoped everything would go well. The museum was fascinating, I loved how creatively the artifacts were displayed, so creative. The guide told us so much about the Cucuteni civilization, and I admired the architectural model they built, replicating a part of a Cucuteni house.

We ended our tour and headed to the French Institute for the MAF exhibition. I performed my own rock cover of  the song “#Cine iubeste şi lasa," which I also used it "the original song" in my music workshop that day with the attendees. Sadly, my sickness got worse, and I spent the night feeling exhausted, hoping I’d feel better for our final exhibition about the Rroma culture.

And I did! I pushed myself to get ready despite my anxiety, worrying if everything would go well. But I went anyway and performed the Rroma anthem "Gelem Gelem," finishing with part of "Şaraiman şi Şaraiman."

I also presented the music video I made with the children from the Rroma art residencies, our own version of the same song. You can find it on Super Tineri’s social media pages and my Instagram (rahaf.1ghannam). I’m so proud of the video because we had such a wonderful time making it with joy, love, and spontaneity 💗.

Chris from Lebanon, a guest artist for this exhibition, helped me lead the music workshop that day. we worked with the kids on a special# version of "Şaraiman_Rroma kids"  they learned to sing with me and play some instruments along with Chris. We ended the day with a sweet, spontaneous performance together.

The French Institute surprised us with gifts to appreciate our efforts, which made us so happy 🤍.

We finally finished our work at the French Institute and started on our personal projects at the Cucuteni Museum. Unfortunately, I was still very sick 🥲 and could barely work on my project, which is a newspaper called "The Cucuteni Times," styled like a historical newspaper covering different aspects of Cucuteni life. It even included a sneak peek of our upcoming exhibition and two pages of interactive games like crosswords as an interactive part with the visitors to enjoy.

I also presented a "Cucuteni tale" music video and a villa design poster inspired by their architecture and construction techniques. Everything went very well, thankfully, even though I was still tired and had sudden tooth pain 🥲. I started teeth treatment right after we finished.

For March, Yasser and I started working on our personal project, a music video about our journey as a team in Arts Lab 6.0. I finished writing the song, inspired by words and phrases we all wrote together during an activity led by our coordinator, Mihaela. I even added a rap part 😎, my first time writing and performing in this style. I tried to  make sure the song was different and had funny parts. You’ll be able to check it out on Super Tineri’s social media once we finish it!

We started collaborating with Sebi from Moldova High School in Târgu Frumos to help with the music production. We recorded my version of "Şaraiman şi Şaraiman" and have a session booked to start working on the new song about us which I’m calling "Gangchi" for now 😅.

Yasser will sing part of it too, his first time singing, and he’ll work with our friend Luca on filming and directing the video ✨.

We also started planning Super Talks, organizing the art archives, fixing the library and garden, 

We attend our last cultural night,  Moroccan Night, hosted by our friend Soukaina. She made the most delicious Moroccan dishes with Moroccan tea. We ate a lot 😋, watched videos about Morocco’s beauty, and learned more about this wonderful country.

We played Kahoot again, and this time I was ready to win — not just for me, but for Soukaina too. And I finally won 🥳😈!

We danced to Moroccan music, sang together, and ended the night beautifully at ACT House ❤️.

That’s all for this month! We’re now preparing for more caravans and workshops to wrap up the project with an exhibition of our personal art pieces about our Arts Lab 6.0 journey.

We’ll unfortunately end a very special chapter of our lives😔.

You can’t imagine the sadness and ache I feel now. I’ve been attached to everything — the place, my friends, the activities, local people, Târgu Frumos, Iaşi. We created so many moments and memories, even the hard times taught us a lot.

It was a completely different experience for me. I wish I could go back in time and live it all again. I hope this is the start of a new, hopeful chapter in my life after the difficult years I’ve sadly lived elsewhere. I also hope for it to heal and get better, my country, Syria, 💔.

I don’t know exactly what my next step will be, as I'm still thinking and  figuring out opportunities, but I trust I’ll figure it out soon, and I hope everything will be okay.

Finally, I’m grateful for Arts Lab, for Mihaela believing in me and giving me this chance, for Romania — this beautiful country with its kind, genuine people — and for every single memory I’ve made 💗.

Take care!

Report written by Rahaf Ghanam, she's from Syria and she's one of the 14 volunteers participating in Arts Lab 6.0, a project co-funded by the European Union through the European Solidarity Corps program.