Art Workshops in Częstochowa
September 02, 2022

On 26th August 2022, TSKŻ Częstochowa  invited children to a summer encounter with the Jewish culture during the “Warta Stop” Picnic hosted by Stare Miasto -Nowe Życie Partnership. The event was held under the patronage of the Mayor of the City of Częstochowa.

This was yet another edition of the Picnic which has been organised for the benefit of residents of Stare Miasto District.  More than 30 entities, including TSKŻ Częstochowa, took part in the event. All guests visiting our tent had an opportunity to discover their hidden talents and admire the beauty stemming from diversity and tolerance. Our workshop was titled ”Leehov migwanim –Enjoying the Diversity”.
The Art Workshops for Children were inspired by Janusz Korczak’s thoughts and statements and were conducted by Ms Jolanta Stanisz,
a workshop facilitator and Jewish culture enthusiast.

We prepared drawing books for children with quotations of Janusz Korczak’s thoughts, such as:

”I am not sure what brings people together: similarities or differences. I like one guy because he is similar to me, and another because he is different.”

Children were offered drawing books in order to illustrate their ideas of diversity in the world of people, plants and animals, by means
of drawings and writing, at the same time, learning the Hebrew definitions of specific components of our natural surroundings.

This year’s edition of the Picnic was combined with the publishing of a newspaper modelled upon a pre-war local press title “Goniec Częstochowski ” [Częstochowa’s Messenger] which described what was going on with all the partners, and presented some highlights from the history of Częstochowa. It was also an opportunity to underline the contribution the Jewish community of Częstochowa to the city’s past and present development.

The art workshops gave their participants an opportunity to explore the differences among people and cultures which surround us, and allowed to see in what language the Torah and the Bible were written. Our facilitator presented her own cut-out work titled “Noah’s Ark”. Learning the spelling of names and simple words in the Hebrew alphabet turned out to be very popular both among youngsters and adults.