Funding our international ceramics center Atelje Janja Gora project

Hello friends!

Please take a minute to read this text and consider supporting us in achieving our goal.

 

Here is what we want to and need to do:

 

Finish our working and visitors space and shop

There are a few more steps before we can call ourselves completely ‘open’ to the public.

One of them is finishing the working and communal space, including a gallery for the artworks to be exhibited and sold. That includes tiles on the floor and a rocket mass heater made of sustainable materials for heating the place in the winter months, as well as a toilet/bathroom for our guests and visitors. Also, new doors and windows need to be placed to improve the insulation of the space. Lastly, some ground work needs to be done for the purpose of our sculpture park (parking space, walking paths, benches, etc.).

Some elements of our sculpture garden will be an artistic bridge over our (temporary) river, resting and chill out spots, spots for sky watching (there is no light pollution), playgrounds for children made of clay and other natural materials, all of it beautifully linked together by unique works of art displayed around the terrain.

Approximated amount needed € 20 000.-

And after that…  

We want to build a few small  organic huts and cabins so we can offer our guests a place to stay.

The houses will actually be a part of our sculpture garden, all built completely out of natural materials (wood, clay, stone, hay, sand) and materials made by ourselves and our friends. Every house will be an example of a different natural building technique, set up as a workshop, offering at the very beginning the opportunity to learn how to build with sustainable materials. The houses will radiate the traditional knowledge of ancient people brought together by our own hands, and all together they will form a kind of an artistic village.

Placed between the trees, on the edge of a meadow, all of them will become a part of nature itself, offering their inhabitants a direct connection with it, along with their unique shapes and sizes which will add the magic we so often forget exists in this magnificent world.
The houses will all have a small solar unit to load phones, cameras, laptops and use other small appliances. For sanitary needs we plan to build a  camping bathroom with toilets and showers as mentioned above. Warm water will be provided by the rocket stove heater. The initial plan is to build 2 cabins for 4 people to stay (each).

Approximated amount needed € 15 000.-. 

 

Costs of logistics, technical support, tools, transport and organization: € 10 000,-

 

Al together we need about € 45 000,- to get the work done. So, let's do it!

 

Funding

In the past years  we have become pioneers of many things in our area - being the first artistic center in a wide area, building the first anagama (wood fire kiln for ceramics) in an even wider area, being the first to organize international workshops and to participate in international exhibitions. Right now, the first ever touristic map of our region will see the light of day, including all the lovable and special places we have to offer.

Practically at the door of the Plitvice Lakes, with nature as beautiful and yet untouched by millions of visitors, still as powerful as it has been for eons.

Our intention with this project is to set up a cultural center as a model of non-invasive tourism, where the visitors come and enjoy their stay without having any negative impact on nature and the community itself, but by instead immersing themselves into our world in way of exchange and respect. We know for sure that lots of people travel to enrich themselves completely delving into the place and culture they visit.

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To make it all happen, before we grow old collecting the bits and putting it together, we decided to start this crowd-funding campaign and call upon our friends all around the globe to support us in achieving this goal.

As with any crowd-funding, we would like to offer rewards for all of you that participate in this project and we bid you our most heartfelt thanks.
 

Summary

To be able to continue our work we need some extra investment. We are building 2 small, natural accommodation huts (chalets), a sanitary infrastructure, visitors space, a gallery+shop and an educational sculpture garden/park dedicated to water. For all that we need an amount of approx. € 45000,-. But even if we don't reach that goal, we will still be able to build some of it as it concerns many small units that can be built gradually, one by one. As they are built, they will immediately be put in function and that way help in generating money for the next step.

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How to do it?

Use the form on the top of the page or in the table below click on the link next to the reward of your choice. Please leave your email address so that we can contact you and arrange the details of sending you your reward, etc.

You can transfer money directly to our bank account in Croatia or use PayPal link. Don't forget to mention that it is a donation, so that PayPal does not take its 'share'.

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Important notice:

All of the building and planning will be done by our own hands and the hands of volunteers and friends of our atelier, open for the wide public including our local community. Everything will be done in the manner of sustainable building with locally available natural materials (stone, wood, straw and of course lots and lots of clay).

That way, we want to share our experience and knowledge and want to encourage other people to do the same, helping to preserve and nourish our environment and by doing so, our lives. The whole process will be filmed and documented and will, as such, provide the learning materials for future builders. How we built until now can be seen on the pictures on our Facebook page.

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