FORGET A HURRY: How many words are there in a minute?

How many words are there in a minute and why do you have to write formulas on a squared paper?  These were some of the questions young writers and artists from Vilani, Karsava and Slisselburg attempted to ask and answer while participating in a camp “Art Has No Borders” in Karsava. The camp was organised within the Latvia – Russia Cross Border Cooperation Project “Forget a Hurry” and lasted from 18 till 22 August. The participants of the camp had an opportunity to attend creative workshops, develop their creative potential and get acquainted with Latvian and Latgalian culture.


Extraordinary youngsters need extraordinary ways of getting to know each other and team-building. First, they had to come up with their own “WANTED” profiles by drawing their self-portraits, writing down the nickname, eye and hair colour. Second, the participants of the camp learned more about the town of Karsava in a rather extraordinary way too – they were divided in teams and had to accomplish several tasks. Further work was done in two separate groups – a group of writers and a group of artists.

Writers used different drama improvisation techniques and games in order to develop their creative potential and spontaneity.  No matter how creative a person is, sometimes it is necessary to apply a theoretical background. This time it was done by creating metaphors according to theory requirements thus trying to discover a “recipe” for writing eloquent poetry, which was later recorded on the “poetry cups”. These cups have a deeper symbolic meaning – they represent the ability of a creative product to still one’s thirst. By combining lyrics with pictures, the youngsters created animation movies thus illustrating topical issues.

Young artists, in turn, tried to make use of everything they had access to. Even irons did not stay idle – they were used for wax painting to create wonderful landscape pictures. By using oil paints, the artists created the paintings inspired by the masterpieces noted throughout the world. Old umbrellas experienced an upgrade – they were prettified during a design workshop and later used for performances during the Youth Day, the concluding day of the camp.

During the camp the participants visited the Centre of Creative Services of Eastern Latvia “Zeimuļs”, where they were given a lecture by Valentins Lukasevics on different forms of poetry. In his workroom Peteris Gailums, an artist in ceramics, gave a workshop on the features of clay as well as taught how to make pottery.

The closure of the camp was celebrated together with the Youth Day in Karsava. The participants of the camp together with the local youngsters, who joined the events of the Youth Day, worked shoulder to shoulder in a workshop “Creating the Region Together”, participated in a parade, and performed during the final show.

As the participants of the camp stated, the gain from their participation in the camp was very significant, for they acquired new knowledge and skills, met many interesting people, and would love to take part in a similar event in the future.

The camp was organised within the Estonia – Latvia – Russia Cross Border Cooperation Programme within the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument 2007-2013 framework. The project “Forget a Hurry” unites the Municipality of Vilani, Municipality of Karsava and the Town of Slisselburg, creating a united cultural information place and cooperation network by the means of literary-artistic creative potential.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These and many more photos, as well as video and follow-up reflections of the participants of the camp can be found at the Project Facebook page.

Information prepared by:
Inese Krivmane, Public relations specialist, Karsava Municipality
Margarita Isajeva, Public relations specialist, Vilani Municipality