Libertas 6

t i t l L “ e . . . .

R . . e d Ridin The face of my gra dsong Hood” of 1 n 963

libertas

my first kiss

Christmas 1962

Trip to Tuni

s

ia

oon ding

Julia’s surprise party My hone ym w s ’ r e t e d h g u a d y M

on Small Things

libertas

on Small Things

Digital Youth Magazine/published by Youth Association creACTive

EDITOrial Dear readers,

Life is all about making choices; I guess we can all agree on that one, but what for? Well, Kierkegaard would say that choosing leads to pain, and Schopenhauer would say that life is all about reproduction. Not a very charming perspective of life, huh? So why are we still alive? What keeps us alive? Why, if life is painful, don’t we simply kill ourselves and spare ourselves from all this useless time spent on earth? Not only Kierkegaard and Schopenhauer, but most of those who gave this a thought came to the same conclusion: we live life trying to be able to escape from it. Not literally escape, just find a way to be in the limb, between being and non-being. We want to take the red pill, but we don’t know where to find it. Both philosophers above came to a very similar conclusion: they understood that the nature of life is to be painful, but for both, we only really feel alive when we manage to be above pain. How you ask?

The small things in life, the things we never perceive, those are the things that are able to set us free, those are the things that can really touch our soul and take it to the next level. When we don’t care about whom or how anymore, we simply know that this is it. We are. No more implications to the sentence, no more need for answers, no more searching, no more. We are, as simple as that.

While reading this issue, try not to think if you agree or if you can do this or do that; just get inside the articles and read through the eyes that wrote it, feel it and set yourself free.

by Daniel Nunes

CONTENTS Photo: Lucie Ferlin/ CC

ARTICLES NO RISK, NO FUN!HAPPY NEW YEAR

P.04 THE SMALL THINKS THAT MAKES LIFE HAPPY P.08 TOLERANT AND INFORMED YOUTH... P.10 CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LIFE P.12 STREET PARTY THEORY P.14 TIPS AND STRICKS DECORATIVE CANDLE SCONCE

P.18

YOUTH PROJECT CROATIAN STUDENTS BROUGHT...

P.20

BOOK REVIEW EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED

P.22

MOVIE REVIEW LE FABULEUX DESTIN D’AMELIE POULAIN P.24

MUSIC REVIEW GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR

P.26

ABOUT LIBERTAS

P.28

NO RISK, NO FUN! HAP n°6...Libertas on small things

by Sakina Gril, Anette Ross, Hristina Petrovski and Scott Pinkster

O

nce upon a time, there were ten crazy people that came together for an adventurous New Year’s celebration. They came from five (or six) walks of life. Their adventure would take place at Pelister National Park just outside Bitola, Macedonia (Nas Roden Kraj). Bright and early, the morning of New Year’s Eve everyone met at Stefan and Hristina’s home in Bitola (an award winning family BEST FAMILY IN ALL THE WORLD).

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44

“ We lit

sparklers andsang songs

”

Photo: from Martin Stojanovski

The weather was spectacular on this particular day; the moon sank into the horizon as the bright sun pierced our drowsy eyes from lack of sleep. The group traveled by taxi to the village of Nize Pole (1150 m.). Everyone was excited and ready for a long hike. We had a 3 hour hike to our destination. Golemo Ezero (Big Lake-2218 m.) is next to a large cabin where we would sleep for two nights after our New Year’s celebration. From this point it seems as though you’re gazing from heaven. You can see Bitola and Prilep from this point, with mountains and other beautiful sites all around.

We began our trek, and we quickly realized that the cold weather that we anticipated was in fact much warmer especially after a little exercise. We all began shedding our clothes (in some cases down to t-shirts) and shouting “Жешко ми е” (I’m HOT). After a long and tiring hike we finally made it to our destination. For the few of us that made this hike for the first time, we finally understood the powerful draw that this particular place had. Although the temperature was significantly colder at the top, the beautiful sights and positive energy that this place revealed, brought us closer together and extremely happy. Four of us took a short nap while the others explored the frozen lake.

This frozen lake had a thick layer of ice and wasn’t at risk of breaking, but still proved to be dangerous, at least for one of our wonderfully wild people. As she was sliding down the hill towards the frozen lake she hit her nose. Our lovely place would be with her longer than the rest of us due to the mark on her nose well after we returned home.

PPY NEW YEAR!

The weather changed drastically over night. Wind gusts reached 160 Km/h and the falling snow whipped you in the face if you dared to step outside. After a wonderful breakfast the group prepared to challenge this weather and enjoy the lake once more. Standing on the ice turned out much more difficult today. While standing on the ice the wind would push you across the ice allowing you to ice skate without skates. Few of us managed to stay on our feet when the wind hit us.

After a stone was added to our fun on the ice, we played ice hockey with our hiking poles. This was one of the most memorable moments of our experience.

We packed our stuff, locked the house up and started our trip down the mountain. This trip would be significantly less time (1 ½ hours) but our attentiveness had to be on high alert. With the high winds and low visibility. A wrong step or distraction could cause injury/ death or a lost member. As we made our way down in the mountain, the weather changed drastically. The snow turned to rain and the temperature went up about 10-15 degrees. We made it back safe

To get half price tickets, volunteer in the festival’s very worthwhile project to clean up Goa’s beaches.

When : February 5-7, 2010 Where : Agonda jungle, Goa, India Website: http://www.chakraviewfestival.com/index.html. . .

5 Digital Magazine __ Libertas

When we came back we prepared a wonderful dinner together. The best was the sock soup. We had a wonderful soup but after we ate it they informed us that a sock that was drying fell in just before we ate it. We ate and laughed for hours. Once again our night ended with full bellies and happy spirits. We woke up the next morning and saw that the weather was not going to get better anytime soon. The windows had ice around them the wind was piercing cold and the snow began to build up. We had to leave soon in order to avoid being trapped in our sanctuary on the mountain.

Chakra View Ecological Music Festival Chakra View is the first ecological music festival to be held in Goa. Party to the psychedelic sounds of international and local DJs by a stream in Goa’s jungle. Also on offer will be yoga, meditation, martial arts, healing, flea market, organic food, fire and juggling performances.

Camping areas and tree house accommodations are available.

n°6...Libertas on small things

That night we celebrated New Year’s twice because the Estonian and Bulgarian New Year’s were an hour ahead of the Macedonian New Year’s. We lit sparklers and sang songs. We could see the celebration in both Prilep and Bitola from our mountain top. Watching the fireworks from the cities so small gave us a great feeling of being far from civilization. Our night ended with happiness and celebration.

No one could have guessed what we would wake up to.

Events

“ I think I can speak for the n°6...Libertas on small things

group when I say that this

New Year’s celebration would stay

with us for years to come.

”

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4 6

and sound. I think I can speak for the group when I say that this New Year’s celebration would stay with us for years to come.

Individual perspectives: Simple pleasures -During a snow storm in the mountains there are better things to do besides sitting inside. Two strong girls as we are, we decided to go for a walk. It was clear from the moment we stepped outside the house, that this time our walk will be something extraordinary. This weather would provide the opportunity for us to learn to fly than an opportunity to walk. 100 meters by foot is an experience which makes you happy no matter what. You can feel as though flying with the wind, living in another world while hugging a close friend or just almighty, when the storm is not successful in sweeping you down to the cities and civilization. Nothing is holding you back from enjoying the power of nature and love of your friends.

-Just being in a place like that for New Year’s Eve brings happiness to one’s soul. Pelister has a positive spirit that makes everyone there happy. I loved every moment that I spent there with the people who mean a lot to me. From preparing our tea for warmth at the beginning, to making the wonderfully tasty New Year’s dinner, our experience was timeless. We were away from civilization, hearing the sound of the strong mountain winds while enjoying the fire in our delightful shelter. Our shelter illuminated by candles, full of happy people and positive emotions. This is priceless!

The smelt in the air of seasoned baked potatoes and delicious French cheese, preparing the meat with dried Macedonian red peppers, feeling the power of the mountain and enjoying dinner with the most beautiful people in the world… All this can’t be bought with money…only with positive spirit and an open heart.

Santa Clause joined us :D He gave us the best present for New Year.

He gave us snow!

Photo: from Martin Stojanovski

-New Year or not, being in the nature gives me energy. Mountains give me something that cannot be found anywhere else. Being far way from the civilization and people is exciting. I like having moments alone when I’m there because in the mountains I forget all the un-important problems and think only about the essential things.

Feeling small in the grandiose landscapes around you gives you an

crazy group of people

Being there for New Year is even more exciting, when you think about all the people for whom New Year’s means being well dressed and going out to fancy places. For us, being together far away from this was all we needed. I also realized one of my dreams, sliding on a frozen lake. Snow, Ice, Hugs, Wind, Mountains, Hiking, Love, Food, Happiness, Craziness…we were all like little kids during these days and we had the best time ever!

Mumbai Festival

Photo: from Martin Stojanovski

When : February 11-21, 2010 Where : Venues all over Mumbai, India Website:http://www.kalaghodaassociation.com/

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The Mumbai Festival is a two week cultural extravaganza that started off as an attempt to establish a community based festival for the city. The festival is into its sixth year this year.

The events, which feature performers from India and around the world, are all free. Everything from A to Z -- architecture to visual art -- is on offer. The festival’s website has a detailed timetable of what’s happening and when.

n°6...Libertas on small things

unexplainable feeling and makes you happy. Sharing this moment with the people you love is a very strong feeling, we are far from everything, but together, it makes you closer.

Events

n°6...Libertas on small things

THE SMALL THINGS THAT M

by Elena Gagacheva

What is the price of happiness? are you selling jokes

from friend?

I want 1 kg of smile

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4 8

There are times when I feel frustrated about wanting something and I’m not able to have it, maybe because it’s too expensive, or plenty of other reasons.

But then, I think to myself… why am I so frustrated when there are such a great things that money can’t buy?

What is the price of happiness?

How much you need to pay for joy?

They are priceless. Like the smile you receive when you say “Hi” to a friend or a hug from someone when you say something nice to them.

A kiss goodnight sent by SMS from the person you love.

Photo: kk+ / CC-by-nc-sa / Flickr

“You can’t

buy a

smile; you can’t buy

jokes from

friends”

Can you sell feelings in the markets? It’s funny. You can’t value the pleasure when someone buys you a lollipop just to tell that he loves you and to see a smile on your face. You can buy everything you want with money; fun, a good-time and to feel satisfied. You’re still missing something. Something small, something you don’t see on the market shelves. Have you ever thought about this?

You can’t buy a smile; you can’t buy jokes from friends. You can’t buy the pleasure given by the smell of something familiar, or when you breathe is taken away when you see the face of the one you love; the innocent look of your dog or cat, knowing that they are happy with you and you are happy having them.

So…make a list of the small things that make you happy and you will see how rich you are, blessed with happiness in your life… hmm… and maybe you will save some money at the same time, with a smile on your face. =D

. .

A King Celebration Four days of frenzied partying before the six weeks of Lent, the Rio Carnival is a world-famous extravaganza of music, colour and uninhibited celebration.

The carnival, which takes place during the southern hemisphere’s steamy midsummer, evolved as a resounding farewell to the pleasures of the flesh before the strictures and austerity of Lent. It now attracts over 500,000 foreign visitors, and is considered the ultimate event of the carnival season.

Photo: LoKan Sardari / CC-by-nc-nd / Flickr

A King celebration When : 13-16 February 2010 Where : Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Website: http://www.rio-carnival.net . .

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Events

n°6...Libertas on small things

MAKES LIFE HAPPY

TOLERANT AND INFORMED SERBIA n°6...Libertas on small things

by Nina Vorgić

TIM writter potato

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4 10

28

Just do something! :D

Photo: Picture of facebook group

“I think

it was

about time that

young people

make

something and see what is re-

sponsibility and

obligations”

Being involved in youth activism during my high school years, I spent a lot of my free time in seminars and various educational programmes. By doing so, I became more confident. I knew my next step would be creating my own project. I’m interested in journalism, because I’ve worked on the radio for a while. The coordinator of my local NGO Maštalište introduced me to an excellent programme that was connected to this passion of mine. We had to apply an idea on how to include more people in youth activism in our local community. The task wasn’t easy, and it was certainly a great challenge to deal with.

Luckily, my friend from the NGO and I came up with an idea and after several seminars it was finally approved. We decided to create a small magazine, containing 11 pages to be named – TIM – Tolerantni I Informisani Mladi. ( TIM-in Serbian means team, a group of people that have the same aim and working together to make great things happen, but also it is called tolerant and informed youth, as I emphasized in the title of my article). In 2009, we had 10 editions of our magazine, and in 2010 we planned 5 more. In April 2010, our project will end, but I’m sure new generations won’t give up our fight against boredom, shallowness, materialism, that made our young people so inactive and immobile.

How did I make it?

Well, first of all I tried to create a positive atmosphere for our team.

This allows all members to do whatever they like, write about subjects they are interested in, but they also had responsibilities. For-

D YOUTH IN ZRENJANIN,

In our promotions (parties we organized in various clubs in Zrenjanin) we had a chance to play our own music, and to bring all of our friends, that gave us their support. I wouldn’t have made it, without my friends.

It’s great that have something big and good in your life (project &friends).

I’m very proud of this project, as I dedicated myself to it. Since January 2009 we had promotions in different clubs in Zrenjanin, organized parties, and We did it, not grown ups. I think it was about time that young people made something and saw what responsibility and obligations really looked liked. Experience from this project is priceless.

Our voice is finally heard. When someone tells me that young people can’t be heard, I immediately show them TIM. The only thing you have to do is stop being a spoiled kid and a couch potato, and actually do something. If you want something, make it happen.

If you believe in something and work hard, even dreams can come true.

Bath Literature Festival For nine days this historic city is transformed into a book-lover’s paradise with over 120 literary events on offer. The programme is an eclectic and inspirational mixture of talks, debates and workshops, featuring historians, scientists, novelists, poets, and politicians. There are a number of free events - including poetry readings, and recordings of short story readings for BBC Radio 4.

The Festival takes place in a number of venues - the Guildhall is its base, but it also uses a number of theatres, galleries and the library - and because the town centre is compact, everything is within easy walking distance. . .

11 Digital Magazine __ Libertas

tunately, their enthusiasm was great, so several of the first editions were great. After a while, it wore off, so sometimes I had to be some kind of a mediator in order to end conflicts or dissatisfaction. I tried to give an example, so they could see how this project is important to me but also for them.

Events

n°6...Libertas on small things

couch potato

CRAZY LITTLE THING

by Mauro Giordano

Huummm

n°6...Libertas on small things

La la la la la ...

Without delving too much into philosophical themes that have got to do with the essence of life, death and the appreciation of ‘reality’, I’d like to agree on something with all of you: we’re definitely on the same plane. Whatever that is, we call it life. Nevertheless, there are many times in our daily routine in which we lose consciousness of it and go on auto-pilot for most of the day.

We become electric sheep that roam the globe, sometimes with the frenetic cadence of modern life, other times with a slow and weak pace product of frustration… but jointly without hope, without feeling ‘alive’. It’s quite easy to fall into such mundane state of mind and more complicated to abandon it, yet certainly not impossible. Sometimes it’s voluntary, sometimes it’s fate, but there are many moments across our existence that alert us and vindicate our unique living.

Photo: Mattbraga / CC-by-nc-sa / Flickr

I have tried to list down some of the events that in the past few weeks have made my day or helped me feel good and truly vital. Nothing out of the ordinary (almost), just the exact key that fits into the exact lock, activating a special response in the individual.

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4 12

30

° Violently biting a pear; the flesh of the fruit at the mercy of Photo: Jessie Romaneix / CC-by-nc-nd / Flickr

“Listening

to one of your

favorite

music tracks in the

middle of a

”

clear

field

your teeth, the juice coming out of your mouth and dripping from your chin, and then the sweet intense taste of…

° Listening to one of your favourite music tracks in the middle of

a clear field. Fresh wind on your forehead, sunset in your eyes.

While you take a deep breath and smell the rain that’s coming, you press the headphones to your ears so hard that you feel the guitar notes being played from the back of your throat.

° Beating time. 2x1. You’ve reached a specific level of concentra-

tion by which you’re able to bend the time continuum, allowing yourself to (unawarely) slow down or speed up time. It can occur in many ways. I recall the last time I was significantly struck by this was when doing a short city trip by bus. In approx. ’15 minutes’ I was able to devour 100 pages of a standard-sized book.

° The LP Hunt: Every now and then I like to embark on a very

special and challenging quest. It consists of two stages: firstly, walking certain areas of Buenos Aires City in search of (used) vinyl records stores; secondly, scrutinizing the various trays looking for that relic. They are so loaded you can barely move

G CALLED LIFE

° Laughing so hard in order to feel your stomach will eject from your body. I find it more thrilling if you’re in a situation where you’re supposed to hide such reaction.

there’s a cool sea just a few blocks away. You’re so determined to take a refreshing bath that you don’t realize there are a bunch of thick grey clouds approaching from the north-east.

You manage to make a long run across the burning sand and reach your target. But wait, when you’re wading in the enormous pool of salty water, a disrupting storm breaks out. You’re instantly forced to escape from the beach, completely soaked, and run for a safe place. The wind blows hard, the streets are flooded, and you’re tightly stuck under a little roof with too many vacationers. Well, at least it’s not hot anymore.

° Gimme Appendix: Carefully taking out from the sleeve that

shinning black plastic donut and placing it in the middle of the machine. ON, and it starts to majestically revolve. You lift the arm with a delicate move and surgically deposit it in the outer area of the infinite spiral groove. Pops & Clicks, and then the brilliant music of The Beatles living in the room.

I could go on and on naming other significant situations. It can happen through the material or the spiritual world, although it doesn’t really depend on the nature of the experience, but rather on the feeling that it triggers: it all lies on the protagonist’s choice. That is why the reader will be able to identify their own little life totems: a key moment in which we’ll be able to make a pause and become observers of ourselves, listening to the heartbeats and breaths, but most importantly feeling the vibrations and energy of that person being truly awake.

Sauti za Busara Music Festival An exuberant celebration of the musical heritage of East Africa and beyond, Sauti za Busara has been drawing crowds to Zanzibar since 2004. Sauti za Busara (Sounds of Wisdom) features performances by over 400 musicians.

Festivities are kicked off with a street parade featuring a brass band, drummers, wanandege (umbrella women), dancers, walkers and acrobats. . . .

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° Writing for Libertas… Boy, you’ve got to think! ° Almost 40ºC. It’s a very hot and dense day, though lucky you,

. .

Bath Literature Festival When : 27 February – 07 March 2010 Where : Bath, Somerset, United Kingdom Website:http://www.bathlitfest.org.uk/ . . .

n°6...Libertas on small things

the long plays, only being able to appreciate the upper area of the cover. After a few hours, sweat, and tons of dust, you finally detect and recognize the front cover you’ve admired so much and quickly take it out. You make a 360º turn to scare off other hunters: that prey is yours only. Moreover, that immediate joy grows even bigger when you detect the little white label on the plastic bag that displays… a meager price!

Events

STREET PARTY THEO

by Maru Ayam

n°6...Libertas on small things

POW Poow

TuUUut

Traffic jams Given that this is a collection of articles about the forgotten art of living, I guess that it might be appropriate to submit an account of something that had made me reflect on this. It happened last June in the city of Madrid. I’m suspecting that for you to better understand what I’m sharing today, you should know a bit more about the author behind this tale. I’m sorry if I was rude for not introducing myself right away. I’m a 21 year old university student in Madrid, born and raised in lovely Buenos Aires. In September 2008 I moved to this city to continue my studies, and in a year and a half I’ll be able to call myself a Sociologist. Now that we got past these awkward introductions, let’s get back to our story. Or should I say our theory.

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4 14

12

Street party

Photo: Laure Wayaffe / CC-by-sa / Flickr

“In Buenos Aires, however ,I

used to

live on a very, very

long street.

”

June 2009. Exam times once more, and with them comes that traditional time of the year when coffee consumption spirals upwards almost uncontrollably. Most of the 24 hours of the day are spent either at home studying, at the library, or at a café of choice. Studying too.

Choices for the latter are quite limited around here. The study season we’re recalling was spent mostly at an acceptable café, meaning: it was a beautiful place, had actual good coffee, but horrible music.

That’s why I usually hit Starbucks. I have to admit that what they serve is not worthy of the “coffee” title, it’s more like nice foamy beverages that taste of rainbows and sunshine. The standard jazz they play is really hard to top (please ignore the sarcasm and read beyond it, it’s actually literal). Being realistic, Thelonius Monk or Billie Holiday always trump Alejandro Sanz.

No arguing. Sometimes I come to the acceptable café though, because bad Spanish music reminds me that I have a future, and that keeps me going. Also because I don’t enjoy giving all my money to Starbucks. Hm. Anyway, in this choice spectrum I spent 6 hours studying at Starbucks one day. When I was walking back home –a two-

ORY TuUUut

POooW

block walk that felt like being trapped in an oven for a day – I was very surprised to find something different going on in my street. The first thing that gave it away was probably the banner that I saw as soon as I turned the corner on Calle Jardines: “bienvenido a tu calle” (welcome to your street).

That would never happen. I know my dad had a few attempts at it, doing some barbecue on the street for the people on my block. But things are different, here and there. In Madrid, my street is 1 block long. Probably a couple of hundred of us live on Jardines, and we can all have a beer on the street together no matter if we’re students, construction workers, shop owners or noisy-super-libidinous-people. It’s a pedestrian street in the heart of the city, and even if cars can’t go by, it’s always a crowded place.

. .

Over the next five days, starting in the late afternoon as the shadows lengthen, the finest African musicians perform on the main stage within Stone Town’s historic Old Fort.

Sauti za Busara Music Festival When : 11-16 February 2010 Where : Old Fort, Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania Website: http://www.busaramusic.org . . . .

15 Venice Carnival Join the masked revellers as one of the world’s most beautiful cities scintillates with costumes, parties and processions. Held over the two weeks preceding Ash Wednesday, Carnival ends on Shrove Tuesday and begins two Fridays before. . . .

Digital Magazine __ Libertas

Grinning while I climbed up the flight of stairs that leads me to my corner of the world, I tried to do a very hard exercise. I tried to picture that party happening on my street in Buenos Aires. A Madame Curie Popular Party?

Events

n°6...Libertas on small things

There were flowers everywhere, even hanging from the balconies, where art was exhibited too. Carnival flags, balloons, and a flowerpot painting stand (what?)... Everything was there. By the time I walked over where the crowd was standing, I realized that this was the “First Popular Party of Jardines Street”, and the organizers were shouting out the names of the creators of the winning artwork. Cheering participants, beer sipping crowds, children running around, everyone was there: the Nostradamus-kind-of prophetic-guy who’s always drunk and “hanging out”, the owner of the store across the street, the gay couple who has loud midday sex one floor above mine, the only guy in my building who owns a suit (I like to make that assumption), the funky ladies from the salon that sells “African American hair products”... We were all there. I hung out with the people, took a few pictures and went back inside to 1. shower, and 2. continue with my studies.

POW

Mrs. Johns

from No.8, app.7

The Ferlin's daughter from No.19

The Carlto

from No.3

n°6...Libertas on small things

In Buenos Aires, however, I used to live on a very, very long street. It wasn’t a pedestrian street, but in any case you wouldn’t see many cars or people normally. Just picture a charming suburbia street. A few times when I was a child, my playdates’ chauffeurs got the address wrong (added an extra 7 at the end) and knocked on a tin-roofed house in the Cava shanty town. Oh, but twenty five blocks away, on the other extreme of the same Curie street, there are people who live in very big houses, with roofs and swimming pools and tennis courts and many cars. There aren’t hundreds of people living in one block like on Jardines, it’s perhaps 4 or 5 families at the most when you’re in Curie.

4 16 Digital Magazine __ Libertas

Mr. Jill

Photo: Alain Bachelier / CC-by-nc-nd / Flickr

“Try to

cooperate with someone you

know nothing

about and who you’re afraid to

”

speak to

So the face painting and improvised urban art gallery wouldn’t really work in Curie, would it? While everyone lives on the same street, it’s a rather long one, with very different sceneries at each end of it. Plus, in that context people are scared to meet each other, especially those who lead such radically different lifestyles (and have such radically unequal opportunities).

I guess my Street Party Theory states that the more the merrier, the closer the easier, the open-er the pleasant-er. If each of these societies were to be portrayed by streets, then Jardines and Curie would probably make some pretty clear examples.

Because when you can share a beer and a smile with the person sharing your space and your community, not only is life nicer, but it’s easier. Sharing space is not about tolerating (a word I strongly dislike, by the way), it’s about respecting – and along with respect comes understanding, something we can only achieve when we make the most out of our shared space.

Try to cooperate with someone you know nothing about and who you’re afraid to speak to.

Don’t mean to disillusion you here, but it will be rather hard.

from No.14, a

STREET PARTY THEORY The smith family

'

on s son

from No.22

app.2b

John Cathy Lucy

.

Carnival dates back to 1268, but became famous as an essential stop on the Grand Tour in the 18th century. Banned by Mussolini in the 1930s, it was revived in 1979. The locals embrace the festivities and it is a major event in the Venetian calendar.

The Elephant festival

Photo: TOMOYOSHI / CC-by-nc-nd / Flickr

The Elephant Festival is organized to raise awareness of the need for action to protect the Asian elephant as part of the vital cultural and natural heritage of Laos and the countries of the region. Hongsa district (Sayaboury Province) welcomes you to pay tribute to its elephants and enjoy great cultural activities and entertainment.

17 Digital Magazine __ Libertas

Venice Carnival When : 5-16 February 2010 Where : Venice, Italy Website: http://www.venicecarnival.com/ . .

n째6...Libertas on small things

Events

DECORATIVE CANDL n째6...Libertas on small things

by Valentin Petreski

You will need: - Copper wire, 1.5mm and 0.8 mm tin thick - Ruler or tape measure - Wire cutters - General-purpose pliers - Masking tape - Round-nosed pliers - Parallel pliers

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4 18

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

12

LE SCONCE

1.Cut 21 lengths of 1.5mm wire, each 38cm long. Bundle together so that they are even at the top and bottom, and grip them with the general-purpose pliers 16cm in from one end. Hold the pliers closed with masking tape so they act as a vice. Using the 0.8mm wire, bind the bundle of wires for 2 cm from the pliers. Do not cut off the wire. Release the pliers.

3.Bend up the wires at the edge of the circle and weave the side of the candle basket to a depth of about 2.5cm.

4.Using parallel pliers, coil down the wires to the edge of the candle basket.

6.Decide which is the back of the sconce. Using the parallel pliers, unwind the two coils at the back a little, cross them over each other and twist flat. Attach the sconce to the wall through the holes in these two coils. Bend back the wavy wires so that they support the sconce at the bottom, holding in away from the wall. Check the distance between the candle flame and the wall.

El Carneval de Oruro El Carnaval de Oruro (or Carnival of Oruro) is the biggest annual cultural event in Bolivia.

Considered by many the finest in South America after the Brazilian carnival in Rio de Janeiro, it is a carnival that should not be missed if traveling around Latin America.

The carnival has been recognized by UNESCO since 2001 as a World Heritage event and declared the carnival as one of Mankind’s Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

El Carneval de Oruro When : 12-16 February 2010 Where : Oruro, Bolivia Website: http://www.travelbolivia.com/carnaval-de-oruro.html

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5.Using parallel pliers, make two columns of coils with the wires left under the candle basket. Make nine coils in each column, ensuring that the second column is a mirror image of the first. Trim the end of each wire, increasing the amount you cut off by 12mm in each time, so that the coils decrease in size. Using round-nosed pliers, form waves in the remaining wires. Trim the ends of the outer wires, so that the central one is the longest.

. .

The Elephant festival When : 20-21 February 2010 Where : Hongsa, Laos Website: http://festival.elefantasia.org/ . .

n°6...Libertas on small things

2.Using round-nosed pliers, bend a downward-curving loop at the end of each wire. Bend down the wires at right angles at the top of the bound section so they spread out in a circle. Using the 0.8mm wire that is still attached to the bundle, weave around the wires to make a base with a diameter that measures 7cm. This will form the base of the basket.

Events

CROATIAN STUDENTS BROU DEVELOPMENT ISSUES TO L

by Lea Perinić

n°6...Libertas on small things

Held within the Global Education Week, the first Croatian Student School of Sustainable Development (SSSD) had its official opening ceremony on November 16th 2009, in the Art Gallery “Kruzna”. Together with the opening of an accompanying exhibition of the Academy of Applied Arts’ students, who’ve demonstrated their artistic view on the sustainable development issues. The exhibition was open to the public during the entire GE week.

The main activity, School of Sustainable Development, started on November 20th in the Regional Youth Info-Centre and lasted for two days. It brought together 25 students from 9 different faculties, 5 lecturers and 7 volunteers who have tried to share their knowledge and thoughts about the core concept of sustainable development, as well as the means of action when technology fails or when sustainability itself becomes unsustainable.

12

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4 20

Photo: unjenesaisquoideco / CC-by-nc-nd / Flickr

“ that

sustainable

development is

more

than

just

an

ecological question

”

SSSD is a project developed under the EU PCM training programme organized by the Foundation of the University of Rijeka.

Its authors are Biljana Maljkovic (former student of Economy) and Lea Perinic (Cultural Studies MA student). Project got the support of numerous Croatian organizations and institutions such as: the Croatian Healthy Cities Network (Rijeka Project Office), Public Institution “Spacial Planning Institute of Primorsko - goranska County”, University of Rijeka Cleaner Production Centre, Regional Youth Info-Centre, Art Gallery „Kruzna“, Quantum21.net website, as well as some respectable foreign organizations like the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe and UNESCO Initiatives Centre Poland.

The first day of SSSD was more “theoretical”, devoted to lectures of prominent Croatian and foreign speakers on different topics, while the second day was open for discussions. It started with a workshop whose aim was to investigate the sustainable development of the University and its role in educating the youth to live and work in a world which is continuously progressing but is, at the same time, throttling the basic sustainable principles on which the existence of humanity and human life are based. After the workshop students were invited to discuss the relevant sustainable development issues by using the effective Open Space method which had encouraged them to work in small groups and created a unique atmosphere of involvement, active participation and responsibility for the outcomes of the SSD. The interesting but demanding two-day program ended with a closing

ceremony during which all of the participants and contributors have received the certificates of participation, together with the complete work-material.

Apart from receiving a lot of new information and knowledge, the participants got the chance to exchange ideas and analyze the sustainable development issues from different perspectives, since they were coming from different faculties and had a diverse educational background. Also, they were asked to present their ideas which improved their communication and presentation skills, active listening, as well as ackowledge the power of questions and team-work.

We are completely aware that this kind of training usually generates brilliant ideas but fail when it comes to follow-ups. That’s why we are doing our best to continue our communication with all the people involved by using efficient e-tools, like mailing lists, Facebook, Twitter and other communications channels.

Our goal was and still is to develop a network of people who will continue to cooperate, raise awareness among their peers, develop and implement projects regarding the sustainable development and, by doing that, help our School become sustainable itself. We are proud by the fact that apart from the e-based communication, now (almost three months after the School) we are meeting our participants on a weekly basis and developing new project ideas as well as preparing for the second edition of the School of Sustainable Development, hopefully an international one. Would YOU like to participate?

Events Flickerfest International Short Film Festival Australia’s premier short film festival, Flickerfest International Short Film Festival tours the country after opening at Sydney’s Bondi Beach Pavilion.

In addition to the annual focus on Australian shorts the festival offers an international competition, with entries from as far afield as Romania, Thailand and Brazil. The festival has been officially recognised as a qualifying event for the Best Short film and Best Animation Oscars ®.

Flickerfest International Short Film Festival When : 25 – 28 February 2010 Where : Dendy Cinema, Brisbane, Australia Website: http://www.flickerfest.com.au/ . .

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We strongly believe that, after taking an active part in both lectures and Open Space, the participants will consider even more seriously the importance of sustainable development in today’s times of globalization and economic growth which is mostly profit-oriented, while very little attention is given to social, environmental and cultural elements. We wanted to stress the fact that sustainable development is more than just an ecological question since the research we undertook a year ago at our University had shown that a majority of students consider SD to be a synonim for ecology. That’s why we have invited lecturers with diverse experience and background to give us presintations on different topics, such as: Sustainable development realization in the 21st century and its’ opponents, ecoliteracy, global crisis and our way out of it, sustainable development in the context of University’s civic mission, etc.

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UGHT SUSTAINABLE LIFE

“EVERYTHING IS ILL

by Jonathan Safran Foer

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by Julia Tessler

‘Everything is Illuminated’ is the first novel by Jonathan Safran Foer. The book published in 2002 was adapted into a film in 2005, starring Elijah Wood and gathering a lot of new fans to the gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello (Eugene Hütz, Gogol Bordello’s lead singer, has also starred in the film and some songs are part of the sound-track).

18 32

The book is about an American Jew (who is also called Jonathan Safran Foer) who travels to Ukraine searching for the woman who saved his grandfather’s life during the Nazi genocide in their shtetl (a Jewish village). As soon as Jonathan gets to Ukraine, he meets Alexander Perchov, a young man the same age as Jonathan, who is very fond of American pop culture.

Since Alex speaks English, he becomes a translator to help Jonathan’s adventure, accompanied by Alex’s blind grandfather and his seeing-eye dog, Sammy Davis Jr. Jr.

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Photo: movie poster

“The book

is one of a kind

,and the movie does the amazing job of

inserting

music to our imagination

”

Basically, the story is about their journey among Ukraine in search of Augustine (the woman who saved Jonathan’s grandfather’s life), but what is really special about this book is the way it’s constructed: Alex is the narrator (actually, Alex’s letters to Jonathan), therefore, the English in which the book is written is sometimes really hard to understand (he tends to mix English with Russian and even a little bit of Yiddish, as my father told me when he warned me about the difficultly I might find reading the book). Also, the story is bounded together with an old story of Trachimbrod (the shtetl), alternating with a little bit of this story with Alex’s letters to Jonathan, in which he tells his American friend how he felt about the whole journey and what he thinks of everything.

The book is one of a kind, and the movie does the amazing job of inserting music to our imagination (not that we need, but I believe that the book and the movie are bounded together in this case, one complements the other). I highly recommend it (:

LUMINATED”

Events

. . .

Photo: book cover

Good Vibrations When : 20 February 2010 Where : Parklands Gold Coast, Southport, Australia Website: http://www.goodvibrationsfestival.com.au/ . . . . .

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The Good Vibrations festival aims to get back to basics in natural amphitheatres. The Gold Coast leg of the tour visits Southport’s Parklands Showgrounds. The 2010 line-up stars Basement Jaxx, Killers, Gossip, Armand Van Helden and Busta Rhymes.

n°6...Libertas on small things

Good Vibrations

“LE FABULEUX DESTIN D’A

by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

n°6...Libertas on small things

by Julia Tessler

For your pleasure: imagine... Colors. Colorful scenes and sensations. Music! ‘Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain’ is the perfect result of all this coming together.

The wonderful acting of Audrey Tatou is perfectly accompanied by Yann Tiersen’s amazing music (all soundtracks were composed by him)!

Amélie, the main character, lives in Paris and never had a normal life. She grew up apart from other children, which results in an adult woman that has her own world, apart from the ‘real’ world – not bad, as we are induced to think by reading. She lives for simple pleasures, like all small good feelings we can have during a day like dipping her hand into sacks of grain, cracking crème brûlée with a teaspoon and so on, letting her imagination fly away.

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“Colours.

Amélie works at a café called Café des 2 Moulins and deals with her workmates and frequent costumers in different ways, wherever her imagination takes her.

Colourful

Apart from that, Amélie lives in a rented apartment and discovers a new adventure when she finds a small box hidden in her apartment, full of memories. Excited about the new thing, she starts a journey after the owner of the box.

And sensations.

It’s impossible to watch the movie and not get a single image (or sound, or feeling, or whatever) from it. The film has the wonderful ability to mark us in several ways. I never get tired of watching it, always recording new sensations in my mind.

There are so many pleasant things! And the pleasures of life (that go all too well with this edition of Libertas!).

scenes

Music!”

Beautiful movie, lovely and memorable! I hope you’ll like it as much as I did, do and continue to every time I watch.

AMELIE POULAIN”

Events

Photo: movie poster

APS World Tour – Quicksilver Pro Surfer When : 27 Feb - 10 Mar 2010 Where : Gold Coast, Australia Website: http://www.surfingaustralia.com/ . . .

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The first event of the men’s World Championship Tour 2010 sees surfing’s big guns out at Snapper Rocks on Queensland’s Gold Coast. With total prize money of US$400,000 at stake, expect to see every pro surfer within a 1000-mile radius thrashing it out in the water.

n°6...Libertas on small things

APS World Tour – Quicksilver Pro Surfer

n°6...Libertas on small things

GODSPEED YOU! BLA

by Daniel Nunes

playing guitar, keyboards

playing bass

........ ........ ........

T

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playing guitar

26

“Imagine yourself in 1997 buying a double-vynil, each of each

side CD

having one

track”

Photo from myspace of GY!BE

hey’re not the first, nor the last, and maybe not even the best ones doing politically engaging music, but they sure are one of a kind.

Coming from Montreal, Canada, the band is probably one that every single post-rock fan listens to and would like to see in concert.

They formed in ‘94, with three members, and before dismantling in ‘03, the band reached up to fifteen, playing as a chamber orchestra with rock instruments.

Not once in their monumental 15 minute tracks will you hear someone singing, though they use many samples and excerpts from interviews and other kinds of recordings. Playing with music and taking it to a whole new level. Imagine yourself in 1997 buying a double-vinyl, each side of each CD having one track. One track… It’s hard to imagine, even though other bands had already made this. Each of the tracks are usually divided into smaller movements, most of the time identified in the liner notes.

Why are they special, and why Godspeed for this month specifically?

Well, they did music. And that was it. This month we invite you to remember about all those small things life is made of, and Godspeed reminds us all the time that life is made of life, in its most simple form. We don’t need anything else than the bonds we create, and they show us that their music is made not for us, not for them; it’s made for the sake of making music, for the sake of art.

They make music because they don’t like the sick world they’re surrounded by, and this is their way of showing it, and to show that there’s another way.

If after reading this you decide to give it a try and listen to Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s music just let it flow inside you. Don’t try to understand the music, don’t do anything.

Just listen to it.

ACK EMPEROR playing cello playing percussion

........ ... ........

Godspeed You! Black Emperor: All Lamps Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling (1994) f#a#∞ (1997) Slow Riot for New Zerø Kanada (1999) Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000) Yanqui U.X.O. (2002)

Events

27

The festival, held at the EuropaPark near Freiburg, Germany, is Europe’s largest dance workshop festival. During four days, the world’s best dancers offer more than 300 lectures and workshops in Standard, Latin, Salsa, Tango, Swing, Discofox, HipHop and Breakdance. For every skill level – beginner to professional. Watch spectacular shows by world class performers on three evenings.

Euro Dance Festival When : 18-21 February 2010 Where : Freiburg, Germany Website: http://www.eurodance-festival.com/cms/index.php?lang=en

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Euro Dance Festival

Photo: GY!BE

n°6...Libertas on small things

........ ........

...

Photo: Lucie Ferlin/ CC

Team of Libertas: Lucie Ferlin Daniel Nunes Dragan Atanasov Scott Pinkster

Contributors (to this edition): Daniel Nunes Sakina Gril Anette Ross Maru Ayam Elena Gagacheva Hristina Petrovski Scott Pinkster Valentin Petreski Mauro Giordano Nina Vorgic Lea Perinic Julia Tessler

Designed by: Lucie Ferlin

Published by:

e h t e Se n i e f li k n i p

Youth Association creACTive

LIBERTAS is a monthly youth magazine fully prepared by a group of young people from different countries, supported by the Youth Association creACTive (www.cre-act-ive.org). Published for the young people worldwide, LIBERTAS is distributed through the internet to anyone who is interested free of charge.

All texts published in LIBERTAS represent solely the opinions of their authors, not of the magazine or of its publishers. LIBERTAS and creACTive are not responsible in any way for the contents of the articles, or for the photos published with them. * Have you signed up? Send an empty message to libertas@cre-act-ive.org and receive your personal copy of LIBERTAS by e-mail every 5th in the month! * Have something to say? Contact us at libertas@cre-act-ive.org and read your article in the next edition!

February 2010 Skopje, Macedonia libertas@cre-act-ive.org www.cre-act-ive.org

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