The youth exchange “Catch the moment! Wide Angle of Diversity” took place in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy from 08.02 – 15.02.2019. It’s aim was to promote European diversity, intercultural education and social inclusion through photography, as a form of art. There were seven participants from Macedonia: Stefan Sokolovski, Ana Marija Milojevikj, Filip Gjorgoski, Kristina Shestakova, Kristina Lukanovska, Igor Mocanoski and Emilijan Koteski.
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This is what Ana Marija shared with us:
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I’m going to start by saying that Cagliari was just the perfect city to have a photography related exchange in, it’s not only a city with perfect beaches, old and colourful houses, beautiful marina, but it also has a breathtaking Botanical Garden (highly recommended to anyone).
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Every morning we would start off with energizers and fun games, and then we would continue with the daily sessions and workshops. We would discuss European diversity, present our cultures, learn about photography, parts of the camera etc. During the whole week we would take photos, edit and prepare them for the most important part of the project – The final exhibition of our work in Cagliari. Especially fun challenge on the youth exchange was to go around Cagliari and learn about the culture and meet as many locals as we can. We had to take pictures of them or something related to them and write their stories.
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I also have to mention the trip to Portoscuso, which is a small municipality in the south of Sardinia, and what is interesting about this place is that it used to be a fishing village and was populated with a lot of fishermen who would catch huge tunas. The locals there welcomed us with traditional sweets, traditional dance and they were even dressed in their own traditional clothes.
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Overall this youth exchange was an amazing experience for me and I had the opportunity to meet and hang out with amazing people, learn and practice photography and upgraded my personal skills. Honestly a week was not enough for this, if we can do it all over again I’d make it last longer. It’s so strange to me how a group of people can become your family in such a short period.
And if someone from the project is reading this: Check for the pinza!
Ana Marija MILOJEVIKJ