Arts Lab 6.0: Yasser Abbas - Month 6

The month started with the Cucuteni Residence at the school. I worked with Salma and Sinem, we did amazing work with the help of teachers and parents. It was a nice residence, easier and more fun than I expected. Then, we had a collaboration with the French Institute: three days of workshops and performances. I performed all my artwork there and received a nice response.

Then I started to prepare for my personal artwork for Cucuteni, which was a short movie about Shaman. I directed it, and Joschua filmed it. We went to film in the hills and at the Cucuteni Museum in Iași.

This month, I also made a lot of friends at the National Theater in Iași, where I asked about opportunities. I asked at many different theaters in Iași and sent a lot of emails, and now I am waiting for answers.

Then I traveled on the longest trip I’ve ever taken, to Cluj-Napoca. For me, it was the best city I have visited in Romania. I also asked about opportunities there at the Opera, National Theater, Hungarian Theater, Reactor Theater, and the University of Theater and Film. I am waiting for answers as well.

Anyway, I’m proud of what I did this month. Now, I’m working with Rahaf on our personal artwork, which is the Arts Lab 06 song...

At the end of this journey, I am so grateful for each moment I spent here. I learned many things about countries, people, and myself. Without this experience, I wouldn’t have realized that. So thank you, Arts Lab, for this chance, see you in 2028!

Report by Yasser Abbas, 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.