Gyzi’s constantly growing population, mostly seniors, young adults and teenagers, lacks a welcoming non-commercial space where they can interact and build a stronger community. The project “APARAMILLON_avli” (translated as “courtyard”) aims to provide this space. It acts as the cultural frame for such an intergenerational exchange, and serves the community according to its needs. The main tool for this process is the idea of “sharing-circles”, workshops (in a variety of topics) that are divided into two major categories: memory and storytelling. These explore personal and collective memory, with a focus on the neighbourhood of Gyzi, and skills/knowledge, including analog crafts. The idea of the circle is to promote equal participation at all levels of expertise and education, focusing on what participants already know and wish to share with others. The project is hosted in APARÄMILLON, an iconic old candy workshop that had been a meeting point for the inhabitants of Gyzi for five decades. During the last two years it has slowly transformed into a cultural hub, involving neighbours who still remember the old candy workshop’s imprint.

The projects is connecting generations and cultures by creating an arts-and-crafts hub in Gyzi area.

For five decades, the space that used to host the legendary Confectionery Workshop and Patisserie “APARAMILLON”, has been a meeting point for the habitats of Gyzi, who met in the space to try out the new sweets that were coming out of its pots! A couple of years ago, the business has moved to its new place, and I am now in charge of the old space slowly transforming it into a culture hub for the neighborhood.

The main aim is to bring together the different groups pf people living in the area, not as passive followers of a structure, but as active participants, exchanging knowledge as a form of building a stronger community. Thus, workshops run by participants and experts will be the key tool for the whole process. At the same time, providing access to basic machinery will enhance any left out practice by people who may lack such a structure and will empower them to keep in track with their skills. Another tool, will be small presentations of the goods produced by the participants, in order to encourage more people to be involved, learning or leading a new practice. The final aim is to create a network of people that will combine their shared knowledge in
creating new forms of arts-and-crafts with “APARAMILLON / arts-and-crafts hub” being always their base for further developing such ideas.