Craftsmen's Caravan

From March to October 2018, the Kronospan Foundation implemented the cultural project “Craftsmen’s Caravan”, which set out to promote old and new crafts among the pupils of Brașov, specifically through cultural education activities. The project was co-financed by the Administrația Fondului Cultural Național [Romanian National Cultural Fund Governing Body], after a call for cultural programs, projects and actions, (session I/2018, subject area: Education through Culture). The partners of the Kronospan Foundation for the project’s implementation were Brașov City Hall and the District School Board.

The aim of the project was to promote the creative arts in public areas of Brașov through cultural activities designed to create new audiences and use culture as means of education for various audience categories. It was for these purposes that Braşov’s alternative/non-conventional areas (parks, green ss, school yards etc.) were brought to life, offering creative activities to more than 900 pupils living in without permanent access to cultural activities. The target audience was pupils aged 8 to 14 years old, all of whom attended over 30 hours of artistic creation activities in 52 free workshops in 15 different locations. Seven local craftsmen were directly involved in the project, introducing pupils to handcrafts and 15 “apprentices” who created craft products for the ”Brașov in Colours” Festival.

The Craftsmen’s Caravan has brought handmade arts and crafts closer to the children of Brașov, Romania

52 cultural education workshops in residential areas of Brașov
500 participants enjoyed the creative activities provided by Kronospan Foundation at the ”Brașov in Colours” Festival

Architect Biborka Bartha (wood painting), Gabriela Bularca (knitting), Lidia Bășa (needle-work & embroidery), restorer Georgiana Gămălie (chiseling wood), Simona Gheorghe (wool felting), artist Ioan Aron Țăroi (pottery) and Cornel Sculean (glass painting) introduced the young locals to arts and crafts. Children created more than 1200 artworks at the workshops.

Another key activity for the project was the cultural festival ”Brașov in Colours” , which took place on September 22nd in Brașov’s “Nicolae Titulescu” park, bringing together more than 500 participants of various ages. The Kronospan Foundation and Brașov City Hall wished to use this event to promote the creative arts and the items created by Craftsmen’s Caravan workshop participants.

Various cultural activities were organized, with an exhibition of the handmade items created by the children and “apprentices” who attended the project, interactive demonstration workshops for the large audience, street theater, treasure hunts where participants discovered Brașov’s cultural and historic attractions, music and theater cultural education workshops and cultural games. The festival was a culmination of the organizers’ efforts to facilitate access to cultural-educational events, which was one of the needs identified by the 2015 survey of cultural consumption and practices in Brașov.