Arts Lab 7.0: Oliwia Mieczkowska | Month IV

Facts

In December, we did the Intercultural festival in the middle school. We had one day with the kids to prepare and one day we did the presentation.

For the rest of the week, we prepared for the Christmas market and did other smaller stuff like the Christmas event in Trinitas etc.

We also started on the topic of Rroma and visited a lady in Iasi and got to know more about the Rroma history, the traditions and music.

Then I took a three-week-long vacation. I went home to Germany and spent a lot of time with my family and friends.

I came back in January and was instantly thrown into the Rroma residency and the personal artwork.

Feelings

I felt so happy working with the students from Ion Creangă. They are so motivated, patient and just happy to be included. It was a pleasure after the not so good experience in Garabet. The intercultural festival was very chaotic but still fun for everyone included.

I felt very excited about the Rroma topic, as the previous generations hyped it up very much. Unfortunately, this topic feels so rushed. We were given so little information and were just thrown into everything. I feel super uneducated and like I can’t put my whole heart into it yet. It’s very sad as I would love to be more into it.

Nevertheless, the residency is going pretty well. I love working with Eva as she is very organized, and we are good friends as well! The kids are very different from each other. Some are very chaotic, while others are very shy. But it's a good mix. I’m glad that we took only volunteers and not whole classes, as therefore only people who are really interested are coming to the workshop. I hope we get a lot of stuff done and that the kids will have fun!

On the topic of my personal artwork, I’m having a very hard time with it. I can’t find the motivation to get creative and try stuff out, but also don’t have the energy to educate myself and get inspired by others. I’m procrastinating a lot, but hope it will settle down now that we have a break from the residency and more time for our own stuff.

During my stay at home I had a great time. I was very happy to see everyone again and spent some free time however I wanted. Nevertheless, I missed the people in the house a lottttt. I’m very happy to be back surrounded by them <3.

Findings

I found out how good a residency, or general work with children can be, when they are motivated enough. It can go so smoothly and easy, which is very nice to know.

I also found out a lot about the cultures of the others in the intercultural event. It was so interesting. I also got to know a lot about the Rroma community. I got to talk about them, find out about all the stereotypes they have to face and got to break a lot of them with the people who thought bad about them. It is nice to change the view of at least one of the people I met.

I also obviously learned a lot about them as a community. Their traditions, music, dances, and language. It’s so nice to see and learn. I’m very interested and hope to learn A LOT more in the following days and weeks!

Future

For the future, I would like to do the residency in a similar manner. To plan, be prepared and mix it with improvisation. It’s a good feeling to have control over the situation. I would also like to spend more quality time with the people around me, as half of the project is already over, and it went by SO FAST. We are slowly realizing that time together is running out, and we have to make the most out of it.

I would like to say that I want to work harder and not procrastinate, but I already know that it would be unrealistic as my motivation is down because of the winter and homesickness. I would love to get it back as I know how special and amazing this project is. I really have to make the most out of it!

This monthly report was written by Oliwia Mieczkowska, our Polish/German volunteer taking part in a seven-month Arts Lab 7.0 mobility, co-funded by the European Union under the European Solidarity Corps.