First students colony - harmony of heritage and future

More than 30 hard-working elementary and secondary school students across Serbia demonstrated their skills in crafting techniques of felting, weaving and embroidery, as part of the first Students’ Colony of Old Crafts, held at the residence of the Canadian Embassy in Belgrade on September 28th.

The first Students’ Colony of Old Crafts participated in elementary and high school students from Odzaci, Zemun, Indjija, Sremska Mitrovica, Knjazevac and Bela Palanka. The event was organized by Ethno Network, supported by the government's Coordination Body for Gender Equality, Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and the Embassy of Canada, as part of the program “Educating Children to Preserve Tradition”.

“Students’ colony is an opportunity for students from primary and secondary schools from different parts of Serbia to gather in one place, to meet their peers from international schools in Belgrade and to adopt new skills by working with mentors from Ethno network. For us, colonies like this are extremely important, because the transfer of knowledge to children and youth is a prerequisite for preserving heritage and cultural identity,” said Ethno Network President and NALED Executive Director Violeta Jovanovic.

At the initiative of the diplomatic community, the colony was visited by groups of students from international schools in Belgrade who practiced the art of embroidery, weaving and felting with their peers.

“Today we witnessed the creativity of new generations that show great interest and enthusiasm for old techniques.  Therefore, it is important that students’ colony becomes a standing practice that is valuable for the development of creative and youth entrepreneurship. Canada will continue to support such events that also have the support of the local community and local craft associations assembled in Ethno Network,” said Valerie Lane, wife of Canada's Ambassador Giles Norman, as hosts and diplomatic patrons of the first Students’ Colony.

The awards were presented to the most successful teams of students who participated in the colony: in the category I-IV class of Elementary School, the award went to the team from Elementary shool Vuk Karadzic from Knjazevac. In the category V-VIII grade, the award was given to the team from elementary school Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj from Sremska Mitrovica. In the category of high schools, the award went to the team of vocational school dr Djordje Natosevic from Indjija.

The review panel consisted of Canada's Ambassador Giles Norman with his wife Valerie Lane, International Women's Club President Eun Hai Kim and members of Ethno Network's expert team, David Van De Kamp and Zlatko Cvetkovic.

For years, Ethno network has been implementing the program “Educating children to preserve tradition”, and since 2020 the program has been supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development. The minister passed the decision to grant Ethno Network the status of a public interest program as it improves the competences of teachers in educational institutions. Over the past year, more than 50 teachers have attended seminars organized by Ethno Network.

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