ECO-ART

Creations from the waste

Eco-art is a young (it was established in September last year) and specific NGO from Skopje. The basic goal of this NGO is to improve the education in general, and especially in the field of environment, folklore and culture, as well as to offer education that cannot be gained in our educational institutions – management, marketing, and communication skills.

Eco-art introduced itself to the public for the first time with their ecologic workshop – their first project
-“The eco-workshop works with children up to 14. Wee have done training in five primary schools and in the special school for blind children “Dimitar Vlahov” in Skopje. We taught the children how to recycle paper and how to make cards and other items from recycled paper. At the same time, they learned a lot about the paper value, its use, and environmental protection”-says Mrs. Emilija Dubardzieva, Eco-art’s president.

The Eco-workshop is located in the Skopje settlement Taftalidze (near the students dormitory "Goce Delcev”) and it is a place where many children from that neighborhood come and spend their time in a very useful way. At the workshop they are taught how to make creations from the waste materials – plastic bottles, wood, textile, old paper, and through it, they learn about the values of nature and the need to protect the environment.

Eco-art has realized an interesting project; they established a group of artists-amateurs who work in keeping the traditional art, related to the folklore. They have done several souvenirs, which were exhibited on several exhibitions. The money from these exhibitions was given for humanitarian purposes. For the New Year, they have prepared packages for the displaced children from the regions of crises.
These exhibitions, as well as those with the creations from waste materials have attracted considerable attraction with the public. The last Eco-art sales exhibition was organized at Easter, that is on 5 May, in the churchyard of St. Archangel Michael in Avtokomanda, Skopje.

Eco-art receives finances from the Environmental Fund and from the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning and it also receives help from other DONORS (the German Caritas, CRS, MCIC). In the future they plan some new activities – participation at the International Royal Award Competition in Denmark with children drawings, the subject being the environment, an eco-camp in Ohrid, etc.

M. Ivanova