Art and culture

Workcamp: Art District

The project took place in:

Slovenia

Workcamp

Written by Anaelle Simon

August 2016

Me and other volunteers were warmly welcomed at the Layer House, which is a cultural art centre and also a nice place to enjoy a coffee in Kranj. Established in 2011, the name of this place is a tribute to the baroque painter Leopold Layer. The Layer House is also the office of the organization Zavod Carnica, the NGO that  implemented this workcamp.

The goal was to renovate an old house and garden and make this place alive again and accessible for art projects.

In the first day I met the 11 other volunteers for this project. The strength of our group was the diversity of knowledge; some were more oriented to architecture or art in general, others more interested in urban planning, tourism and others more accustomed to physical work.

The garden was more like a huge forest of weeds and the house seemed like it was abandoned centuries ago… We somehow tried to discover the rooms of the house avoiding spider webs and many overlapping objects. It would be a lie not to admit that when my eyes met the eyes of the other volunteers, I could feel the anxiety but also a lot of excitement. After this visit we finally had a clearer picture of the future work.

kranj-2016-team-meeting-uros-frelih

We started by cleaning the house and the garden. Later we started to scrape the walls. It was tiring but all of these efforts paid off!! We found the very first layer of paint of the walls, the oldest but the most beautiful and we all agreed on this: We should preserve this and paint in white around the wallpaper.

It was very easy to work within a team and it was fast dividing the tasks because of the great atmosphere and connection of the group. It was my best experience as a volunteer. I met amazing people and had a great time with them. I also felt very helpful doing a good cause. I hope this house will endure over time and inspire people to develop new ideas to enrich the cultural life of Kranj.

Story written by Anaelle Simon, workcamp volunteer in Kranj, Slovenia. August 2016

You can still join!

Want to have your own volunteer experience for peace?

Read more Voices of Volunteers