Artefakt + Design Project: 790 Thousand Kuna for Training 84 Unemployed Young People

The cultural-artistic project “Artefakt + design ≈ prototype” was launched to further train 84 unemployed young people aged 15 to 25 with completed vocational secondary education for the labor market, it was highlighted on Monday at the presentation of this project at the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb.

A total of nearly 790 thousand kuna has been approved for the project, co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) with 85 percent of the funds, while 15 percent was secured by the Ministry of Culture from the state budget.

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In five counties, young people will acquire new skills interesting to cultural institutions over 18 months.

The project started on February 8 and will last for 18 months, until July 8, 2019. It will be implemented at six locations in six counties – the City Museum of Vukovar and the Museum of Vučedol Culture in the Vukovar-Srijem County, the Archaeological Museum of Osijek in the Osijek-Baranja County, the City Museum of Virovitica in the Virovitica-Podravina County, the City Museum of Sisak in the Sisak-Moslavina County, and at the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, which is the project holder, for the areas of Zagreb County and the City of Zagreb.

The project manager, senior museum educator and head of the Educational Department of the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, Zorica Babić, explained that the target group consists of young people in disadvantaged positions, namely unemployed young people with completed vocational secondary education whose professions are of interest to cultural institutions.

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As she stated, the professions in focus are – tailor, seamstress, haberdasher, shoemaker, clothing designer, clothing technician, woodworker designer, carpenter, metallurgist, goldsmith, sculptor, ceramist, and other vocational occupations. Workshops will be organized for them where they will acquire new knowledge and skills in creating exhibition setups, souvenirs for museum gift shops, and developing educational aids for educational workshops.

Young people will be taught by museum staff and designers.

The project manager noted that young people will be taught by museum staff and designers and that the concept of the workshops is artistic-cultural education. Experts will introduce young people to local cultural heritage, possible reinterpretation of artistic items from museum collections, present them with ideas and concepts while developing basic design skills. Babić emphasized that they will also assist them in developing prototype models for creating new souvenirs or educational aids, familiarizing them with strategies for creating and communicating brand and visual identity.

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The program also includes education on active employment and self-employment measures, and as Babić stated, it will also be useful for mentor craftsmen who will transfer knowledge and skills to young people, thereby contributing to the preservation of their own profession. They will have the opportunity to present their crafts and products at an exhibition, and they will also be featured in a manual that will be published as part of the project.

The goal of the project – to create 23 innovative prototype products under the mentorship of local craftsmen.

The goal of the project is to create 23 innovative prototype products under the mentorship of local craftsmen based on sketches and models developed as part of the artistic-cultural education as a result of the reinterpretation of museum items from six Croatian museums.

The material for the production of prototypes, Babić added, will be provided by the mentor craftsman, and the cost of materials will be fully borne by the project holder. A symbolic fee for the time and effort spent has been secured for all mentor craftsmen. Project participants will be with mentor craftsmen for professional practice lasting eight weeks, four hours a week.

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Babić emphasized that the public will be systematically informed about all phases of project implementation, and the works created during its implementation will be exhibited at the premises of the Croatian Employment Service in Zagreb.

Support for the implementation of the project was also expressed by the director of the Archaeological Museum Sanjin Mihelić, representative of the Ministry of Culture Anastazija Magaš Mesić, and the director of the City Museum of Sisak Vlatko Čakširan.