BRIDGES - Living Atelier Zagreb

Zagreb is the capital for the integration of refugees and migrants in Croatia and is lucky to have an integration center like the Living Atelier. "Living" refers to a living organism that develops, communicates, adapts and shapes the environment. "Atelier" is a center of creation, experiment, comradeship and cooperation.

The Living Atelier works on two levels: On the one hand, with vulnerable groups in a created and safe environment, and on the other hand, with the local community, as in the Bazaar event.

In 2019 Living Atelier organised the third annual bazaar in a row. The 2019 edition was by far the most successful in terms of number of visitors, size of the event, art and crafts sold, and above all the intangible and qualitative aspects of community building. In particular, it included the members of the "No Borders" concerning women to women in the collective. The intensive announcement in the social media contributed significantly to the success.

The opportunity for women to participate not as service providers but as hosts, donors and participants contributed to developing a feeling of capacity to act, dignity and connection with the wider community. They were able to spend a lot of time together while serving drinks and snacks, exchanging ideas, improving their language skills and listening to different music.

The bazaar gave a wide variety of people the opportunity to come together, exchange ideas and strengthen the sense of community and belonging among the regular participants of the Living Atelier programs. The feeling of community building and connection was more pronounced as more people volunteered to be at the bazaar in several shifts and to do the various tasks. From setting up, serving drinks and snacks to new arrivals, ensuring sufficient seating, providing information about the art and craft products on display, to cleaning up and turning off at the end of the day.