Pressclip: Help out and have fun – volunteer opportunities in Croatia

Tekst: Filip Šrajer
Photo: Paweł Jaroszewski, Filip Bubalo (drone)

Praćena uobičajeno lijepim ranorujanskim vremenom, od 1. do 10.9.2022. u Starogradskom polju na otoku Hvaru održana je druga po redu volonterska suhozidna radionica, dio svjetskog programa World Heritage Volunteers – Volonteri za svjetsku baštinu.

Followed by the usually fair early September’s weather, second annual dry-stone volunteer workshop was held in Stari Grad Plain on Hvar island from 1st till 10th of September 2022, as a part of World Heritage Volunteers program. 

Starogradsko polje je od 2008. godine kao kulturni krajolik upisano na UNESCO-ov Popis svjetske baštine, a gomile, kako suhozide nazivaju na Hvaru, su u temelju njegovog fenomena, jer ne samo da se kroz njih ocrtava najbolje očuvana starogrčka parcelacija na svijetu, već predstavljaju i zaklon, ogradu i deponij viška kamena u najmanje 2400 godina staroj tradiciji uzgoja mediteranskih kultura na najvećem polju na jadranskim otocima. Kako se i umijeće suhozidne gradnje nalazi na UNESCO-ovom Reprezentativnom popisu nematerijalnih kulturnih dobara , može se reći da je ova radionica vrlo izravno spojila dva kulturna dobra zaštićena na najvišoj razini, i to krajolik, i umijeće koje je taj krajolik stvorilo.

Stari Grad Plain has been inscribed as a cultural landscape on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2008, and “gomile”, as they call the dry-stone walls on Hvar, are in the core of its phenomenon, not only because their layout makes the best preserved Ancient Greek land division in the world, but also because they represent the shelter, boundary and the depot of excess stone material in – at least – 2400 year old tradition of Mediterranean agriculture in Stari Grad Plain, the biggest field on the Adriatic islands. Since the art of dry-stone walling has been on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2018, it can be said that this workshop brought closely together two cultural goods protected on the highest level: a landscape and an art (technique, skill, trade or however you put it) that created that landscape.  

Volonteri su ove godine pristigli iz Poljske, Engleske, Makedonije i Hrvatske: Pawel, Jennifer, Kire, Laura, Filip, Nika i Xavier, 7 ljudi raznih dobi i struka, uglavnom mlađi od 30 godina, uglavnom bez ikakvog iskustva u suhozidnoj gradnji. Radionicu je vodio Filip Šrajer iz udruge 4 GRADA DRAGODID, domaćin Vinko Tarbušković, ravnatelj Agencije za upravljanje Starogradskim poljem vrijedno je radio s volonterima cijelo vrijeme radionice, a sličnu volontersko-organizatorsku ulogu imao je i Bruno Diklić, voditelj Odjela za graditeljsku baštinu i krajolik u Ministarstvu kulture i medija. Jedan, odnosno dva dana s nama su radili i Davor Trupković, glavni hrvatski konzervator, i Rut Carek, voditeljica Hrvatskog povjerenstva za UNESCO, ujedno i formalna organizatorica cijelog događaja, tako da je u jednom trenutku naša mala radionica nalikovala na team building važnih kulturnjaka.

This year, volunteers came from Poland, England, Macedonia and Croatia: Pawel, Jennifer, Kire, Laura, Filip, Nika and Xavier, 7 people of different age and profession, mostly under 30, mostly without any prior experience in dry-stone walling. Tutor was Filip Šrajer of 4 grada Dragodid association; Vinko Trbušković, director of Agency for Stari Grad Plain Management, and Bruno Diklić, Head of the Department for Architectural Heritage and Landscape in the Ministry of Culture, were working diligently with the volunteers all the time. One and two days respectively, we were accompanied by Davor Trupković, Croatian Chief Conservator, and Rut Carek, Head of Office / Secretary General of the Croatian Commission for UNESCO, also the main organizer of the event, so in one moment the workshop looked like a team building of Croatian cultural heritage administration VIP’s.  

Od osam dana efektivnog trajanja događaja, pet dana bilo je posvećeno gradnji suhozida, jedan dan berbi grožđa a dva dana i još poneko popodne predavanjima i obilascima kulturne baštine i muzeja otoka Hvara. Bez obzira na dob i profesionalni status, u gradnji su svi pomagali jedni drugima i dijelili muku i radost rada s kamenom. Ukupno je iz temelja rekonstriorano 60 m niskog ogradnog suhozida uz glavnu cestu kroz Polje. Suhozid je građen uduplo, visine 50 i širine 50-70 cm (s obilježjima potrprnog zida, jer je cesta nešto viša od okolnih parcela). Prva dva dana zid je građen nešto šire, što je fizički zahtjevnije, ali manje zahtjevno glede vještine. Ukupnu količinu materijala voditelj je procijenio na 33 t, što znači da je svaki od sudionika preko svojih ruku i leđa u prosjeku prebacio oko 4 tone kamena! Sve u svemu je i kvalitetom i kvantitetom rezultat bio jako dobar za ljude koji dolaze iz gradova i većina ih se prvi put susrela s gradnjim suhozida.

Na kraju su svi bili dosta zadovoljni, na rastanku čak i pomalo sentimentalni, a neki su najavili prijavu na buduće suhozidne radionice. Vidimo se u Starogradskom polju sljedeće godine!

Out of eight workshop’s effective days, five days were dedicated to walling, one day to grape harvest, and two days and few more afternoons to lectures and visiting the Hvar’s cultural heritage sites and museums. Regardless of age and professional status, everyone helped each other and shared the pain and joy of working with stone. Sixty meters of the boundary wall along the main route through the field was completely restored. It was a 50 cm high and 50-70 cm wide double wall (with the elements of retaining wall, since the road is higher than the field). In the first two days, the wall was deliberately set a little bit wider, what is more demanding workwise but easier skillwise. Tutor estimated the total weight of embedded material to 33t, what means that every participant slung about 4t of stone in average. In the end, the result was very good, quantitatively and qualitatively, for the people of urban background with no prior experience in walling.

Everyone was pretty satisfied in the end, even a bit sentimental at the farewell, and some announced their application for the future stone workshop(s). See you on the Stari Grad Plain next year!

Tekst: Filip Šrajer Photo: Paweł Jaroszewski, Filip Bubalo (drone) Praćena uobičajeno lijepim ranorujanskim vremenom, od 1. do 10.9.2022. u Starogradskom polju na otoku Hvaru održana je druga po redu volonterska suhozidna radionica, dio svjetskog programa World Heritage Volunteers – Volonteri za svjetsku baštinu. Followed by the usually fair early September’s weather, second annual dry-stone volunteer workshop […]

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