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GRUNDTVIG National Agency has decided to award a grant to BRUKSKUNSTGALLERIET for Grundtvig Learning Partnership "Integration of migrants via creativity and intercultural experience". In the program participates also Gallery "Menas Sau" ("Art for Ourselves") from Lithuania, "Amatnieku studija FLEUR "from Latvia and Lithuanian - Icelandic community from Iceland.
In the middle of September, 2009 "Menas Sau" had the opening of the silk painting exhibition in the Vilnius city hall. It was good occasion to do the co-coordinating meeting in Vilnius. We had discussed the scenery of the coming workshop in Vilnius.
Practically the Mjonøy center is an ethnographic Norwegian village with ancient houses. And it gives good opportunity to maintain workshops in the same mood: "Art of the forgotten technologies". Our stress will be the Black ceramic.
The first workshop in the frames of the GRUNDTVIG was held in Vilnius November 15-20, 2009. We were 4 participants from Norway on the workshop in Vilnius.
Main stress on the workshop was theory and practices of the painting on silk with natural paints.
The method was used until the end of 19 century, when the synthetic paints replaced the natural ones. It was very useful to learn more of Nature treasures, so rich but forgotten in the nowadays rush. There we received a lot of new information on the painting methods, tried to use it in practice ourselves.
Also it was valuable to learn how Gallery attracts local society giving them possibility to feel artists them self.
During the workshop, we have decided to do some changes in the coming workshops timetable. One of the reasons was that BRUKSKUNSTGALLERIET in Nittedal is changing the location. Therefore the workshop in Norway was pushed to the 23-28 September, 2010. Also was accepted the new workshop location to:
Mjonøy handicraft and cultural center,
3890 Vinje.
www.mjonoy.no
We are very thankful to the Center owner Darius Jasmantavicius for this possibility.
Articles of black ceramics became fashionable recently; however, the technique of this method has appeared thousands years ago. In Scandinavia it was wide used during Vikings times.
Ancient potters treated articles in a special way by firing and smoking them in the heat reaching 800 C. Iron contained in clay was reduced and spread on the surface of the article in a thin layer due to which the item became almost fully water resistant and acquired a noble metallic shine.
The technology of black ceramics seems to be very simple: articles are modeled or formed manually. After drying they are decorated and polished. Firing of articles takes place in outdoor kilns are usually dig in the earth. So, the process of the black ceramic production is as simple as attractive the same time.
We hope to have fruitful workshop and big interest of the community there.
