Supported by: Creative Europe Programme of the European Commission
Period: October 2015 – July 2019
Partners: National Museum of the Romanian Peasant, CID Center for Intercultural Dialog, Macedonia, O.R.S. Osservatorio ricerca sociale, Italy, Plovdiv University „Paisii Hilendarski”, Bulgaria
Aim: „CU TENDA” is an European cooperation project between organisations from Romania, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Italy, focused on intangible heritage of small communities of South – East Europe. Using as primary tools creativity and inter-connectivity, the project seeks to explore living memory of cultural and ethnic groups from the Balkans and South Italy, following a symbolic road through time and space.
The core concept of the project is the challenge to envision and experience heritage, especially intangible heritage, through a multitude of perspectives, methods, disciplines (anthropology/ ethnography, museography, photography, visual arts, performance arts, craftwork, music etc.).
Key project activities:
1. THEATRE PLAY
– description: the theatre play, which will be written by the youngsters, will have as a main focus to present the life of the young Aromanians in Macedonia and their challenges to keep their culture and language while at the same time their fear of assimilation. It will be played both in Macedonian and Aromanian language (with more accent put on Aromanian language)
2. INTERCULTURAL MEETINGS/ SESSIONS/ WORKSHOPS
– description: the intercultural meetings will focus on presentation of Aromanian arts and crafts done in the youth center locally in Kumanovo. The principle of work will involve intercultural dialogue as a tool, where mixed groups of local youth (Macedonian, Albanian, Roma and Aromanian) will present their culture to each other and will learn the Aromanian customs.
3. GUIDE OF CULTURAL LANDMARKS OF AROMANIANS IN NORTHEASTERN MACEDONIA
– description: The guide will be made in cooperation with local Aromanian/ Vlach associations in Macedonia and will focus on the northeastern region of Macedonia. The guide will have around 20 pages with most important places for the Vlach community in the region and beyond, what can people visit to explore the Aromanian / Valch cultural heritage and where they can seek for more information.
4. EXCHANGE VISITS:
– NMRP in Macedonia: a team from NMRP will travel to Kumanovo to meet the partner from Macedonia. CID will be responsible for: facilitating the access of Romanian team to museums in Macedonia (Museum in Kumanovo); facilitating access of Romanian team to Aromanian communities in Macedonia (we would like to make some field research in Krushevo and Mulovishte, as well). During the visit, there will also be a workshop designed by the Romanian team for the young participants from CID, that will have as subject forms of expression of cultural patterns of Aromanian identity.
– CID in Romania: a team with CID members will travel to Romania (volunteers, young artists, young researchers, or anybody interested in the topic of Aromanian culture and heritage, young Aromanians from Macedonia), where there will be developed, under the guidance of the NMRP team, a project regarding Aromanians/Vlachs from Romania: a photography research project (visiting local rural and urban communities here, participating in public events, documenting them), as well as workshops on different themes regarding Aromanian culture and identity and especially ways of researching it (training/workshop for research in oral memory, anthropological research with practical exercises etc.)