An amateur school for talented children from the Burgas neighbourhood „Pobeda“ has been operating since the beginning of this year at the Library meeting centre „Hristo Botev - 1937" in Burgas. Its formation is part of the „Integrated project for social inclusion of Roma and other vulnerable groups in the Municipalities of Burgas, Sredets and Malko Tarnovo“, funded under the ZOV Programme.
A total of 30 children aged between 8 and 13 years attend the school, divided into 7 groups. The children who wished to join it turned out to be more than the possibilities the project provides, so those who did not sign up were invited to join another formation at the library meeting centre.
Despite the difficulties at the beginning, the art instructor Atanaska Zhelyazova is optimistic: „The willingness, the sparkles in their knowledge-hungry eyes, the curiosity to learn, to know and to be intrigued, won my heart. Today I feel proud with those children, with their achievements, with their perseverance and with the acquired skills to work in a group, as well as with the support rendered by part of the parents. For those few months they taught themselves in tolerance towards each other, they started to support and congratulate each other for the achieved success, to express their opinion and to share their own view about art in drawings“, says Zhelyazova.
In the past months, the children from the school took part in a number of competitions, winning awards and certificates. Besides the art of drawing, they also create Kukeri masks, they study the macramé technique, make cards, tapestries, and martenichki. Atanaska Zhelyazova acquaints them also with the Bulgarian customs and culture. The activities of the school spread beyond the framework of art, provoking reading and love of the written word. The theme of ecology is also covered, as the children were prompted to create drawings with seeds, plants and eco materials.
The art instructor Atanaska Zhelyazova shares that she goes beyond the framework of the project. „After the obligatory classes that are strictly observed, I started showing them various techniques from the folk art as well - needlework, knitting, macramé, beadwork, bead making - which the children drew on paper afterwards. One such example are the embroideries from the Bulgarian folklore that were represented in their drawings of folk costumes. Part of the children learned to knit using one and two hooks, and we learned how to make bracelets and necklaces from beads“, tells Zhelyazova.