VIDEO Transcripts
In this section you can find the transcripts of the videos presented at the VIDEO Area.
Italy
Hello everyone, my name is Ilaria Delli Paoli and I am one of the members of Teatro Civico 14 Spazio X in Caserta. I deal with training and theater organizations and I am an actress. Because obviously nothing could be done, this interruption obviously led to a huge drop in the level of attendance as participation in the activities. When we were able to resume with the restrictions and therefore with the impositions of the State, both in terms of training activities and in terms of shows, we resumed with a room capacity reduced from the original 80 seats to 15, and therefore the shows we did were for 15 people and we resumed training activities with strong restrictions that required students not to move and wear the mask ffp2 for the entire duration of the activities, including physical activities. For the entire duration of the activities, even the physical ones, and the two meter distance between one diva and the other there could be no contact, no exercises that involved contact and interaction between the students. This had to mean for us trainers a total remodeling of the educational activity As for the shows, with a room with reduced capacity, obviously the companies had difficulty staging their shows. We ourselves had great difficulty staging our productions. Because the situation became economically unsustainable, there was a halt to the activity. There was an interruption of activity, and when it did resume, it was very, very painful. Also, because the public was not only afraid to return to the theater, but also the students in the theater courses. In fact, from the point of view of participation in the courses, there has been a huge drop in the last two years. There was also a difficulty in wearing the mask in the auditorium and in carrying out the activities. We hope that this slow recovery will lead us towards a recovery in numbers, both in terms of spectators and in terms of students in the courses, which have improved slightly in recent months, but have not yet returned to the numbers of 2019.
Good morning my name is Gabriele Filolo I am 58 years old, I am a photojournalist and journalist I am a member of the board of directors of the photographic association as a hard director in my professional experience I have worked in various sectors until I reached the area that is currently giving me greater satisfaction I live photography as a human enrichment And this leads to receive so much so there must be a phase of restitution my restitution is filtered through the vision through the camera with which I try to be a sincere witness documenting social situations that put the human being at the center of my work I write I follow projects on behalf of municipalities associations NGOs and associations. I try to be a sincere witness by documenting social situations that put the human being at the centre of the picture to do this I write I follow projects on behalf of local authorities NGO associations 22 years characterised by the pandemic have obviously led to a reduction in work and associative activities with the association we have maintained contact with our members, who number more than 170, offering online meetings and small When it was possible it was a difficult period but also a stimulating one, having reinvented activities created to be done in the presence of a certain type of relationship and conviviality and transporting them online in a much more detached and virtual space. of Italy, but this caused detachment and mistrust in meeting each other even when there was an opportunity to do so as a photographer and journalist I have never had great limitations in terms of movement the problem, if anything, was to go out and do something not taken for granted and different from what was seen around during the second lockdown I left for Tanzania with an NGO in Bologna for the Once Upon Delight publishing project on the electrification of the rural areas of the country declared at the time covent free so several weeks around the mountains where everyone was without masks and very few had news of what the pandemic was visiting villages without electricity or with electricity for a few months an intergenerational photographic story reflecting on how the advent of electricity has changed the future of the villages and allowed the inhabitants to stay and live in their places, improving their conditions and having the possibility to extend the day at the same time with the association we had won a tender with the project il respiro trattenuto Bologna i tempi del covid- 19 in cento scatti d’autore that saw me for the first time in the role of curator and not photographer the shots of 13 professional colleagues from Bologna were selected, taken at a historic moment in which the world came to a standstill, holding its breath, and photographers became the eyes of citizens forced to stay at home. therefore not only information but also emotions born out of a sense of powerlessness, returning images of a city to its citizens unknown until now during the lockdown period, networking with another association of four photographers, we produced a project on the porticos of Bologna, recognised by unesco as a world heritage site. as a world heritage site The realisation took almost two years because the initial idea was to highlight the human heritage that animates and lives the porticos So impossible to achieve with faces covered by masks we moved in tune with the concessions that were given from time to time by the various dpcm in managing the amount of time available during the pandemic period I was finally able to complete the project made with blind and visually impaired people by translating and transforming a photographic selection of the entire project into 3D in order to make the photos tactile the new version of this exhibition should be the first work that was created with the aim of encouraging the communication skills of fragile individuals who have been most affected by the limitations of the health emergency was a photography workshop for children with Down’s Syndrome and autism produced in close collaboration with the family association that contacted us the photographs taken by children are not the result of a simple click but are the result of a much broader process that involves the photographer’s thoughts, heart and ability to see, turning them into containers of life stories for the realisation of a project ideas alone are not enough what allows a project to be realised ideas alone are not enough what allows them to be put into practice is collaboration and teamwork a way of working in which I have always firmly believed. I always try to involve young people as well, which allows me to modulate and translate a project by taking into account other methods of interpretation and thus reach an audience that Expectations for the future are difficult to envisage given the unpredictability to which life has accustomed us. I would certainly like to once again be involved in works that can arouse emotions and enthusiasm, perhaps a few things, but good and above all sincere and credible.
Hi to all and a big hug to everyone! I Am Davide Brasiello, a 26 year old guy. I live in Italy in the province of Caserta country, a little country called Sant’Arpino, but I work in a nearby country, Succivo and I work for an association there. I am the responsible manager of communication so my role is about interviews, post comments, publishing content on social media, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram but also others. During the pandemic we confronted a lot of difficulties like the older entities and all during the last two or three years. We are offering activities that in order to have a good result need to be affronted in person. To do it in person with other participants, we had a lot of difficulties but we organized it to affront the pandemic difficulties; meetings on Google meet or on platform -a web platform- to a friendly team, talking about art, culture, music etc. After the pandemics and now in this period we are better; in fact we restarted new activities about sports, art, music etc. And we are better, yes, because if we need to offer a good result, to give the right values of the arts and sports and music we need to do activities in person. So last years were so difficult, but now we are restarting our activities and we are better. For me it was a pleasure to have passed by the travel district in Bulgaria in Sofia, with Paola and Giovanna and I learned a lot. So, yes, I work every day with young people. I worked during the pandemic with the goal to oversee the difficulties of covid. There were a lot of difficulties, as I said, but we did it. Our goal was maintaining the relationship with the young people in order to not lose them. Yes, we lost some people, but now we are improving our teams with the young people’s participation etc. We are an association that operates in the field of immigrants; to help and to give advice to immigrants, to poor people, in order to have a better life. So that’s all and for the future I hope that the pandemic difficulties will escape from our world. So this is my expectation about the future, about my work and also because I need to work with the people in person and also because I am a journalist too, so I need to have the passion to work and talk with people every day. So good work, and it was a pleasure and bye-bye.
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Greece
I am Myrto, I am 24 years old, I am a chemist and I am working with natural cosmetics. I’ve had an extra major in natural cosmetics at the Capodistrian University and I have my own brand called Myrtia Natural Cosmetics and I’m involved in that. I started working on my own, but slowly I was approached by people who started to love what I was doing and slowly we started to form a team. I generally worked on the road which means that covid affected me very much. It affected my work very much. As the streets were empty, there were no people to shop my cosmetics, so I had to find another way to work and that was social media. I started having Instagram and Facebook and working from there and new paths opened up. It was difficult at the beginning for sure, but in the end, it was all for the best, I think. Without giving up my original path which was working outside. During the pandemic I worked with other people like my photographer, with whom we made the Instagram page and started working together. In general, covid helped me in finding another path and expanding my work more, but going to work back on the streets again, after the pandemic and seeing the people who were working there, I saw that it wasn’t like that for everybody and it affected some of them very much. My goal for Myrtia is to grow, to be consisted of a team in which we do things together, that involve creativity and always being in touch with nature and also our work to be affected and adapted to our lives, and not the reverse. For example I’m more of a traveler, and I was thinking I’d like to have a van and work “while” driving around the world and making Myrtia Cosmetics. That is always in my head, however that may change and become part of a group that makes beautiful creative things in our city. Cosmetics and other things. I don’t have a specific goal, but I know I want my work to fit into my life and the life of the team that will be created.
My name is Niki; I am 27 years old and I live in Patras. I have been working with pottery for the past nine years. It started as a hobby but I quickly fell in love with it and realized it was something I wanted to do professionally. So a few years back I thought maybe it was the time to start something of my own, my little workspace, a little business or something. Unfortunately, that’s when covid-19 happened. So my plans had to be postponed. That was a very difficult time for me, when it comes to pottery, because I could not attend the lessons I was attending at the time, I did not have a workspace and it’s something I could not easily do at home, I need the space. So what I did at first was try to work on a smaller scale, smaller items and take it as a challenge to experiment with different materials or techniques all on a smaller scale and at the same time I tried to focus on expanding my theoretical knowledge on the subject so I read about new techniques, I did my research online, I attended some online seminars. When it comes to my more professional plans that have fallen behind, I tried to do as much research as I could, about locations, about what I could do. I got some new ideas and decided to apply for the Erasmus of young entrepreneurs’ program, which will hopefully help me gain a bit more insight on how to start and sustain my own business. There were of course some difficult times but focusing on the better ones, I feel more ready, have more knowledge that I had before covid, more ideas. I am very well rested, have all the information I need and I am prepared to move on to the next chapter, whatever that may be…
My name is Constantinos, I have been working as a photographer for the last several years, I work as a freelancer mainly, I don’t belong to a team and I am a regular collaborator in a photography studio. During the pandemic, in the freelance part, I can say that because there was the time and the will not to be stagnant during the pandemic, we did quite a few things with my partners and my friends. To collaborate with an e-shop that sells clothes. Partnered with a girl who creates her own natural cosmetics. And I can say that because we had the time, we made very beautiful things, photo shoots, ideas, concepts, during Covid. Of course, in the part of the steady work as a freelancer in the photo studio, because no events were happening, I didn’t get to work at all for those two years. I can say that the coronavirus was a milestone for me and for my involvement in my profession because I got more familiar with photography and with it came a lot of new things. I created a lot, my friends created a lot and pulled me along. I can’t say I’m happy that Covid happened, but I certainly can’t say it was something that got us down, either me personally or the team and I feel happy that we were able to come out of it with something beautiful and that we continue to bring it out, through solid partnerships. Seeing all the work that has been done over the last few years, I feel ready to move on and take the next steps on my work. Whether that’s more and bigger collaborations with people. Or just discovering new things that I like in photography. I definitely want to put time into that.
Bulgaria
My mom calls me Giorgi, my friends call me “Gopeto”. I’m the chairman of the foundation “SEED” and founder. The foundation is doing a lot of things and maybe you’ll want to ask me about some of them… Let’s start with a festival called “Street Art Fest SoundCloud” On this Festival, we start gathering a lot of young people, a lot of volunteers and a lot of energy. But there was one problem with this festival. It was in May and every single year it was raining. Three years ago, we changed the location, we changed the name and we changed everything about the festival. Now we are organizing a Festival which is called Lagό Fest. Lagό Fest is again in Samokov in nature and it’s a very interesting event. The event combines itself a lot of art, food, music, stand-up comedy, short movies. The idea of the foundation is to create a Festival to create access, for people living in small towns, to art and access to cultural events. The mission of the foundation is not to do it only in Samokov. It’s to do it in as many small towns as possible in Bulgaria. Three years ago, we started working also with Turyan, now we are working with Chepelare. Probably we’re going to start working with a lot of small towns. And that’s how the festival spreads around, you know, and young people start looking for our support and what our mission is. It’s just to go there to create the festival once, to create a foundation, just an NGO… It doesn’t matter what it’s going to be the body, you know, and after we “leave” them, they’ll develop their own spaces and they’ll develop all festivals and activities and things like this. So it’s a co-working space with a bar and gathering place, like a youth center, where there are a lot of educational events, a lot of workshops, exhibitions, readings, stand-up comedy, concerts… And at the same time from Monday to Friday it’s an office. Hopefully it’s the way people approach us, you know, because they realize the whole thing is a project and it’s by our foundation and they say okay, we want it in our towns, the same thing you know, let’s contact this organization and let’s see how to create it, how to do it… It’s very interesting that there is not one small town or municipality that they do not want us. I think we have around 65 events per year which are different, one to another. It’s very interesting how the events are coming to us and people are writing to us, can we do this event here, can we, can we… Of course, the answer is yes before they ask the question, because our idea is that we can do everything, you know, it’s an open space and we want the community to say what this space should be used for. In the beginning no one was supporting it, in the beginning I supported it financially and emotionally, mostly. It was very hard, the space was very damaged and empty, without a lot of partners there to speak. The only friend we had with us was the municipality. The municipality gave us the space and they said okay we’re gonna help you with the small things but, after that you must figure that out; what to do with it and how to develop it which was very fair. I just want to say it was very fair and we hardly recommend this model. if the municipality is giving a space to the young people, they must figure out how to manage it and also how to support it. Yeah, I am a very big tiny-desk fan. Tiny desk is an NPR concert show. So, I was thinking how to make us famous, how to put us on the map. I thought that I have a lot of friends who are famous and who are artists, very nice music musicians and so on and so on… Okay, so, I’m gonna make a tiny desk in Bulgaria, you know, I’m gonna do it, I’m not ashamed to say I just took the model, you know. And I started inviting different friends… And they enjoy it here so much, they enjoy coming and playing on that stage so much… And I think we have now like a 13- episode series with very nice bands. What I like to say in the end it’s that we create a need in our town. The people didn’t know they had the need for this particular space and these particular activities. And I wasn’t afraid of not having support. So, don’t be afraid if you don’t have support and don’t be afraid if you are trying to do something too Innovative or something not too fancy or something too big, you know. Don’t be afraid to do big things… From the beginning people might not realize what you’re doing. In the end, after some time, you will see results from this point and the message, I believe, is just right.
Q: I would like to ask you about the space, what actually Toplocentrala is, what you guys do here?
A: Thank you for the invitation. Toplocentrala is like the new art Park in Sofia, that’s what we call it. Basically, it’s a regional center for contemporary art and it’s built in the middle of one of the parks in Sofia, South Park, and basically we have a few spaces so we have a huge hall, also a few other halls and a bar stage, a gallery and we are developing a program dedicated to the Contemporary Arts, to the artists that are Independent Artists. So, the independence of spaces here is a fact. When they’re available, they can be rented for different kinds of events, corporate events or events of the NGO sector or different events related with other youth and art projects.
Q: It’s amazing… So, you mentioned youth, so, young people are part of the target group of the place, as well?
A: Of course, they are one of the main groups that we are working with, to evolve and to make it bigger and bigger every single month. Most of the people that are coming here are part of the youth in Bulgaria; not only in Bulgaria, we also have a lot of international guests. We also have international programs. A big part of our art program is in English, so, basically, everybody is welcome, especially the young people.
Q: That’s good… And the place is supported by the minister of culture and the municipality of Sofia?
A: Exactly, yes. Basically, we are an independent structure but we are supported by the Ministry of Culture and the municipality of Sofia. Also, we are working with that kind of Institutions and we are working a lot with different cultural institutions from different countries and diplomatical parts are also a part of our partners.
Q: Thank you so much. Everyone is welcome to Toplocentrale and you can also see the exact location and more information about the space in the interactive map on the website of YOUreSTART project. Thank you so much, Dobri.
A: Hope to see you soon and of course come to see and try part of our Contemporary Art and everything else. Everybody is welcome. Thank you!
My name is Delyana, I’m co-founder and producer of Visionary Foundation. Visionary is our project with my partner in life and I’m happy to work with them, as well. So in 2017 was the moment when we reached that point and we’re like, yeah, we’re doing it! And this is how Visionary was born. Visionary is a producer of meaningful Arts; this is how I can shortly put it. In those five years that we’ve been already doing projects, I realized that it’s not only art itself but it’s also its meaning and what story it tells to the people. We mostly work in public spaces; our background is really solid. We’re creating mural art projects, street art festivals and some other street art initiatives in public space, as well as a few exhibitions and we mainly work with visual artists. So, in the last years we figured out that we’re craving this interest of enlarging the scope of what Visionary does and working more and more with artists that are doing different type of Art, like they are doing performing arts or they’re musicians and we involve them in projects that are multi-disciplinary. So, in my perspective this is really interesting because it builds up layers of the final result and also engages as many artists as possible from different spheres and this is how exchange has been done between the artists. Originally our first thought of doing Visionary, creating such a brand, was in order to help the art scene and the artists that we had around us, because we saw that there is like a gap between the artists and how they want their idea to be produced and put in public. And this is where the role of a producer comes in. To find the funding, to organize the project so the artists could be the artist themselves and not to mess with budgets and the rest of the other things. So we have a huge influence upon young people as well that are our main audience and I think that our mission, in a way, is to help them layer their general understanding and perceive more art, with, like, different types of aesthetics. I believe that we create awareness for the whole Community to, you know, open their eyes. I’m lucky to say that by this day, we already have a solid crew as the heart of Visionary that is composed of different young people that we met during the process and they are engaged by their love of what they are passionate about, what they’re doing and it is always related to street art and public art in a way. For example, Michaela is our photographer and she had her passion about just photographing street art and she has a really good eye on it. One way of doing our projects is that we very often happen to receive requests from an artist or from somebody who is already having an idea of what they can do and then if we like the idea and if we reason with it, Visionary is supporting the project. This year I’m really happy to say that I’ve been mentoring a young couple, a boy and a girl, that decided to create their own project, a series of graffiti projects in different cities in Bulgaria. I was approached by them in a very early stage of the project so I managed to provide some feedback and they were really happy to upgrade their project ideas and even towards budgeting, towards the approach of, you know, logistically building the project and went on to find sponsors etc. So, my advice would be to leave fear behind and just follow your heart and find what you really are passionate about and just go straight for it and do it and it’s never too late to start your own project.
Spain
Hello! My name is Alejandro López Mera, I am 26 years old and I am a PhD student at the University of Vigo. In my field, the pandemic meant a reduction of all the resources and spaces we could choose from to carry out our artistic production, such as production grants or the artistic residency itself; and this reduction of resources, which themselves are not easy to access either, because of the degree of competition that exists. Because the majority of calls adapt us adequately to the different realities gave rise to a much more precarious situation than usual. In my case, this situation of pandemic used a change in the medium in which I developed my work, going from working with more physical materials to transferring all that work to a digital medium using video as the main support. It was a quite natural transition and also allowed collaboration with other colleagues to whom I couldn’t physically access. Through videoconferences and exchanges of editable files, whether text, image or video, we managed to propose and launch a project and this has become a methodology with which we continue to work today. Contrary to what is often thought, artistic production is not so individual, even with difficulties. I am happy to see that much of the material produced during the pandemic has served as a bridge to participate in events such as the international film festival of new Cinemas in Galicia or more recently in the academy fachada media in Zaragoza. So, little by little many of these activities are being resumed and I am even happier to see that many of the advantages of digital media have been taken up to a greater or lesser extent, such as online modalities that coexist with conventional media to increase our range of action as artists and -above all- add possibilities for access to different cultural activities.
Hello everyone, my name is Anastasia Kosheleva, I’m from Riga, Latvia, I’m 20 years old and for 12 years now I’m a dancer and professional artist. Since the age of eight years old I have been engaged in Oriental dance. For four years now, I have been a professional dancer in a Latvian famous pop group, where we participate at city day concerts, concerts in clubs for example and in various large events. It’s really important to mention that the entertainment industry is always important and it really occupies a large part in life and takes a lot of attention from every person. Covid restrictions for sure affected the entertainment sector very, very much. People had to forget about usual concerts; they used to visit before covid- time, unfortunately. At this time not only our audience suffered, but also artists. Can you even imagine, that those people- for whom this work was the only kind of income- were left without income in an instant just began to think and look for alternative ways to solve the problem. Ιt’s really important to mention that we have found it! Fortunately, humans can adapt to everything, I guess. And the entertainment industry was no exception. So many new formats have appeared, for example online concerts. As a dancer I have participated in many dance competitions, attending dance workshops provided by other dancers- online! I shared my results on social networks because it was – I would say – even “fashionable” at that time. And now that I’m recording this video, in May 2022, I am very glad that the restrictions are gradually being lifted and it has already become possible to hold events. I really believe that we will continue to give concerts and give people joy. Because during the pandemic we have learned a lot; we have gained a lot of strength, sewed new costumes and recharged and we are ready! I’m sure that this is the beginning of something new, something interesting and something we haven’t met before. So see you soon in our concerts, bye!
My name is Merche Moriana, I’m 28 years old and I am a visual artist working with photography. I work with different youths and cultural organizations taking care of the photography and video and also facilitating workshops for the participants of different projects they have. During the pandemic, all my jobs and travels were canceled and my agenda became empty so I had to reinvent myself. I took the opportunity of having nothing to do to experiment and I started working with art photography using myself as a subject and also using tools that I would find around the house. I was using photography as a tool for self-awareness; but during the time I was working, I found that it was a really good way to tell stories and to communicate concepts and everything that I had inside me. Thanks to my new project I met other people and artists who -at the moment- were also working on their projects and we connected. We also started to share the new knowledge and to learn together. I was also part of a project called “Learn Well” of the NGO New Wellness Education and I was able to facilitate an online workshop on self-portrait and creativity to the rest of the young people who were participating in this project. I’m really happy because, thanks to that break we had, I had enough time to rethink my job and reinvent myself. And thanks to that, today I’m here in my first solo exhibition in Casariche, which is my hometown. For the future, I hope to bring this exhibition to different galleries around Spain and also around the world and to also be able to share my art with more and more people. Thank you for watching the video. And if you want to know more about my art, you can do it here!
Slovenia
Hello my name is Daniela Hocevar, I am from Venezuela but I came here to Slovenia because of the situation in my country. I am a professional belly dancer and I love everything about art, not only dance. I love everything about art, because I think this is the best way to show our feelings and if you, for example, you don’t like to express yourself through voice, you can use dance to do it. So I really love this art. Because of that, when I came here to Slovenia, it was a really big -how to say- maybe a change, because I came just in the moment that this situation got on and covid… Well, no, it was like I came to a new country, with a new language, with new people, with new culture, so I used my dance to go through all these new things around me, you know, so my experience with that was really, really good of course. At the beginning it was a little bit difficult because I’m not used to be in front of the camera. I really had – now no- but before I really had a problem with that. It was something new, like when I saw my videos or my work through the camera, it was really, really hard because normally I shoot a shot maybe… But I always saw something like this is not good, you’re not doing a good move, you’re gonna do this and this and this and this… I always said something about me and not always good, most of the of the time not good. so with this virus I learned how to really see these things with a new perspective. Like okay, I am doing this badly, but I can see it in another way, or in a good way So I started to use the camera a lot, the internet a lot… So, I started teaching to be with other people. I was at home, I wasn’t doing anything because we couldn’t go out; we just had to be at home so I wanted to do something. And I said okay, I am at home too, I am dancing for myself and I learn how to use all these, a camera, a microphone and all this stuff that now are really, really good for my job so why can’t I start to be with people through the screen? And I thought I can help someone with that, to feel good, because if I feel good, when I dance, even if I am alone, I thought that someone else might good so I started teaching by zoom, by Google meets, everything that could be a good way to like go a little bit out of this situation. And it was really good because my students felt really, really confident because they were alone at home, so it was like they can just dance as they feel, nobody’s gonna see what they are doing or how they are doing it; They’re just enjoying the moment. The only person that could see them was me and that was really good because they said to themselves that now it’s your moment, so you are at home, your safe place, where you feel really, really good… So now just enjoy this, I give you this and just take it and enjoy! Yeah, it was a little bit difficult at the beginning because usually you are face to face and you can come up to the person you can say this is not good, this is not good, no, this is not good or maybe you are doing really, really good, you can do better this and this… But with the screen between you, it’s very difficult. So it was like okay, now we are here and I’m saying that I’m gonna show how it could be, but this is an open moment and you can use all this and make something for you, that makes you feel good. So I didn’t say that this is not good or this is good , I just said that this is your moment to enjoy it. So it was really, really good because, I don’t know, maybe during the week, the three times we spent together, I didn’t mean for them to pay for it. I said that this was something new for me and this was something new for you, so we’re gonna try how it goes now and it was really, really good. I feel really, really good for that and, even now, I still do it through zoom and through Google meets. We are still in touch, you know, and for me, it was really good because I came from another country so it was a really good opportunity to keep in touch with my family, with my students in Venezuela, because I have a dance academy there so it was really, really good. It is why I keep in touch with them and for me it was like magic at that moment. And I think that it was my spirit, you know… At the beginning it was difficult because I was learning how to use all this stuff, like a microphone so then I needed to think about the place; where I was gonna teach because it needed to be big, but not too big, because I don’t have a really big apartment or something like that. So I said okay, now we can do it. If it is nice weather, I can do outside, maybe in the park or something like that, but if I cannot go out… So, it was like I needed to think about everything. But in the end, it was really good and I think my students felt really, really good and now, they are still doing dancing with me so I think it was really good for them and for me. So, thank you so much!
My name is Emilija Milinkovic, I am 25 years old, I was born in Belgrade, Serbia but I finished my university studies in Italy. I have been a musician since I was five years old. I started playing the piano, then I changed to classical guitar, a bit of bass, some percussions and by my formation in high school, I’m an opera singer. I also studied some jazz singing, some improvisation. At the Conservatory in Padova, I recently graduated in Methods and Techniques for people with any kind of physical or mental disability and the Music Therapy included as a new method of cure. In my early years of work, I mostly taught, I gave private lessons of solfège, harmony, music theory, vocal technique. I also had some groups, some projects. I used to go out to play, but, mostly, kept exercising my voice through teaching. When this pandemic arrived, I was finishing my University and I, actually, didn’t have so many lessons to attend, because I was already at the end, so I had to mostly write my thesis; but I saw how lessons were held in that period, I saw some of my colleagues, my professors doing these musical instrument lessons online on their computer. Like a professor on a piano with the phone in front and a student on the other side… I can say that I am very, very happy not even experiencing that… I can just imagine how it could be, because already talking on the phone was really stressful, because maybe sometimes the signal was bad or something had audio delay. So I think for that moment, a music lesson was really, really complicated. I know a lot of people, myself included, that were just left without a job. And from one day to another we didn’t have our occupation anymore, we didn’t have neither the space nor the time or the opportunities to do it. And maybe it’s too harsh to say that like no one even cared, because we easily like to consider artists as something we don’t actually need, like it’s some kind of a luxury and we can do without it. Like if we had to choose not to have something or to lose something, we would just give Art up. We want our industry and our economy to be strong but I don’t know… I think people are not even aware of how surrounded they are of any type, any kind of art that keeps them alive and gives them a lot of emotions on a daily basis. I have to thank my music, really, because I think it kept me sane in this very peculiar time period. I actually can say that, from my perspective, I didn’t even suffer that much, considering the situation that we were in and other people were in and we would see on a daily basis. I had an opportunity to create my space, to have more free time. I have never discovered so much music, actually. I made so many playlists on Spotify… I was glad to have all that time that I might not have so much during my normal life. So, I think we… well, as far as I’m concerned, I learned something. I really learned the importance of my art for me and art in general for people. I think that it should be our goal to raise more and more consciousness about this thing. I think our lives can get so much better.
Q: Do you think that any kind of art, any type of art could be used as a way to get over stressful situations? As you said, you studied music therapy so, did you maybe found out from a practical work how it is useful for people to get over these stressful situations?
A: Of course. Let’s say maybe that music is a channel of emotional expression, all of them. I think that maybe that’s the main motive for its existence, to express something that’s inside us. Experiencing art can maybe give us a way not to feel alone in this situation, because we can interpret it or listen to, or look at something in a way- in our free way- and maybe find something in common with what we feel, with what we see or hear. I think it’s a great way of healing. Ιt gives us so much space to think about what we feel.
Q: What do you feel that has changed after covid period? Did you maybe see some examples of people appreciating art more or appreciating more that time that they use during covid period to work on themselves or to cure? Do you think that art is more appreciated after this period?
A: I think that’s quite complicated to analyze… As I said before, we are living a very particular moment in history… Well every moment in history is described as so, maybe. But I think we are using art now as some way to discharge our energy. Maybe that’s how we’re appreciating it more. Maybe it’s not so conscious yet, because there is a huge crisis. Maybe this evident appreciation of art is not seen yet, but I think people will acknowledge it. I think we are all full of emotions and we are searching constantly for ways to explain them, to express them… So, yeah, I hope that or I believe that people are appreciating it more.
Q: Did something change in your work?
A: Yes, actually, because we are just starting to go on stage again, like to do events, not just maybe… But in Italy there was a really difficult situation, so we actually went out quite late and everything started to get back to normal quite late… So, it changed quite a lot. There are not so many events anymore. I remember I used to go out much more to listen to live music It happens rarer now. I hope it will be fixed soon. Thank you!
For me, art is not what you see… But what you make others see!
First of all is that we are not used to that kind of work online…
It’s behind us…
Art Is Love…
Art is freedom…