Good stories are all around us, as is heritage, our inheritance, be it personal items passed on to us from our predecessors or the (tangible and intangible) heritage of past civilisations.

One of the ARTECH project’s key components is organising activities that spark children’s curiosity and appreciation of cultural heritage. Creation of Good Stories was conceived with this aim, and Gjirokastra Foundation organised two workshops, delivered on 18 May and 12 July 2021, that focused on subjects that might have special meaning for schoolchildren in Gjirokastra. These were: “Objects as Memory” and “Traditional costumes and local motifs”.

The children received the task of bringing an old or inherited object from their homes, and within a group activity they interpreted these objects, giving them meaning and context, realising how these objects can have special significance for them, being part of their personal or shared heritage.

The task of traditional costumes included receiving context and information from the master of costumes, followed by the sketching and painting of particular motifs.