Link Special Edition Kalamata Street Festival

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N°97

SPECIAL EDITION Au g ust 11 th 2017

10 KALAMATA STREET FESTIVAL th

Editor & Designer : Mariam Sassi

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Content Contact

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About us

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Molly O’Doherty 12

EVS, K.A.NE. Kalamata Street Festival through the years

Joana Ganilho Marques 15

Kalamata through the eyes of Street Festival

Yana Volkova 19 Sofiene Lahdheri 22

Interview of the artist Stratis Beginner’s Guide to Photographic Festivals

Anna Szlendak 28

Photo Report

K.A.NE. Staff members of KANE: Filaretos Vourkos Fotini Arapi Jelena Scepanovic Nantiana Koutiva Vyron Giannakopoulos EVS: Anna Szlendak Aroa Liébana Rellán Joana Ganilho Marques Laura Gimenez Mariam Sassi Martyna Czypicka Mehdi Jaffar Molly O’Doherty Óscar Villarraso López Sara Amghar Sofiene Lahdheri Yana Volkova

K.A.N.E Social Youth Development Youth Center of Kalamata Plateia Othonos 10 Kalamata, 24100, Greece info@ngokane.org +30 272 111 0740 kentroneon.wordpress.com ngokane.org/index.php

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@kentroneon

WHO ARE WE ?

ANNA

Kalimera! I am Ania and I come from Poland. I will be working for KANE and running Photography and Ukulele workshops. I studied photography in the Institute of Journalism of the University of Warsaw and worked for press photo agencies when I lived in my country.

I enjoy every form of photography, I use both digital and

film camera, I also create my own pinhole cameras. Besides, I am totally addicted to travel.

AROA

JOANNA

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Hi ! My name is Aroa, I’m from Madrid in Spain but I live in Màlaga, the south of Spain. In Spain I’m working in a secondary school for dance, I’m the teacher for hip-hop, funks, break dance and classic for teens. I have 18 years and I love dance, photography and watch movies with my friends.

Hello ! My name is Joana, I’m 29 years old and I’m from Lisbon, Portugal. I studied fine arts, art education and museology and I just arrived Kalamata for a 12 months EVS project. I’ve worked for a lot of time in bookshops and I love to read. I like quiet places where I can be in touch with nature. I’m a curious person and I’m always better if I have a cup of tea with me

MOLLY

Hello everyone! My name is Molly and I come from the UK. I’ve moved here from a city called Bristol in England. I am going to be working in K.A.N.E.’s office.

I’ll be helping with the programming, development and evaluation of activities. I’ll also be helping out in the Youth Centre and running an English Conversation workshop. I love cooking, watching films and doing yoga. I also really enjoy helping people to connect with their local history. Before I came here I was working in

museums and archives for many years. I am really excited to be in Kalamata and I feel very lucky to be here working as an EVS volunteer.

LAURA

MARTYNA

Hi! My name is Laura and I’m 24 years old. I come from a small town in France called Le Thor (yeah like the north god), it’s around Marseille. I have a bachelor degree but I wanted to do something else this year, something that will give me life and work experiences: I wanted to be useful. I’ll work in KANE’s office as the webdesigner of the team and I’ll stay in Kalamata for 1 year; I’m really looking forward to it! I have quite a lot of hobbies; I love to draw, write, read, play videogames, watching movies and tv show and so on.

Hey guys! My name in Martyna and I’m new volunteer from Poland! I’ve grown up in Poznan (west side of the country). I’m 26 this year and I try to enjoy every minute of my life! I’m crazy about Greece, this is my favourite place in Europe – however I love to travel and I take every opportunity to see the world. In my free time I like to read and spend time outside of the house. I love to eat, this is my biggest passion! I’m totally a beauty freak.

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MARIAM

Stepping out of your comfort zone and trying new things is the best way to grow, and this is what EVS is all about. My name is Mariam, I am 24 and I come from Tunisia. Passionate by traveling, arts, adventures as well as meeting new people and discovering new traditions, places and cultures. I decided to leave all of my normal steady life in Tunisia to come seek inspiration and and explore a new way of living in Greece, in the beautiful city of Kalamàta. I would use all of my

knowledge and dig even deeper to give the best of me, but also try to learn everything I can from other volunteers, from locals and daily life experience, either languages, dancing, music instrument, sports etc.

YANA

I am Yana from Ukraine. For 5 years I was studying architecture in university and I fond of everything about it as well as about natural building. Before coming here I was working as a project coordinator of the workcamps and as freelance graphic designer for different social festivals and non-governmental organizations. The last 4 years I’ve been travelling to different places in Europe such as eco-villages and rural areas helping people and promoting volunteering for

peace. All kind of arts, nature, voluntarism, and travel -- my biggest passions in life.

OSCAR

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Hi ! I’m Oscar, I’m from Spain, I live in Màlaga, so close to Africa. I love the fashion world and I worked as organiser and teacher of modeling in lot of fashion shows. I’m an animal lover, I have a tiny dog called Fredy. Music is very important in my life, I’m listening music every time. I like traveling every time I can, I think exploring the world is the most interestng in your life.

SOFIENE

MEHDI

SARA

Taking a decision to leave everything what you have and take a deep plunge into something unknown is never an easy one. I took such a decision, left my job and decided to take one-in-a- lifetime opportunity to do my EVS in Greece. My name is Sofiene, I’ am 26 and I am from a tiny country in North Africa called Tunisia. I am a photographer, videographer, graphic designer and I am here to share my experience and knowledge as well as expand it and acquire new skills. I’m social, open minded and always curious about different cultures and meeting beautiful people.

There are at least as many things to know as there are humans and countries. EVS enables the possibility to know much more about our World. Καλημερα, Hello, my name is Mehdi, I am 24 and I come from France. Passionate about Life and Nature, my biggest motivation is to learn from other cultures, from people, from life. I decided to quit my job there too, so I could catch the opportunity to experience something unique in Greece, in Kalamata, and all the Greek cities I will have the chance to see. I will bring you all I have, and I will learn from everyone all I can.

Kalimera to all of you, I am Sara, I am french and I am 21 years old. Since yesterday, I am a new volunteer in Kalamata and will stay here for a year (maybe more ...?) in order to give some help to the horse riding center of kalamata and the Kefiap as well. More over, I will give french lessons at the Youth Center of the city. I met people I will work with and I am really excited to start being part of the project. Horse riding center is a real peacefull place for anybody who needs to connect his

mind with his body. The couple of therapist working there are sensitive and receptive people, so if you have any physycal pain, just go to the horse riding center.

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K.A.NE.

FILARETOS

jelena

NANTIANA

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Hello, I am Filaretos Vourkos. For the last 10 years I am working in the field of Non-formal education as avolunteer, youth worker and youth trainer. 6 years ago,I decided to create the Youth Centre of Kalamata, in orderto initiate youth work in Kalamata and promote active citizenship as factor for change.

Hi, I’m Jelena Scepanovic, an EVS coordinator in KANE and the volunteer of the Youth center. I came from Montenegro 2012 as an EVS volunteer.

I really liked the idea of the Youth center and the work that KANE does, so I decided to stay and be part of it.

My name is Nantiana! I’m 23 years old. I live in Kalamata! I was living for 5 years in Patras! I was studying there greek philology and now I’m teaching greek to the youth center in Kalamata.

fotini

Hi my name is Fotini Arapi and I am project manager in K.A.NE. organization and responsible, among other things, for all sending motilities (sending EVS volunteers, participants in training courses, interns, etc). Apart from my work in K.A.NE., I also volunteer in the Youth Centre of Kalamata, a volunteer initiative managed by a team of local volunteers. I am very proud of and I love the Youth Centre, its dynamic atmosphere, and most of all, its natural inclusiveness that allows everybody to feel

“at home” there. See you around :-D

VYRON

I would describe Vyron as an imaginative fast learning and inventive generalist with a passion for remarkable food and the great outdoors. That’s enough talking about myself in third person. Hello, I am Vyron Giannakopoulos, I consider myself a curious and open-minded person. I have studied the science of Geography and as the newest member of KANE I am here to help by managing the creative projects of EVS volunteers, planning events, creating new projects and

doing anything that will add value to our organisation. In my free time I like exploring new places and learning new things. But feel free to contact me on any issue if you need help.

Namaste

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Kalamata Street Festival through the years

This year we participated in the 10th Kalamata Street Festival. Our lovely little one is growing up!

This annual celebration has come a long way from its humble beginnings. Here we want to share with you a little bit about the history of the street fest, and show you some of the great photos we have of it in the archives.

The seeds are sown The Street Festival was set up with local community at its heart. It was created to provide young people with a space to enjoy street activities and express themselves creatively. It worked as a collective festival that people were encouraged to contribute, volunteer and participate in together. From the beginning it worked as a collaboration between many people and organisations. It was 100% voluntary, for the artists and performers too.

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The shoots come up The premier and original KSF took place in 2009. Ten festivals in less than ten years?

That’s right. It’s because in the first year there was not one but four festivals that occurred. They started in October 2009 and then reoccurred in February, May and September 2010. So it was truly an all year round event.

Each worked as a day festival (apart from the event in February which lasted for two days) and had a focus on the urban and “street”. Graffiti, skateboarding and biking were at its core. The intention was to create a space for young people to be able to practice these activities freely and to recognise their value of by giving professionals a stage on which to showcase them.

Creative activities and music were offered too. By the summer of 2010 it was ramped up, with breakdancing, live MCing, DJs, bands, exhibitions and even juggling taking place.

Leaves start to show After a successful initial year it was decided that the KSF would continue as an annual event. It became a weekend long celebration, taking place in the local Railway Park.

Before then the festival had shuffled around between there, small squares and the city market. Now it was firmly rooted in what was to become its home for the next five years.

The Railway Park of Kalamata is a beautiful haven of trees, fountains, historic railway carriages and sports and playing areas, just a short walk from the city’s main square.

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Flower buds grow Now KSF was on a roll. In July 2012 musicians took to the stage for major performances each night. Whole areas were set up for bazaar stalls with jewellery and crafts, exhibitions and projections. Even more activities and workshops were set up. Now visitors could try climbing, dancing and learn how to reuse materials. Cycling, skateboarding and graffiti continued as mainstays. There was even a bicycle treasure hunt and face painting to enjoy. For the first time ever short term EVS volunteers from all over Europe came to help with the festival.

Blossoming For the next few years the KSF kept on blossoming. The music, art, and sports were now well established. The stalls and activities grew each year. In 2014 there was a particular emphasis on theatre performances, with the final day of the festival being completely dedicated to street theatre.

Regeneration In 2015 it was time to take a break to restock and recharge. Afterwards KSF was able to come back even stronger. Last year saw performances by The Last Drive, stunning aerial acrobatics and moving dance displays on the menu.

The Fruits of our Labour Flashforward to last month and we were honoured to be a part of the 10th annual festival. This time there was a big focus on music, with Koza Mostra and Blend Mishkin & Roots Evolution putting in quality performances. As well as all of the favourite activities a new Kids Corner with collage, puppet making and face painting proved very popular.

MOLLY O’DOHERTY 14

Kalamata through the eyes of Street Festival

The Kalamata Street Festival is an international festival, with free entrance, and based 100% on volunteerism. The Festival is more than 4 days of concerts; it is a set of events that stretch out in time and in the city through the pre-festival activities, which promote the festival and at the same time give the opportunity to long term EVS volunteers to show their talent, creativity and a way to express their own convictions through art and culture.

This year more than 50 volunteers helped with the festival, both local and international.

Within the internationals, we had the participation of a short term EVS group: 15 people from 8 countries, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Italy, UK, Czech Republic, Estonia and Croatia, gather here to promote the festival, help with logistics and participate in its activities. In the meantime, they got to know Kalamata through the eyes of the Street Festival.

Get to know the city During the on-arrival training, the group had a city quest. They could not know how important that would be for the task of spreading flyers. Our volunteers learn how to say Γειάσας, Καλημέρα, Καλησπέρα, Παρκαλώ and Ευχαριστώ and walked the city for 5 nights and 2 mornings to be the voice of the festival on the streets. From the historical center to the end of Kalamata beach, we spread around 20 000 flyers and posters. It was also their first approach to the city and its people. Even with the barrier of the language, they visited shops to promote Φεστιβάλ∆ρομούΚαλαμάτας and they were mostly welcomed with a smile and the will to cooperate. It was a tiring task but also a curious one, since allowed them to have a peculiar approach to the local community.

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Be part of the action Promotion was the main word before the beginning of the festival. Following the same premise of the pre-activity events, the group had the opportunity to prepare a small action to boost the promotion of the festival. With only 3 mornings to do it and very few resources, the volunteers used creativity and music to create a parade. After a brain storming, they decide to do a banner and a flashmob, and improvise some musical instruments. The final result was a parade that joined together short term EVS and long term EVS and that spread music in Kalamata, from the pedestrian zone to the sea side.

And flyers as well, of course.

Street Festival: Greek culture from a new point of view The Festival was the center of their activities. Besides the hard work of setting up and setting down, volunteers had different tasks during the festival: they worked at the bar; helped in the table service and cleaning; helped in the bazaar, exhibitions and reception; engaged in the kids’ corner, with puppets, facial painting and other activities; supported the basketball tournament and the graffiti activities; helped with security. In the end, all volunteers made the effort to do a final cleaning of the space of the festival. Without them, all of those things would be impossible to achieve.

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But the Street Festival is a cultural event: it’s happening for 10 years now and grows every year because the population appreciates and supports it. It hosts local artists, give space for local craft makers to sell their products, and invite local association to make partnerships. The Kalamata Hiking Club, the Messinia Dog Shelter and Archelonwere some of the local association to be represented in the festival space, to promote themselves and their activities.

Apart from that, every year the festival brings to its stage different styles of music, inviting bands from Kalamata and all over Greece to be part of this event. It is a unique opportunity to see the performance of local musicians, to enjoy souvlaki and to work with volunteers who belong to the local community. Hosting more than 10 000 visitants in four days, it also allows contact with other people, promoting a deeper understanding of Greek culture.

Home for 3 weeks Kentro Neon was once more the heart of an EVS project. The second floor was temporarily transformed into a house that hosted our participants; the first floor was divided between their living room and our working room. For us, the coordinators, it was also our headquarters, the place where we planned and performed the trainings, set the activities and, we hope, helped them to achieve their goals, supporting their learning process.

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Relax time Life is not just about work, and Kalamata has plenty to offer to both its visitors and its locals on their free time. Beach is the second home of anyone on holidays around this time of year, and our volunteers took the best out of it on their days off. They had also time for visiting some cultural places and even to go to the nearest waterfalls. Besides that, greek cuisine is a temptation for everyone;between pita, kagiana,pasto,mousaka, more souvlaki, lots of olives, as well as feta and ouzoof course, they realized that food can help bring people together. Their team relation improved more and more as they hang out together, and that had very positive results on their work.

The team That is what makes me passionate about ERASMUS+ projects: the ability to bring amazing and talented people together, with the will to make things happen. Regardless the quality of any projects, the financial restrains, the lack of organization or planning, even regardless the subject of the project itself, there is always something special about being involved in a project of this nature. We find ourselves bond by something that is bigger than the project and that makes us move forward while looking deeper inside of us. I’m sure that no one leaves a project like that, either an EVS, a training course or a Youth Exchange program, the same. Some of us collected new experiences; some of us discover new ways to do old things; some of us leave more aware of our own necessities; some of us discover our purpose in life. For sure all of us will arrive home with new friends, a stronger sense of cooperation, more aware of the cultural traces that make us different but also more aware of those which bring us together. Thank you all.

JOANA GANILHO MARQUES 18

INTERVIEW OF THE ARTIST sTRATIS

During the festival beside many activities there was one that I love the most -- exhibition area.

Photographers from exhibit their amazing photos of different places of Greece, PuppetMyth crew presented their video art work and local graffiti artists were making big scale masterpieces.

In exhibition corner I met Stratis, he is a 21 years old young artist from Kalamata, Greece, who is doing art works using stencil graffiti* technic. We had a very interesting conversation:

How you started to do you art?

I started to do stencils when I saw Banksy works and how easy it looked so I said to myself: “okay I can copy his works easily!�. Then I printed his work, copied it and make stencils from it. And of course it was not that easy.

What work was it?

Yes it was a protester with the bouquet of flowers instead of molotov cocktail.

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Banksy melds street-fighting passion and pacifist ardor in his image of a protester whose Molotov cocktail morphs into a bouquet. (Pixelbully / Alamy) It was the first one and I just made it for my room. I liked it and I thought maybe I could do more? And I did more… and more…I did different works of him and then I started to create my own art pieces. All of them were for presents or decoration. I was not brave enough to go on the street to do my work, I didn’t want to vandalize any property.

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What you were studying?

Computer engineering and I never studied art or something connected to art.

Are you working usually alone?

Most of the time yes, but I also have a friend - we are the team -- we are working together on the street graffiti. It is much more fun to work together with somebody.

Who from other graffiti artists is inspiring you?

Yes it is for sure Banksy and Sara Sandoval (www.facebook.com/SimplyWakeUpArt) *stencil graffiti is a form of graffiti that makes use of stencils made out of paper, cardboard, or other media to create an image or text that is easily reproducible. The desired design is cut out of the selected medium and then the image is transferred to a surface through the use of spray paint or roll-on paint. The process of stenciling involves applying paint across a stencil to form an image on a surface below. Sometimes multiple layers of stencils are used on the same image to add colours or create the illusion of depth.

YANA VOLKOVA 21

Beginner’s Guide to Photographic Festivals Festivals are a great place to practice a wide variety of photographic disciplines for any photographer. With plenty of action in one central location, often over a couple of days or more, there’s a chance to try your hand at everything; portraiture, street photography, landscape, night photography, fast action, and more, as well as play with all kinds of lighting and subjects, and the chance to tell a photographic story.

Festivals are a great place to photograph everything from portraits to panoramas, and pretty much everything in-between.

There is a festival for just about everything from the massive Burning Man Festival, to small food, wine, music festivals, there’s some bizarre festivals like Tunarama in Australia, where the key event is tuna tossing. In this article I have used images from 2 events in Kalamata : The Kalamata Street Festival and The Parade. Regardless of the kind of festival you choose, here are some tips to get you started – a beginner’s guide to photographing festivals.

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Look up a local festival and get out there with your camera.

Camera gear If you are a beginner reading this, chances are you have a DSLR with a standard kit lens, so you are good to go. I would highly recommend a zoom, but it’s not necessary, you can still get great images while learning a wide variety of photographic skills. For all these images I used a fixed 50mm lens that I use mostly for portrait and details, or a Sigma zoom lens 18-250mm. If you have other lenses, take them, you’ll most likely have a chance to use them.

A tripod will also come in handy if you are going to photograph at night. Many festivals have fireworks, or people twirling glow in the dark things, that need long exposures.

Spare memory cards and batteries are pretty much essential, and a polarizing filter wouldn’t go astray for bright daylight.

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You really don’t need fancy camera gear to get some interesting images at a festival.

Camera setting If you are a beginner, and not used to rapidly adjusting manual settings on the fly, I would recommend starting with Auto or setting your camera

to

Program

Mode,

or

pick

an

appropriate “Scene mode� for night and low light.

But

also

take

the

opportunity

to

experiment with manual settings. Try to read some articles on low light, street photography, fireworks, etc., before you go. Try to avoid using your flash.

Trying different angles and positions will allow you to get unlimited creative possibilities.

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What to photograph Photography everything. Shoot non-stop from the setting up, to the live acts, parades, stall holders (vendors), the crowd, surrounding landscape, behind the scenes, people in audiences, details, packing up, and even what was left behind. Sometimes shooting from dawn until evening, in close, panoramic, and everything in-between.

A personal tip: if you don’t like a photo and you re sure you will not useless later in you editing process delete it immediately, that will save you both space on the memory cards, and time because you will go through all the takes at home.

Try to tell a story You can capture a story in a whole series from a festival, or small series within a series, or within a single photograph.

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Don’t be afraid to approach people People photography is also a great thing to practice at a festival. It can be pretty intimidating approaching strangers, as it is to be approached by a photographer. But most people don’t really mind, and are often flattered.

Most people don’t mind having their photograph taken if you are polite about it. Some, like this one, love it.

Keep doing the rounds Walking around the entire the festival over different times of day/night, can provide fresh images of the same spot as the light changes, and different people and characters pass by. A stall that doesn’t look like much during the day, could be lit up beautifully at night. Capturing stall holders when busy and quiet, can provide two entirely different moods..

Don’t get in the way Try not to annoy the live acts, and audience, by photographing all the way through the entire act, or getting in anyone’s way. A good general rule for band photography is to only photograph for the first three songs.

Morris dancer with evil eye.

Keep your eye out for moments, rather than just firing away. Look for different angles and interesting color compositions.

The best tip I can give you is to have fun. Enjoy the festival, as well as photographing it. So much photographic fodder in one place, often with good food and music as well.

So get out there, find yourself a fun festival, and start photographing.

SOFIENE LAHDHERI 26

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PHOTO REPORT !

ANNA SZLENDEK

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N°97

AU G UST 11 th 2017

The volunteers responsible for this publication are hosted in Greece in the framework of the European Erasmus+ programme, KA1/youth - European Voluntary Service.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.