and much more … testimonials

What is important to have a good collective?

Safaa:
I really like the Living Atelier, it is my family. When I’m happy, they are happy with me, when I’m sad they are sad with me. I work with ceramics, theatre, glass, handicrafts, I love it all. When I first came to the atelier it was hard – I didn’t speak the language or know anybody, but in time, we became a family. And this is the most important thing for a lasting collective. To be there for one another, to help each other, to share. 

Madina:
The most important thing for a collective is to make decisions together.

Saša:
For me, in order to build and sustain the collective, each member has to develop a sense of being a leader. That would translate into the ability to contribute in a way that is optimal for all members and in the capacity that is best for each always changing situation. Sometimes it is a voice and sometimes silence; sometimes it is to question and sometimes to take unassuming action; to decide whether to be ahead or to support from the back. In that way, all of us are leaders in a true sense and, in the Atelier, we managed to embark on the process of being part of a community, a collective, of leaders.

Mensura:
The local community needs to be at least tolerant so this sort of collective could last, otherwise just a desire to do it will not be enough. But if there is this basic condition, it is enough just to start, even if there are only two or three people. It will start rolling. But from the beginning the most important thing is building the collective on shared responsibilities, that everyone has a possibility and responsibility to start an action that we will then discuss together.