I was delighted to have gained a place on the Grampus Heritage and Hylates Training. The placement relates directly to my practice at home and to my ambitions for the future. I found the month placement to be holistically inspirational and good for the soul!
During my stay I felt completely enriched by the experience and by the people I met along the way. I felt that all of the Grampus and Hylates teams were amazing, informative and inspiring people. I learnt so much about issues facing villages and their traditional crafts people. I learnt that young people were not returning to their villages after leaving for university and therefore certain traditional crafts were affected. I developed my awareness of the EU countries that were similarly affected by these issues such as Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia and bulgaria. We were made to feel extremely welcome in all of the places we stayed, Lefkara, Akrotiri and Kalopanyiotis
I loved the first week of the programme as it was full of "making", which I fully enjoyed. I am interested in traditional textiles, so this was exciting to be working with many different types from different countries. It made me crave to see and experience more in Europe, in the future. Even now, back in the UK I am thinking of more costumes I could have made.....it has spurred a great deal of inspiration!!
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work in progress
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working with local crafts women
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On one of the first evenings we had a meeting about the Fashion show, in Lefkara and about whether the work of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots crafts people would be included in the exhibition. I found it emotional, listening to the discussion on the first evening about whether to keep all the costumes in the show. I hadn't fully realised the situation in Cyprus and I was quite shocked by this reality. I also felt quite clumsy with attempts to contribute to the conversation
I loved meeting with the silversmiths and I was very excited about this experience! I think many jewellers in the UK would have been very jealous of those couple of days! I enjoyed chatting to Lace maker Chris one evening, who explained a lot about her family life in Lefkara. She said I brought her good luck as she made a big sale of Lefkaritka while I was with her! I just wish I had gone down to spend more time with Panayiota to learn some lace making skills. I got carried away with costume making for the fashion show. I kicked myself when I realised!!
I believe wholeheartedly in the value of craftmanship and I have learnt directly about the issues and contributing factors which make conserving and inspiring new generations about crafts so important. I learnt about how crafts people benefit the local environment in Akrotiri. I am interested in the link between crafts and nature. I found it fascinating to do the pH, nitrate and phosphorous tests to see how we directly impact our local environment. I think it is important to learn about this delicate ecosystem, especially for young people who do not always understand the consequences of their actions! (Me included)
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ceramics
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working with flowers
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I really enjoyed working with traditional crafts people. I could have spent a lifetime with some of them eg. with Fevronia (in Phini) who was 87 and still making pottery in the traditional way, on a manual potters wheel, and George and Panayotis Polis in Lefkara with whom I interviewed about their practice over a shared Cyprus coffee. It was actually quite overwhelming for me to meet these people and learn about their history!
I loved visiting Hambis Printmaking School, as this directly linked to the work I am doing during May and June at Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery. I am running printmaking workshops at the gallery and it was great to see the Hambis printmaking studio layout and organisation. It really helped me set up last friday at the event opening!
I fully enjoyed working in the primary school in Trachoni village. I found all the staff and children to be very welcoming. I enjoyed meeting one of the MA students, who was doing research into children with SEN's. We had a good chat about the similarities and dfferences between the UK and Cyprus system to support such individuals. She was a very inspiring person.
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Chair making
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Loom weaving
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I loved that we were made to feel so welcome into the Hadjikyriakou families traditional home. These memories will always make me smile. I feel that we have been truely priviledged to have had this opportunity and I really hope that everyone appreciated how much work and effort was put in around us! I can't wait to make some of the new recipes we were taught over Easter!!
All that we have seen, experienced, achieved blows me away. I have met some amazing people who have shown me that it is possible to spend your days working for a great cause which can make such a difference to people's lives. I am inspired by the work of Grampus and Hylates and I hope that our paths will cross one day in the future. I am really interested in crafts people, their stories and their legacies and I hope to do more work on the subject in the future! I will always be an ambassador for the work you are doing to help sustain traditional crafts. I hope to celebrate the skilled crafts people met along the way, to show new people in the UK the amazing work and stories I learnt about during the TICATEC programme. I want to give something back and contribute to raising awareness abot the great work Grampus and Hylates is doing!!
I feel that this programme was, in a lot of ways, made for me. It encompassed all of the things that I am interested in and many of them feed directly into my work. I am looking forward to my next project and exhibition, as I have many ideas about collagraph prints I want to make (with Stavrolua's half finished basket), furniture I want to re-upholster (with traditional Phyti fabrics) and books I have promised to bind (as small thank you's to my hosts!!)
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Silver working
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Traditional cooking
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During the 2nd week, I spoke to Mr and Mrs G Hadjikyriakou about their life and home in the North of Cyprus, that is now occupied by Turkish- Cypriots. I learnt about their work to make sure that their home is remembered and I felt moved by a broken-conversation I had with Mrs Hadjikyriakou, as she showed me her newly published book. It made my abstract awareness about the situation in Cyprus, much more real to me, through direct contact and relationship. So too, did the discussion at the hotel about the involvement of "all" costumes. I was very naive about the reality of the conflicts in Cyprus.
I will not forget the kindness, knowledge, consideration, patience and generosity that has been shown to us during out TICATEC programme, it has re-affirmed my belief in people and the chance of genuine opportunity! Here's to many more students having such an amazing time. Thank you for everything.