Europe House BUZZ - JUNE - Europe House

21 Jul

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Europe House BUZZ – JUNE

Europe House BUZZ – JUNE
Europe House Team

Europe House Team

Dear Buzzers,

Our welcome address is usually dedicated to individuals who have made a significant contribution to our community and who have stories worth sharing. This month, Europe House shares the story of someone special – a symbol of courage, determination and creativity:

Vjosa Berisha – an extraordinary woman with the strength of a rock and a will of steel; our true FRIEND. Oh, how much have we all learned from our fleeting, yet exciting and thrilling adventure with her in the past ten months at the Europe House.

There is no better place to pay tribute to Vjosa than in this Newsletter, which started to roll upon her own initiative. Vjosa’s close work with artists was creatively transformed into a series of activities highlighting vital segments of our society. These ranged from European Film Week through the “Green Film Competition” for best amateur short film award and the first podcast in Albanian to the photo exhibition “You Look Beautiful Today” at the East Gate Mall. Last but definitely not least was the live concert of Duke Bojadžiev and friends in Skopje City Park on the occasion of 2022 Europe Day.

Vjosa was loved by many. With her vibrant energy and creative mind,  she was an inspiration and motivation for all. Her strength, yet kindness and positivity appealed inviting for many people, and from all walks of life. Her personality was the focal point where energies converged and synergies were made. She could skilfully and courageously translate these energies into creative ideas that would resonate far and for the years to come.

To us at the Europe House, she was more than a colleague – Vjosa was our true FRIEND and a true leader in every sense of the word. The changes in our workspace under her leadership have brought a wave of professionals and enthusiasts with whom we are happy to continue our work today. People would often come to meet her, inspired by her indomitable spirit. Some would consult her regularly on various issues and challenges, and some just silently admired her.

We shall always cherish our memories of Vjosa. With her remarkable, but still a natural breadth of vision and guidance, she gave us all a lasting legacy – to always be the best possible version of ourselves!

Rest in peace, Lioness ❤

 

▪ Vjosa, your team loves you! ▪ Skuadra jote të do! ▪ Те сака твојот тим! ▪ EUROPE HOUSE ▪

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA

#BeActive is not just a slogan we use every September during the European Week of Sports. #BeActive is a lifestyle that we try to develop throughout the year. Emotional, mental and physical well-being go hand in hand. So, on 21 June 2022, we embraced yoga to promote mind-body balance and to mark the International Day of Yoga. In joining our initiative, three yoga studios in Skopje hosted a free yoga class: Aerial Movement Academy, KENSHO, and Flow Yoga Studio.

The purpose of #BeActive is to raise awareness about the importance of physical activity through various styles of yoga for beginners. Our yogis spent a wonderful day celebrating the International Day of Yoga, encouraging focus and balance in both body and mind.

We are looking forward to the next #BeActive event!

#SkopjePride – Come out for love

#SkopjePride brought excitement for the third time to the streets of Skopje! The parade was a call for equality, tolerance, and respect for human rights. Europe House is the perfect place to support the new generation of young adults whose voices should be heard and who should be allowed to take an active part in decision-making processes. The current youth actively demonstrate open-mindedness towards a modern progressive society by breaking stereotypes and supporting diversity. That’s right: together with the EU Ambassador David Geer we supported unity in diversity under the rainbow flag during the Pride March. We were happy to have been part of the procession promoting love, tolerance, and respect.

In addition to joining the parade, we displayed the rainbow flag in front of the European Union building during June to show our support of Pride Month. We also dedicated a section of the #CultureMatters series to Petra Brankovska’s film review of Poppy Field from gledaj.mk.

“European Traveling Open Air Cinema” as a warm-up for Cinedays European Film Festival

We want to bring cultural events to places and sites that are difficult to get to, and thus to bring contemporary European culture closer to local citizens across the country. The “7th Art” as the medium of modern societies speaks loudly and pointedly about a plethora of contemporary issues. The team behind Cinedays successfully recognises the burning issues viewed through the lens of the European film masters and visually presents them to the local film audience.

This year, the “European Traveling Open Air Cinema” brought outdoor screenings of new European films to Valandovo, Kičevo and Štip.

“The European open-air travelling cinema showed six new European feature films this year, most of which were award-winning films – an expression of European creativity and diversity that appeals to everyone’s taste. It also screened six Macedonian short films, some of which are award-winning films at various film festivals and favourites among local film lovers.”

“The film selection reflects contemporary themes that concern us all but especially young people – from the lives of teenagers and their relationships affected by the Internet to violent extremism and terrorism, as well as the participation of women in cinematography, children in science, etc.” – Youth Cultural Centre

Europe House Strumica motivates the community to make bold decisions and individuals to take up healthy habits

We’d like to highlight not one but two events that marked the month of June in Strumica: “Mayor for a Day Contest” and “Sunset Yoga” at Europe House Strumica.

“Mayor for a Day Contest” is a joint pilot programme of Europe House Strumica and the Municipality of Strumica for developing a more inclusive and friendly workspace for local youth. It started in June and will continue throughout the year to provide a unique opportunity to engage young residents of Strumica in municipal politics and civic issues. Once a month, local youth will be shadowing the mayor to learn new skills on the job and gain first-hand, real-world experience.

The “Sunset Yoga” event was organised on the International Day of Yoga, 21 June. In the magical hills surrounding the monastery in Hamzali, looking down on the beautiful Strumica gorge, together with Ashtanga Yoga Strumica we meditated and practised yoga under the sun by balancing body and mind and establishing the importance of synergy between the mind-body and nature.

Europe House Kriva Palanka – a vortex for youth and culture

The young people in Kriva Palanka have always been keen on arts and culture. Reading and writing literature are essential to so many young adults. What’s more, if you think that hardly anyone could be interested in poetry anymore, you are wrong. Here, at Europe House Kriva Palanka, we spent a wonderful summer afternoon with fifty young people participating in the Erasmus+ programme sharing their creativity in the youth initiative for reading poetry in various European languages, including Macedonian, Romanian, Polish, Italian, Turkish, and English.

The lovely atmosphere packed with music and beautiful poems made the event a valuable experience by sending the message that we can all use words to create a better world, thus connecting people and ideas across communities. And the Erasmus+ programme brings such great opportunities to many young people across Europe.

 

Dear Buzzers, thank you for following us and stay tuned for more updates on our various activities. Enjoy the warm summer evenings.

We can’t wait to buzz you again in September!

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