Arts Lab 6.0: Sinem Sağdıç - Month 6

Salut! Greetings from the sixth month of the project.

This month was mostly about working and freezing for me. The cold was a big challenge.

We started the month with a three-day exhibition and workshop in Iași. It was a project in collaboration with the French Institute. It turned out to be less chaotic than I expected because it was well-planned. However, in the same week, the Arts Lab car broke down, making it difficult to transport the artworks and materials. Luckily, Mircea had come with his car, so we loaded all the heavy stuff into his car. I also joined my friends' workshops from time to time because, well, why not? :)

After the exhibitions, we faced a big problem, our firewood was finished. The house had no heating, and the worst part was that it happened during the coldest period. We were all freezing, especially me. Even moving and sleeping were difficult. Preparing our artworks for the Cucuteni exhibition was also challenging because the house was so cold that the clay and paint wouldn’t dry. For the interactive part, I had done some painting, but it dried so slowly that I had to use my hairdryer.

For my personal artwork in the exhibition, I created a poster and designed a memory-matching game for the interactive part, mostly using Cucuteni symbols (The cards in my game looked like chocolate bars). The game attracted a lot of attention; the table was never empty, and someone was always playing. I spent most of my time at Luca’s table. :D Luca had prepared an interactive part where we could stamp designs on fabric. I spent the entire exhibition stamping on my t-shirt.

Later in the month, seven of us went to Iași to play billiards. I was really excited because I love playing, and it had been a long time since I last played. Some of us were playing for the first time, which made it even more exciting. :D

Salma showed off her cooking skills multiple times this month. One night, she made a dessert, and everyone in the house rushed to the kitchen to eat it. We finished it in five minutes. :D

At the same time, Ramadan began. Not only the Muslim group but also some others decided to try fasting. When it’s time for iftar, the kitchen turns into complete chaos! :)

Report written by Sinem Sağdıç, she's from Turkey 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.