Workshop ‘Preserve to Pass-on’

From 18 to 24 May 2013 Know-How / Show-How conducted a workshop “Preserve to Pass-on” in Bela Rechka, Bulgaria. The workshop focused on teaching skills in video production while documenting oral traditions and was taught by the leading documentary maker Boriana Pandova and media designer Dima Stefanova.

“Preserve to Pass-on” preceded the 10th edition of the international “Goat Milk Festival”, organized by the New Culture Foundation. This foundation and the festival aim to develop Bela Rechka and the Northwestern region of Bulgaria through cultural and educational activities and to create a new safe space for multicultural dialogue on memory by connecting European and local traditions and collecting personal stories.

During the workshop, the participants learned the art of interviewing, and how to produce, film and edit short videos on local traditional knowledge. They went out and found people with a special knowledge and beautiful stories.

Various topics were covered such as the importance of goats for the local community and the different ways of living with and from the goats. Another topic was the ‘yoga of knitting’ of the local women. They explain how knitting is a practice of love for them and propels them into beautiful meditative states.

The various short films premiered on the opening night of the Goat Milk Festival and were a huge success. The international audience loved the movies and the people that featured in them were proud to be a part of this bigger effort to preserve local knowledge for the future.