When did you last feel like an artist? We, the Romanian team (Tibi, Ana, Donald, Ioana, Vlad and Claudia) felt like this in Italy when we took part in the Youth Exchange that took place in in July 2017, organized by the Italian non-governmental association A’Strummula, in partnership with Creative Plus Association. When we arrived in Italy at the same time with the French team, the bright faces of the already arrived participants encountered us. That is 3 teams from: Macedonia, Spain and Italy. Starting with the first day when we painted together, we felt like Michelangelo was still among us! The second day, we felt a little bit like Pharrell and we passed with great praise the day that was overwhelmed by music rhythms. Creating instruments from objects thrashed away on the streets here and there, we felt excellent unwinding them on the stage in front of the Italian crowd! And the list of 10 days continues intertwined with pieces of sculpture like Rodin, theater like Shakespeare, dance like Fred Astaire, photography like Man Ray, cinema like Monica Bellucci and last but not least cooking like Jamie Oliver. We must add that the whole ensemble and the base structure of the camp was multiculturalism, art, and human rights.

I do believe that I will not forget this experience with the people I met in Sicily, Terrasini, as part of the 7+1 project, which stands for 7 types of art plus cooking. And I know that this gave me the motivation to experiment different styles of art with the biggest curiosity from now on… — Ana

Being used to singing and writing, interested in traveling, I signed up to this project without any hesitation. Not really aware of what was about to happen, I stepped feeling rather shy on the ground of the 10-day oratorio that we all took part of. The shyness disappeared from the first night when a guy from the Italian team brought his guitar and we all started singing. Even though everybody introduced themselves, their faces got mixed with their names and, even if I didn’t know who was who, the smiles on their faces and the excitement with which we were welcomed assured me I was going to live the experience of my life. And that’s what it was. I discovered I am good at things I was afraid to even try before – painting, playing a role… and this taught me that sometimes you just have to try and you might receive an unexpectedly satisfying result. The people were those that impressed me the most: they were so positive and cheerful, inspired and ingenious, friendly and caring… I learned new things, lived fantastic experiences, met fascinating people, felt strong sensations and rediscovered myself. — Ioana