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--- transiency_rasa_alksnyte [2016-10-13 13:57] – rasa
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 This page is the informal log of my transiency process, in reverse chronological order.
+October - 6 November
+In a poetic piece playing on Alice in Wonderland and titled A Map of Six Impossible Things, Iranian-born, Paris-raised, New-York-based writer Lila Azam Zanganeh, author of The Enchanter: Nabokov and Happiness, imagines:
+"The impossible city is a city made of all cities. It is neither a city of the future nor a city of the past. It is a longing for the city. A city of stone and a city of glass. It is a city of spires and transparent abysses. A city of rivers streaming into an expanse of blue. It is a city of dubious beauty. Yet also a city of staggering beauty. A city of belfries harried by the screams of seagulls. A city of evergreen hills and lucid water. It is a city of children running down heaps of garbage. A city of drowsy bays and flying men and opal lakes. It is a city of sand and dunes, a city where the first and last human are covered in dust. It is a city of convents, fig-scented gardens and singing mounts. A city of redbrick castles with wide-open arms. It is a city of stone churches smelling of green water at sunup. A city of saints. It is a city of connecting islands. A city with only one weeping willow hunched over a promontory. It is a city of minarets and violet towers. A city of dreams long gone and lingering still. It is a city stippled with gold and yearning for the sun. It is all the cities you have seen and never seen. And it is the last city standing on the edge of the world, a second before the sun slips into the water."
+Oh Mollenbeek!
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+This week i was truly inspired. By something very simple and very human. I was giving two workshops, two days in the Castle of Kareveld followed by three days more conventional sessions for toddlers near Tour&Taxis. Due to a unexpectedly busy schedule i was looking for the ways to cancel it. Thinking that it will tire me out and i wont be able to accomplish all i want to do this month. It did tire me out and i had lots of pain (mainly to some bizarre shoe accident) but i also observed something very beautiful.
+First workshop was a walk-in activity were everyone just could pass by and do some simple paintings using pancake dough and old colourful spices. It was a great success. Pieter and I ended up with a logistic problem to accommodate everyone willing to sit at our table. Some kids didn't want to move and made one painting after the other. On the second day also the fathers joined in. It is so great to see adults playing with such simple stuff and having fun.
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+Second workshop was designed for very young kids (2,5-5 years) to explore sensory perception. We played with flour and soap, cooked pasta and soup, made birds out of green dough, danced, roared like animals and so much more. The group was both french and dutch speaking. So total mess you could say. But i had the most wonderful assistant. A young muslim boy (about 17 years old) that helped not only by translating but cared with so much love and commitment for the little ones and me that at some times i even questioned why do i get paid for this and not him? There was also two other young muslim boys assisting the workshop next door and them too were so unbelievably familiar, relaxed, sweet, caring, funny and so on...I was truly touched by them. Except for Jura i never experienced such a devoted assistance from the youngsters. It breaks all the stereotypes that even i had.
+After Brussels attacks last spring there was so much talks about how such terror acts are attacks on the western values. But seeing these boys and other muslim women working so passionately with local youth i think exactly this community and its values got attacked and hurt much more. People that are constantly busy with making sure there are no walls between languages, ethnicity, religion, economical status and just quietly building bridges between all these families living in the same area. I'm very happy and honoured i could do a little thing among them as wel. I always felt that due to my limited knowing of french i miss out on this direct interaction with such groups. Well now they speak dutch and english. So about the time i make more effort to learn french as well...
+- 30 October
+Before leaving to Bergen i spend a few days at home with my mother. Weather was good, light magical, colours precious. Mothers visits are becoming more frequent and everyone enjoys to have her around. I can have more quiet time to prepare for the travel without any stress. And even read a book.
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+Bergen  is a city where the rain is being made... It is a beautiful place but the rain!!!! Even my raincoat gave up after a day and a half and i ended up soaking wet constantly... Working with Eisa on "Host" is now a lot more relaxing. The piece holds it self. And Eisa is finding more and more freedom to perform. What an amazing artist that pushes her self to the limits every single time.
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+Reading R.Solmnit "A field guide to getting lost". It is a good book to read in the unknown city. I could quote almost every second page. So many nice things written in a honest and personal way.
+- 23 October
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+days in the row of space rental. This time in completely different setting. First of all we had a full house. Two guests in the tower, 30 people in the space, catering group in the kitchen, Ingrid having some of her meetings at FoAM, Jura coming and going with the bunch of her friends. It was buzzing... I kept an close eye on everyone to monitor the levels of happiness. Even with so many people and activities in space it is possible to work on different things at the same time. I've noticed that the good communication is vital. Every morning or evening i would inform everyone on what is happening where and what is there to be expected.
+In the second place this time the hosting of the space most of the days i shared with our amazing Jura and with helping hand of Ingrid. This setting and not having to cook made a huge differents. I had no back pain and could read a book quietly during the time in the studio. However on the days that the tasks where not shared i could not concentrate on anything more serious. Constantly keeping an eye on the guests is sometimes very boring and tiring.
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+This year i'm most visible person at FoAM studio. Therefor many demands and proposals comes directly to me. People get very surprised when i refuse to do something. Trying to explain what Doing Nothing means for us and why are we doing it is not easy. Mostly after the conversation they are convinced that what they are doing is very much related to what we are (not)doing and i must do something to collaborate in one or other way on their project too. When i explain that i might but not now because i'm also in transiency and will concentrate only on the activities that are related to that. They still don't understand why i wouldn't i answer their questionairs, come to their meetings and so on... I think doing nothing or lying fallow needs as much discipline ( or even more) as doing something. It is very easy to give in and loos track of what is important.
 - 16 October