That’s how far a three-member team traveled to represent our school in Gaziantep, located in southeastern Turkey.
The third mobility of the AR.AC.N.E. project (Art Achieve New Europe) for educators of the participating schools took place from May 20 to 24.
Crew:
Monika Jakoubková – Visual Arts,
Šárka Müllerová – Visual Arts,
Filip Janouch – Literary and Dramatic Arts
Departure Journal:
DAY 0
Do you know how long the journey from Vysoké Mýto to Gaziantep takes? Long. We leave by car at 4:00 AM, transfer to the train in Pardubice at 5:00 AM, take a bus to the airport with a 2.5-hour lead time, and in the afternoon, we land at the new, huge Istanbul airport. The journey from one gate to another takes nearly as long as the flight from Prague to Istanbul. On the plane, we meet other mobility participants from Romania and Italy. Gaziantep airport, on the other hand, is one of the smallest we have ever used. At night, we arrive at the hotel, and there is great excitement among the group.
DAY 1
The entire Gaziantep art school is transformed into one big gallery full of student artworks. We walk through the exhibition, accompanied by school ensembles. We learn how to imitate marble on paper. We attend a concert. We taste our first authentic Turkish kebab/kebap. We meet the mayor of Gaziantep and learn about the functioning of the city.
We sit at a round table and discuss for hours the possibilities of developing our students.
DAY 2
We visit all the museums that can inspire us to work with our students. All the visual arts teachers start drawing the historical center of the city. The only non-artist who dares to participate is me. I praise myself. From this moment on, my colleagues in the mobility project call me Monet, not Filip. I don’t take it personally.
DAY 3
We visit the world’s largest mosaic museum. We admire wall mosaics from ancient Greece and the Byzantine Empire. We chip stones and create our own mosaics. We discuss art education in Europe and share our experiences.
DAY 4
We have a long meeting about upcoming mobilities in Romania and Italy. We prepare for the international exhibition in Parabita, Italy, where students from all participating schools will display their artwork. We fly to Istanbul.
DAY 5
Rain makes our full-day walk through Istanbul more enjoyable. We learn everything important about the most beautiful and significant buildings in Istanbul. Filled with inspiration, we say goodbye to the participants of the mobility and begin packing.
RAMAZAN
The ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. One of the five pillars of Islamic faith. Fasting. To observe Ramadan in Turkey, three conditions must be met:
- You must be over 14 years old
- You must be in good health, so fasting won’t harm you
- You must want to observe it
Since Ramadan was already in full swing when we arrived, we decided to observe it partially.
From dawn to sunset – the time when Muslims do not eat or drink – we decided not to follow this part.
From sunset to dawn – the time when Muslims indulge in food and drink – we decided to follow this part. The eight-course Ramadan menu was filled with lamb, oil, mutton, black tea, lamb, kefir, mutton, chickpeas, ayran, water, excellent flatbreads, and desserts combining sugar with sugar, served with sheep meat.
Do you know how long it takes to travel from Vysoké Mýto to Gaziantep? Long, but definitely worth it.
We thank the Turkish school for their incredible hospitality; it was one of our most beautiful artistic and gastronomic experiences.
