Athens/Dec/2018
In December 2018 Artists in Transit returned to Athens to run 9 days of workshops across 3 squats.
We revisited 2nd and 5th school, rotating between the two each day, working with the long term volunteers and joining their schedule of educational activities. It is always bittersweet to see familiar faces, the children are happy to see us come back but it leaves us with a heavy heart knowing they haven’t moved on yet.
We made contact with a new community called Clandestina, home to almost 100 refugees including 30 children, they welcomed us into their home. Every morning, armed with fruit, juice and
craft materials we arrived to the children patiently waiting for their art class.
We started with jewellery and sewing, and as the days past we worked up to group paintings, plasticine and life-size portraits. On our second to last day here, we were joined by the amazing Windup Penguin Theatre company who put on a fabulous show for the children and parents. After their show they had
the chance to play with shiny brass trumpets and delicate violins, the children loved them
and the hall was filled with giggling, dancing and shouting.
We left Athens after running three Christmas parties in one weekend, crowns decorated, polaroids were taken, glitter everywhere and a new place to call home in Athens.
Thank you to everybody who supported us and welcomed us. We will be back soon!
Angelique
Volunteers
Angelique
Collection of Memories
Having the responsibility of running the workshop - a tiny room, long rolls of paper, glitter, googly eyes, lots of kids working together and Despacito playing.
Coming back to 2nd school to find one of the kids had sewn together a wonderful bag from the fabric left from the previous workshop!
Waking up each morning to buy a suitcase full of bananas and cucumbers.
Orlagh
Getting to work with Artists in Transit was really an experience I'll always value. I love working with children/young people so this project allowed me to meet more lovely kids who really wanted to have fun and create! Even though the children are experiencing a really difficult phase in their lives, it was really great to see them have such fun with the workshops. It was really insightful to see first hand the current refugee situation that is taking place in Europe. I'll always remember this time and want to go back to work with children and maybe women's groups too.
