The Tallers d’Oficis de Barcelona Activa are training and work programs aimed at young people between 18 and 29 years old where they are taught different trades. They have two modalities: that of the field of live entertainment and that of the environment.
Following the photographs that Isaura Marcos has shared in The Readers’ Photos of La Vanguardia, Montse Casas, teacher of the Floral Art Decoration specialty of the Barcelona Activa Tallers d’Oficis project, explains what the process of creation of the Christmas tree of the Pedralbes monastery and tells us about the activities dedicated to the environment.
They last one year divided into six months with a scholarship and six months with an active person training contract. This program is financed by the European Social Fund, by the Generalitat and by the City Council.
The young people who sign up for the program face the situations that most people encounter in the world of work, “it depends on each person, it depends on the moment they are living in,” explains Montse Casas, who points out: “The requirements to enter the program are young people who are between 18 and 29 years old who are unemployed and who are residents of Barcelona. “It is true that there are some priority neighborhoods depending on the unemployment rate in the area, but they are open to all of Barcelona,” the teacher details.
A group of participants in this workshop have set up the Christmas tree at the Pedralbes monastery for these holidays. “We have an agreement as a program that only allows us to work in public spaces and, when the opportunity to collaborate with the Barcelona Institute of Culture (ICUB) arises, we thought about setting up a Christmas tree,” recalls the teacher, “we think of colors with white, because being Pedralbes, the alba stone is the origin.”
“Historically the monastery was made with stones that were white, so the tones that we have put on the tree are white tones and in the garland we have added some lilac tones as well, because it is a monastery that is feminist,” he remarks, ” “It is a monastery that is based on three factors: meditation, feminism and culture.” So what we have done is a white one as a tribute to Pedralbes,” says the teacher.
The Pedralbes monastery has always been a feminine scene of power. According to the Barcelona City Council, for almost 700 years this site welcomed ladies of the high nobility and daughters of honest citizens within its walls.
These powerful women controlled the rich heritage of the monastery, exercised their power beyond the cloister and clearly marked the trajectory of the community.
The Pedralbes monastery that we see today is the work of all these women who left their mark throughout the centuries. That’s why it is said to be “a feminist monastery.”
“For us the meaning of this project is that it symbolizes the end of the course, because the workshop lasts a year, from January to December and we are almost at the end, it is an experience so that the hard-working students can demonstrate all their learning and the techniques they have learned this year and it is where they can show their design,” says Montse.
For the group of young workers who participated in assembling and decorating the tree, this action has meant a lot, since they have been preparing for this moment for a year and also finish their stage in these workshops that help train you and have a portfolio for your future opportunities. labor.
“It also provides visibility, all this work helps them to have a portfolio for their future work, making a tree in your house is not the same as doing it in the Pedralbes monastery, or in Montjuïc, where we have also done all the decoration from inside the castle,” remarks the teacher. “It gives them image and presence. We all win, us as an institution, and the young people because of the experience and everything that it entails,” she adds.
