Workshop “Hands are Made for Creating” as a part of the Benčić Youth Council project, was held on March 17th and 18th, 2018. In the new year of BYC program focuses on the theme of culture and art of crafts and intergenerational learning. By choosing this theme, we would like to bring together different types of crafts (traditional, artistic, interdisciplinary) and stimulate the creation of a creative space that will gather diverse generations to socialize, exchange life experiences, and spend quality time practicing handwork.
This was an introductory workshop where we explored the forms, types and possibilities of hand work and crafts through various creative activities, games and practical work, thus creating a basis for further deeper acquaintance with the particular crafts and craftsman/woman. Old trades are becoming more and more popular after a long time and the benefit that they bring is more meaningful today than ever before. In this time when everyday life is speeding up, it teaches us about awareness, focus, enjoyment in the moment and the magic of creation.
The first day of the workshop was dedicated to familiarizing with the basic concepts related to craftsmanship. After games that inspire team spirit, we discussed what terms like tradition, art, craftsmanship, traditional craftsmanship and modern craftsmanship mean, and we have listed the trades that we have heard about. Then everyone got a thumbnail of a craft s/he had to put into one of three categories: art crafts, traditional crafts and modern crafts. So, we can see in person the results of different crafts we decided to go to the Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral – jewelry, furniture, clocks, weapons, instruments and similar. After that we analyzed articles dealing with crafts that are facing extinction:

• “The Last Hat Maker in Zagreb”
• “Quilt Workshop – An Incredible Spot in the Center of Zagreb”
• “Ivan Serdar is the last Slavonian potter”
• “Dud’s silks are our pets, we keep them in our bosoms while growing”

After that, through the quiz on the secrets of craftsmanship we checked out how much we learned through the day.
The second day of the workshop was based on practical work. We tried different types of manual work that are the basis of many crafts. We sewed cell phone pouches, decorated the fabric with our own stamps, made a carrier for our bottles using macramé technique and managed to make apple compote and pancakes to sweeten our day.
This workshop is just the beginning of a series where we learn new skills!