Secession in Croatian cities

 

Secession in  Croatian cities

by Maša Dumančić

Secession is a movement in art, which „started“ in Austria. We can see „traces“ of secession in  many Croatian cities. For example, we can see it in: Osijek, Split, Zagreb, Zadar, Dubrovnik and many more. The mission of secession was making art that doesn't separate young and old people, secession artists in Croatia wanted to „follow“ artists in Vienna and they were inspired by nature and, because of that, they wanted to put classy look on every building that they were building. Secession 'arrived' in Croatian cities in the 19th century and, as I said, it was inspired by foreign artists who came from more developed cities.  So, secession is a unique style which made an impact on art and architecture. As I said, in Croatian cities, traces of secession are visible today in many streets with a lot of beautiful buildings.

Folk costumes

 

Folk costumes of Slavonia and Baranja

by Iva Tomičić

 

A folk costume usually expresses an identity through costume, which is associated with a geographic area or a period of time in history. It can also express social, marital or religious status. Such costumes often come in two forms: one for everyday occasions, the other for traditional festivals and formal occasion. 

Slavonia and Baranja are located in the east of Croatia and are associated with the Pannonian style of dress. In Slavonia dresses  tend to be very elaborate. 

Women on their dresses usually have floral designs and clothing with silk or wool, decorative ribbons and bows, gold or silver jewelry, necklaces and pearls. The colors of the dresses tend to be bright and numerous. Usually they are gold, red, blue, white and black. 

Men usually wear thick coats or vests. In Baranya, a part of the men's costume is a small apron that is worn over the trousers that ranges in color and design.

Fasting in Orthodox Church

By Vicky Zevgolatakou


Fasting is a means and a spiritual weapon which is not just limited to diet, but the person must be involved in body and mind. It is every Christian's duty to fast during fasting periods.

During these days, Christians are required to abstain from eating:

• · Meat
• · Eggs
• · Animal products
• · Milk and dairy products
• · Fish - except mollusks and shell fish, as well as fish eggs: taramas, roe and caviar
• · Olive oil - excluding olives, which although are oil products, they are consumed during fasting periods.

The main fasting periods are:

1. The fast of Lent, which begins on Ash Monday and ends on Holy Saturday: It means "Great 40 Days" and is the most important period of fasting in the calendar of Orthodox Christians. It finishes on the day of Easter and prepares the faithful for the Divine Drama.

2. The fast of Wednesday and Friday of each week, because on Wednesday the trial of Christ began and on Friday he was crucified.

3. The fast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary or the 15th of August, which begins on the 1st of August and ends on the 15th of the same month.

4. The fast before Christmas, which lasts 40 days and begins on November 15 and ends on December 25.

Greek Customs, II

Greek Baptism 

By Vicky Zevgolatakou


The sacrament of baptism is very unique for a child and is associated with many customs and traditions of our country.

As for the customs related to the duties of the godfather, although in the past there were many more, several of them continue to be observed today. The godfather supplies white clothes for the baby, while also three days before the baptism he brings oil to the priest, who will perform the sacrament to bless it. The godfather is the one who has to buy everything necessary for the baptism and of course, the cross. During the sacrament, he holds the baby in his arms as the priest reads the wishes. He must also tell the priest the child's name.

The godfather is not allowed to baptize children of different sexes.The baptism takes place at least 40 days after the baby's birth.By spreading the Holy Myrrh to the baby we thank God for all the gifts He has given it, while by lighting a big candle we glorify Him. The priest is the first to cut the child's hair since its birth. Also, the water of the baptismal font must be thrown either into the sea or into the soil. The mother should not rinse the Holy Myrrh from the baby for three days, as it protects it from negative energy. The baby's baptism clothes should be white and they symbolize the Holy Spirit it received, as well as purity.

Greek Customs, I

Greek Marriage 

By Vicky Zevgolatakou


Many of the wedding customs come from the past, but continue to exist to this day.

The dowry: Dowry was an institution in which the family gave the bride her property when she got married. The institution of dowry has existed since ancient times and was the contribution of women to the common life of the couple. The reasons it existed were firstly economic and then social. Every woman's parents tried, from her young years until someone asked her to marry him, to collect as much dowry as they could. Usually, the dowry consisted of clothes, but the wealthiest gave jewellery, land, animals and dwellings.
This custom has now been abolished.

The "wedding bed": On Thursday before the wedding, the "wedding bed" is laid. Unmarried girls or girlfriends of the bride undertake the laying of the bed using white sheets. Then, the bed is decorated with sugared almonds and rice. A young boy will roll over on the bed, which was believed to make the first night of the wedding fertile. 



The rice: The guests throw rice at the couple as they leave church. The rice together with rose petals symbolizes the couple's solid foundation, good luck and a happy and prosperous life.

 

Greek Ceramic Art

By Angela Liko

What is the ceramic art ? 

The ceramic art or pottery is one of the oldest human inventions, originating before the Neolithic period. It is the process of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are released at high temperatures (600-1600 °C) in a bonfire, pit or kiln which induces reactions that lead to permanent changes including increasing the strength and rigidity of the object to give them a hard, durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain in an inspired verve of shapes, colors, figures. A clay body can be decorated before or after firing.

 In the modern era, new morphologic and technical features have been added to making ceramics. Storage jars, amphoras, craters, jugs, and lekythoi are the most known objects. Although much pottery is purely utilitarian, much can also be regarded as ceramic art. 

Our experience in ceramic crafts

In December 2019 we visited the ceramic workshop, CooCoo creations, where we worked on handmade crafts. Each of us made a ceramic cup or candle holder with some help from 2 professional ceramists, Lambrini Karousou and Vangelis Mertzanis. We used white clay to build the body of the object we chose. It took some time to make the shape as it requires accuracy. When we finished our crafts, they were let out to dry naturally in the air, then embellished on the outside and put in an oven at 1000 degrees.

 During our second meeting we decorated and painted our ceramics. We used special paints for ceramics in different colours and differently shaped tools to decorate them. Our crafts were put again in the oven at 1000 degrees, were covered in special glass film and put again in the oven at 1000 degrees. You can see our work at Coocoo Creations workshop in the following video on you tube: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbIe-UosX4E