Santa’s Correspondence
Trainer: Mimi Pleșoianu, visual artist and MARe custodian
The holidays are coming, and little elf-artists are invited to a workshop in which we’ll create the brightest envelopes and letters for Santa, using pencils, markers, watercolors, and lots of glitter. At the beginning, children will explore the museum for inspiration: they will observe the colors and combinations used by Gorzo and understand how these give energy to a composition. Then, each child will create a cheerful and expressive letter, ready to catch Santa’s attention. In this workshop, children will learn: how to express their ideas through shapes, lines, and colors; how to create cheerful and colorful compositions; how to seek inspiration in contemporary artworks; interesting information about Dumitru Gorzo’s universe.
Paper Christmas Trees
Trainer: Izabela Axenie, visual artist and MARe custodian
In this winter workshop, children will draw inspiration from the energy of Dumitru Gorzo’s drawings to create unusual and personality-filled paper trees. After a short visit to the exhibition, where we observe the simple shapes and bold lines used by the artist, we move on to the practical part. Each child will build their own tree—funny, quirky, abstract, or expressive—using cutouts, repetitive lines, symbols, and surprising combinations. In the end, we will have a small fantastic forest created by the children themselves. In this workshop, children will transform simple shapes into expressive compositions; they will use repetition and playful lines to discover how much freedom and creativity can fit into a single sheet of paper.
Paper Flakes and Stars
Trainer: Izabela Axenie, visual artist and MARe custodian
We will begin the workshop with a short walk through the exhibition “Does Anyone Want to Be Me?” signed by Dumitru Gorzo, where we will observe how the artist uses clear, contrasting, and repetitive shapes to create strong and playful compositions. We will also get to know the imaginary characters that inhabit Gorzo’s world, such as “Goanga” or “Coconul.” In the practical part, we will cut flakes and stars from colored paper, inspired by the rhythm, energy, and simplicity of the shapes in Gorzo’s works. Thus, children will discover how they can use simple outlines and clever cutouts to create winter decorations full of personality. In this workshop, children will learn: how to draw and cut creative winter decorations; how to choose the right color palette for stars and flakes; how to find inspiration in contemporary artworks.
Christmas Characters
Trainer: Izabela Axenie, visual artist and MARe custodian
We begin the workshop with a short walk through the exhibition “Does Anyone Want to Be Me?” where we will observe together how the artist Dumitru Gorzo creates characters using simple forms, contrasts, and expressiveness. We will discuss how a face, a gesture, or a color can tell a story and how we can transform ideas into lively, expressive characters. In the practical part, children will create their own Christmas characters: angels, nutcrackers, Santa Claus, decorative candles, or any other character that appears in their imagination. We will use colored paper, markers, pencils, and simple cutting techniques so that each child can invent a unique character with details, expressions, and colors chosen by them. The workshop encourages imagination, storytelling, and the exploration of different shapes and symbols of the winter holidays. In this workshop, children: will give wings to their imagination through shapes and colors; will find inspiration in the festive spirit of the holidays; will learn interesting information about the art of Dumitru Gorzo; will practice their creativity and skills.
Adventures in Gorzolandia
Trainer: Maria Grigorescu, visual artist and MARe custodian
The workshop proposes an imaginary journey into the world of Dumitru Gorzo’s colorful characters. Children will imagine a comic strip in which they themselves are the main characters and experience adventures and encounters with the inhabitants of this new realm, Gorzolandia. They will have colored pencils and markers at their disposal. Throughout the workshop, children can draw inspiration from the exhibited works, and the concept of the exhibition “Does Anyone Want to Be Me?” signed by Dumitru Gorzo will be presented to them. In this workshop, children will learn: elements of artistic analysis, comic strip techniques, and basic storytelling concepts.
Wishboard: Dreams in Color
Trainer: Robert Boghiu, cultural mediator, head of Educational MARe
In the first part of the workshop, we will discover the expressive characters in the exhibition “Does Anyone Want to Be Me?”, observing shapes, gestures, and ideas that can spark children’s imagination. Then, each child will create their own wishboard using paper, magazines, colors, and cutouts, illustrating dreams, wishes, and things that make them happy. They will be encouraged to combine images and drawings into a personal and energetic composition. In this workshop, children will understand the important role that imagination and dreams play in the creative process; they will learn to observe, analyze, and interpret elements from an artwork; they will explore the connection between personal dreams and the creative process; they will understand how dreams can inspire and influence artistic creation.
