CHANTICA

Culture, History and Nature Together in Contemporary Art

Prepared by Ajda Račečič

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Co-financed by:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We came back to Stropkov, Slovakia, in a heart of Europe, where the third international exchange of CHANTICA (Culture, History and Nature Together In Contemporary Art) project was going on. We met participants also from England, Scotland, Greece and Slovakia. Members of our team were Irena Udovič, Teja Janeš, Lara Zorn, Sašo Doles, Martin Petrič and team leader Ajda Račečič. We had  seven interesting, creative, very nice and unforgottable days in Slovakia.

THURSDAY,13th of November, 2008

Our first day was reserved for arrival. We started almost 15 hours long traveling to Slovakia by train. Traveling wes not boring, becouse we had to change trains, we had to eat, and also we had to get know each other. We stopped in Vienna for one hour, and boys were entertaining us with playing on their harmonica. We arrived in Stropkov early in the morning, the same time arrived other participants from other countries. We were all very tired, so we went to our rooms and went to sleep. .

FRIDAY, 14th of November, 2008

After early breakfast we went to  Kežmarok, where we participated the students day celebration. Martin Clark, leader of CHANTICA project, was festive speaker.  In the afternoon we had some time to the town sight-seing. We saw a lot of different churches, a   castle remainings. We also had some time left for shopping. We were surprised by cheap prices. In the evening we drove into Brusnica (a village near Stropkov), where the mayor was waiting for us and we ate dinner together.  The participants from all the cooperating countries were introduced, we had some time to get to know each other. We got all informations about workshops, which we were visiting in next four days. At the end of the day we went for a beautiful walk through Stropkov.

 

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SATURDAY, 15th of November, 2008

Abundant breakfast prepared all of us on our first day working in workshops. Workshops were in a cultural home Brusnica. There were six workshops, where we were working with textile, costumes, laces, pumpkins, wood, masks, wire and natural materials. We were afraid to lose our creativity, so we foun a cure for that: after the dinner we went to search an inspiration in bars nearby. 

SUNDAY, 16th of November, 2008

Until three o'clock, the day was the same like a day before. We got up, had a breakfast, went to Brusnica, ate a lunch and creating in workshops. At three o'clock we stopped with our work and went back to Stropkov in a Delta restaurant. An interesting presentation of traditional Slovak food was waiting for us. We were also helping to make »pirohe«, which are similar as tortelini, they are made of a little bit darker flour and filled with jam. We cooked also a mushroom soup and a dough, which reminded us on pancake dough. Before the supper the Slovak parliament deputy visited us and stayed with us. We had dinner together. After the dinner we watched the folklore group Haburčanka program, and after that we had an oppurtunity to learn some steps of Slovak traditional dance by the accompainment of life music. At the end of the day we visited a beautiful exhibition of Daniel Sooš in a town library.

 

MONDAY, 17th of November, 2008

After culinarical education the day before, the breakfast seemed to be very shrovetide. We ate it with pleasure, knowing that all day in Brusnica is wating for us and our imagination. After we came in a worknig hall, we noticed a new workshop. Excellent Slovak organizators (Anna and Miro) offered us another interesting workshop. We were making girls, boys, farmers women… from corn peels.  While we were eating dinner, we have realized, that the project is near the end, so we spent an evening with a lot of fun. Of course, the harmonica sound was included.

 

 

TUESDAY, 18th of November, 2008

Our last day together. Our last creative day. Our last day. It wasn't easy to got up on the last day. We needed to finish our creations and products. In the evening we had a cultural event, when we represented the traditional country wearings. We also had a presentation of our own creations in a short fashion show. After a straining, creative week, and after the event, our hosts took us to a restaurant Delta. We couldn't stop talking, so we went to El Paso. In a restaurant our talking and saying good bye just couldn't end. We all expressed a hope to see each other again.

WEDNESDAY, 19th of November, 2008

Our team has left Stropkov the first of all teams. We left Stropkov at half past three in the morning, our train left Košice at half past five. Long driving back to Slovenija was an oppurtunity to sleep and talk about the beautiful time we spent in Slovakia. After one week, we arrived in Slovenija in the evening.