As time passes by very fast and a two weeks’ time is not so long after all, young talents also decided to work on Saturday 17 May in the morning. Some worked on the recently bought textile materials and started cutting and hem stitching them to further integrate into the textile sculpture. Some started painting on the wall. Others went shopping or searching for specific materials needed for the space and others enjoyed the Craftsmen Fair, in front of the Palace of Culture, and discussed with craftsmen, even interviewed and filmed them.

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In the evening young talents also enjoyed the performance BAILE DE BESTIAS- Jesus Carmona at the National Theater of Iași. 

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Sunday 18 May was the International Museum Day, with free entrance in all museums throughout the world, so they had the chance to have a glimpse into the effervescence of a very busy museum day, and of course to relax at one’s own pace.

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The second week began with renewed energy. The young talents, already divided into three groups: architecture, social work and exhibition design, continued sketching the layout of the new multicultural center and how it can bring together people and heritage.

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For the social work group, Monday, 19 May, marked two meaningful encounters, as the young talents met and connected with members of the Jewish community, on their premises, and also with the representative of the Russian Lipovan community, who came to visit them to the Palace of Culture, while Tuesday, 20 May, featured an engaging and insightful meeting with the Armenian community, on their premises too. The other teams stayed in the building working hard on the textiles or at painting the walls, as well as in writing texts and designing their layout.

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The architecture team also designed the furniture for the multicultural hub which was tailor-made for the REVIVE Experiment of Iasi in a local workshop equipped with a CNC machinery.

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The painting on the wall has been proposed by one of the young artists, Margherita Tacconelli, and agreed already in the first week with the museum expert in charge of the artistic layout of the exhibition, Mrs. Valentina Druțu, head of the Art Museum and artist herself. The work itself proceeded as a team work, as the surface to be covered was rather large. The composition is illustrative for the interaction between humans and the built environment, the city itself, while the colors are also suggestive of the coal firing inside the boilers at the opposite end of the room, and which was producing the heat of the entire building. Very productive discussions on the role of fire throughout history also took place with Mr. Ioan Iațcu, PhD, museographer within the History Museum.

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Furthermore, on Wednesday, the young talents in the social work group paid a visit to the community of Ukrainian refugees with the help of the WorldVision Foundation. It was a very emotional visit, pointing out how life can go on among people who do not speak one’s mother tongue, how humanity can contribute to a qualitative life far from one’s motherland.

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The last days were mostly dedicated to editing the photographic and video materials and making it available on the devices bought for the project.

In the meantime, the artistic team in charge of how the multicultural center and the exhibition room would look, focused on painting one of the walls to give it life with the help of drawing and color, but also in designing interactive installations using both visual and sound effects. The curtain sculpture symbolizing the heart of the building but also the different layers of society started little by little acquiring shape. 

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Architects’ team (Federica Di Giambattista, Victor Pérez, Andreea Ursache)  dealt with designing the furniture and various patterns suggestive either for the various communities or for their crafts and also for the industrial heritage existing in the room.

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The ”Heart” installation, made of textile materials of various textures, was the concept on which several young talents worked, coordinated by Ela Leko from Croatia. The sculpture / installation is suggestive for the layers of society but also for the heart of humans pumping life into one’s body, similarly to how the old machines existing in the room would once give heat and electricity to the building, thus ensuring its functionality.

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Wednesday and Thursday preparations for the big opening day intensified. Museum professionals strongly interacted with the young talents so that the final product would both comply with the specific conservation norms and the requirements of the space. 

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Mrs. Senica Țurcanu, PhD, Head of Moldavia’s History Museum, and Mrs. Monica Nănescu, PhD, Head of the „Ștefan Procopiu” Science and Technique Museum, as well as Mrs. Adriana Miron, PhD, museographer, worked closely with the artists in fine tuning exhibition details.

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The concept of social machine was developed in the two small rooms, dealing with both noise and silence and how these two interact with humans, how they affect them. Two innovative installations were designed, and are now available for the public of the Revive exhibition. 

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Friday was the day for solving the last details in terms of displaying technique and of course the day of the big opening, which took place in the afternoon, starting with 16.30. Guests, young artists, students of local art school, local artists from the different communities and project staff, everybody celebrated the opening of the REVIVE Multicultural Center, formed of the Social Hub, the Educational/ Performance space and the Exhibition/ Audience area.

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But, before that, in the morning (9 to 11.00) and early afternoon (14.30 to 16.30), there took place the Steering Committee sessions discussing administrative matters related to the project progress.

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On Friday 23 May, between 11 and 12.30 the conference “Together for Resilient Communities: People and Heritage” also took place in the “Ștefan Procopu” Room with the participation of: Mateja Hafner Dolenc, President of the Association of Historic Towns of Slovenia, prof. Cristian Ungureanu, vice-rector of the ”George Enescu” National Arts University of Iași, and prof. Adrian Stoleriu, dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Ioan Iațcu, PhD, museographer within Moldavia’s History Museum, Mrs. Astrid Agachi, President of the German Democratic Forum of Iași, Mr. Victor Hrihorciuc, President of the Ukrainians’ Community of Iași, Friedrick Kluska, President of the ”Don Polski” Polish Community of Iași. The event was moderated by Coralia Costaș, PhD, Head of Cultural Mediation Department, and Lăcrămioara Stratulat, PhD, General Deputy Director of ”Moldova” National Museum Complex of Iași. The event was presented on the channel Iași branch of the national television (TVR Iași), whose team also discussed with the young artists involved in fine tuning the last details.

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Finally the afternoon came, with a lot of emotions. It was the opportunity to present to the public what we have all been working on for two weeks. The project and the exhibition were introduced by Mateja Hafner Dolenč and Coralia Costaș, while invited speakers were Mr. Bobi Apăvăloaei, Director of the Director for Culture of Iași County, and Mrs. Maria Bilașevschi, PhD, President of the Romanian Union of Fine Artists, Iași Branch. There followed artistic performances given by Bader Maria and Holera Adrian, singer and piano player of the Palestinian and Rroma communities of Iași, volunteers of the ProRoma Association of Iași, dancers of the Veselka group of Ukrainians Association of Iași, pupils of the ”Octav Băncilă” Highschool of Iași. 

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Saturday was of course the day for the evaluation and goodbyes. 

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The two-week REVIVE experiment of Iași was the chance for intensive interactions with various representatives of historical and recent minorities, but also between young artists and accomplished professionals, enabling the passing on of knowledge and shaping the specialists of tomorrow.