From the sheepfold to the hora!

From 22 to 27 September 2023, between 11:00 and 17:00, nine types of handicraft workshops will be organized in eight locations of the Open Air Museum in Dumbrava Sibiului. Among the workshops organised here are those of music and dance, pottery, ceramic firing, making wooden agricultural tools, making furniture for food preservation, archaeology and cultural animations (Jandarmul Rural). All this will be under the aegis of the cultural project Animate ASTRA!

"The Animate ASTRA! project sends a constructive message in the context of The European Year of Skills 2023, promoting craftsmen with indisputable practical and theoretical skills. Craftsmen and traditional crafts specific to each area represent directions for the development of sustainable cultural tourism", said Lucian Robu, Director of the Open Air Museum in Dumbrava Sibiului.

The re-enactment of the custom of the descent of sheep from mountain pastures  held in the Open Air Museum on 24 September from 12 noon, is accompanied by music and good cheer. The show will be presented by Traian Stoiță, supported by the Traditional Romanian Music Group "Junii", the Folk Ensemble "Purtata Secașelor", Daniela Carmen Popa, Sebastian Stan, Murdășan Codrin, Popescu Gabriel, Răulea Adrian Vasile, Folk Group "Doruri sibiene", Izabela Tomița, Folk Ensemble "Ceata Junilor", Traian Stoiță, Fanfare Neppendorfer Blaskapelle, Folk Group Nunta Ciobănească Rășinari and Fluierașii din Boița.

From 22-27 September 2023, from 11.00 to 17.00, the following workshops will take place:      

• music and dance, 24 September, the sheepfold from Rășinari , 12.00, Country fair from 13.00
• pottery and making of ceramic utilitarian objects / clay firing methods at the potters' households from Obârșa (Hunedoara county) 22 - 23 September and Găleșoaia (Gorj county), 22 - 24 September.
• Making household and agricultural tools used in the urban garden in the Apuseni Grove, 23 September.
• Making archaic furniture for food preservation, 24 September, Country Fair.
• cultural animations/scenarios illustrating important characters from the rural world during the 19th-20th centuries, the rural policeman, on 24 September, the Pavilion from Jina (Sibiu county)
• Experimental archaeology in the Metalworking sector, 22 - 23 September (textile yarn processing, 22 - 27 September pottery, leather crafting, woodworking).

Sunday 24 September 2023, starting at 12.00 noon, in the Jina play pavilion area, the rural policeman, the head of the post at the beginning of the 20th century, in a replica of a period uniform, will reappear to restore order among the shepherds who recently descended from the mountains with their sheep. The shepherds,started talking and drinking in the village at the hora, happy to see their family and their lovers. The postmaster must have been well acquainted with the village and its inhabitants.

Experimental archaeology workshops supported by the Castra Barbarorum Association is a programme dedicated to the communication of archaeological heritage, through the illustration of workshops of historical re-enactments of ancient crafts: pottery, processing of textile irons, leather crafting, woodworking.

More details in the blog post.

The cultural project Animate ASTRA is co-funded by the Municipality of Sibiu through the Cultural Agenda 2023. Thus, Sibiu City Hall supports programmes dedicated to communicating the communities' heritage and craft values.