Their names and country name (Albania) was called! They were invited to the stage. Warm applauses and cheering of thousands of participants welcomed them at the beautiful Serbian city of Nis! Enxhi Mahmuti and Tea Alika, share their experience of participation at Come to Amphitheatre regional street festival. A great organization, bringing together the young people from all around Western Balkans. Also a few words from Armando Bala, project manager at Dolori Association, partner on this project organized by KOM018 and supported by the Western Balkans Fund. (This article is part of WBF Newsletter 006 – August 2018).
Q1: You participated to the “ Dodji na Amfi” (Come to Amphitheatre) in Nis , Serbia. May we have your feelings about this regional experience?
- Armando Bala: We participated as partners in “ Dodji na Amfi” festival being represented by 4 talented young people who participated in workshops in four creative methods and also represented Albania in the festival with their art. It is really interesting to notice the common mentality and culture that young people have in the region. Most of them share similar experiences and we were glad to hear from our participants that they felt the enthusiasm of the public while performing their art.
- Enxhi Mahmuti: I found this experience very interesting, fun and full of energy. There were people from Balkans ready to share their company, ideas and mostly their talent in arts. Many young people were gathered there to enjoy a street art festival, which happened to be a real success. I really enjoyed this festival, met new people and I liked very much the organization of those 2 days of festival.
- Tea Alika: Yes, I was a participant at the “ Dodji na Amfi” . I took part at the graffiti group and it was an amazing experience. I knew so many people from different cultures and I realized that we had so much in common. The whole experience was great, I visited a new place, met new people, be a part of something new and beautiful.
Q2: What did you find new in this event?
- Armando Bala: It is the first time that Dolori participates in a street urban art festival and the we find very interesting the organisation of the festival to promote young artists. We find worthy the fact that young people talk about similar values, have the opportunity to share experiences contributing to the improvement of the social inclusion and intercultural dialogue.
- Enxhi Mahmuti: What impressed me the most was the structure of this festival. There were people singing, dancing and painting in the same time, all representing street art in different forms. The amount of the talent of young people was huge and that was the best way to promote it in front of many people who were watching.
- Tea Alika: For me it was the first time that I was a part of something like that. The organization of the event was new to me to see all four countries in one beautiful festival. I visited and met a lot of people that were very talented and know how to cooperate with each other.
Q3: How was your performance received by the audience?
- Armando Bala: Our participants were welcomed by the public in the festival. The public liked the performances and it was enthusiastic to hear the positive comments after the festival.
- Enxhi Mahmuti: There were many people that came to watch and enjoy the performances and I can say that the audience was very warming and supportive.
- Tea Alika: It was the first time that I had to do graffiti in front of so many people and at first I was very anxious about how the audience would react. But everything went good they liked my work and started to congratulate me about the work I did. It felt very good to be supported from the people there.
Q4: What is your message to the young people in the Western Balkans?
- Armando Bala: Open your mind and hearts to one another. It’s better to invest our energy together in positive actions.
- Enxhi Mahmuti: The youth nowadays has a lot of talent and all the possibilities to promote it as much as we can and these kind of organizations are one of the best ways to gather people from other regions, exchange cultures, make new friends and promote the talent that gives a positive message.
- Tea Alika: We should be open as the young people are in Europe, to know and to cooperate with people from different cultures because even though we are from different cultures we have so many things in common.
Please visit the link below for the final video of the “Dodji na Amfi” Street Festival:
Please visit the link below for all information, photos and videos of “Dodji na Amfi” Street Festival:
