Loesje International Newsletter December 2013
Newsletter December 2013
News
International Congress
Loesje's Birthday Party
Sticking in the Red Light District
Series of the Month December
News
Normally Loesje looks ahead, but in this newsletter she also likes to look back a bit. She just had a fantastic birthday party and a cool congress were she met a lot of her international friends.
Of course there is some news as well. Summercamp 2014 will take place from the 26th of July till the 5th of August. The place is being discussed at the moment. Oh, there will be a forest.
International Congress:
Coffee. Milk. Shake. McDonalds. Scotsman. Baggypipes. Whining. Tears. Crying. Onions. Potatoes.
What is this? A shopping list? Ingredients for a magic spell? Or an account of a typical night out in Glasgow?
Answer: all of these things. Also, it is what is written in front of me on a piece of A4 paper, each word in different hand-writing. I'm in a Scout Hall in Nijmegen at a table with 16 other people from a range of different places in Europe. I look down. 3 of the words are circled: Scotsman, Whining and Crying. Is this my autobiography? No. I have to make a new story using as many of the words as I can.
We are doing a warm-up game, one familiar to Loesje members, to get us in the mood for this special poster-writing session. Loesje is turning 30 and we are here to celebrate at this International Congress (renamed the 'Happy Meeting with Alot of Drinks') - 2 days and 3 nights of creativity, sharing, potatoes, partying and posters.
We were all welcome at Loesje's school of freedom to offer and attend workshops across the 2 days. Day 1 of the International Congress was saw sessions on 'Pub Origami' (West meets East, shake hands, get drunk and fold paper) and the story behind the brilliant new Loesje murals in Warsaw. The second evening played host to the End Of The World party - featuring Dr Strangelove screening, radioactive tears, music, fancy dress, nuclear crying, dancing and apocalyptic whining. The chances that the International Congress would get to Day 2 were slim, at best.
However, following a detoxifying breakfast of coffee, milk, onions and more coffee, Day 2 of the gathering crawled into life. After the poster-writing and realising that the world hadn't actually ended, we had some workshops looking at transformation, and how to change the world around us. First, transforming our relationship to money and our actions around it, and secondly, sharing stories on how to transform conflict into peace. More coffee later and the creativity was starting to grow. Pens, papers and glue were deployed for making beautiful zines. In the other room, a performance was devised by the participants of the forum theatre workshop.
The final night was all about chips, suspicious fried blocks and roll play. All participants were given different characters from a psychiatric ward that they had to act out. After 3 days in the nuclear bunker Scout Hall, it was difficult to tell who was roll-playing and who was not.
As we walked out into the bright light of the next morning and the rest of the world, passing the posters we had put up through Nijmegen, we remembered today was Loesje's birthday and we had survived. It was good to be alive, more inspired and more connected, heading off to Arnhem and our different places of Europe.
This Scotsman would like to offer thanks and the joy of baggypipes to Ralph, Sandra, everyone who helped the organising and cooking, those that delivered and attended workshops and whoever brought the Slivovitz. Nice one.
Jonathan
Loesje's Birthday Party
Sticking posters in the Red Light District
Loesje International Series of the Month December
