Host Entrepreneur-Young Entrepreneur Exchange : March 2017

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Helena wrote....

The exchange between Marta Pokojowczyk (NE) and Helena Loermans (HE) in the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme is coming to an end.

Here the story of my experience :

' keeping a company is a creative endeavour that can nourish the soul; it is the best way of controlling your own destiny and changing the world of creating jobs and upsetting the status quo...' ( Richard Reed, Financial Times) 2012

This quote in the newspaper has accompanied me in the last years and has been one of the reasons to participate in the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme.

Sharing both my knowledge as well as the equipment in my workshop with enthusiastic young people has given a very positive boost to the place.

The fact that we as host entrepreneur are not obliged to spend a lot of time to enter the programme and to write big reports about whats happening helps a lot to keep us focussed to the main point in the exchange.

When I received the request from Marta Pokojowczyk and looked at her website I immediately got impressed and felt that there was a good chance that we could have a successful exchange. The artistically view in her pictures, the impressive paintings and the experience with rough textile and stitching together with her experience of working abroad her home country made me decide to start to work together.

We have been focussed on hand weaving , from the theoretic and practical part of the basics to explore the knowledge by finally creating new complex textures to weave hemp and linen canvas.

The first thing I ask a young entrepreneur to do is to make a blog and Facebook, or other social media, business page about the exchange from the first moment onwards.

It not only obliges us to register visually the process, it also can be the start of showing your ideas/business to the world. We are on the 4th album ! (here a link from when we started https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a. 10203519971858168.1073741930.1180376163&type=1&l =28b880a3a5 album 1)

In the exchange between Marta Pokojowczyk and myself there has been a very strong thread to connect craft and art, I say connect because I truly believe that by distinguishing art and craft one creates borders that stop the flow of creativity.

Working with a young entrepreneur being an Art Historian and Painter (University of Wroclaw, Academy of Art and Design) has given me not only a deeper knowledge of art and looking at art but has also stimulated me to have a new look at light.

Marta’s pictures are beautiful which also enriches strongly my own web and Facebook page. Beside that there has been a substantial participation in the atelier’s production.

In the exchange we started to work out the idea of connecting weaving and painting by weaving ones own canvas.

Hemp weavers has started and we count on the first exhibition by Marta Pokojowczyk in Wroclaw in March where the first results will be shown.

Hemp weavers is ment to continue to exist, the format we think of now is Hempweaver Marta Pokojowczyk in Wroclaw and Hempwever Helena Loermans in Odemira, both our own business but connected by the theme and name.

A lesson I have learned in the exchanges is a new way of mathematical counting: 1+1=3 ;)

Helena Loermans

Marta wrote....

Exchange in Odemira between me and Helena Loermans through the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs Programme; text by Marta Pokojowczyk.

I’ve heard about the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs Programme from a friend. I decided to participate in the project because I’ve found in it an opportunity to gain knowledge of how to run your own company and how generally to start your own business.

I’m interested to transfer my ideas into a textile craft which is connected with activities I’m exploring now in the painting field and Helena Loermans was one of the first Host Entrepreneur I saw on the web page from arts & crafts field in Portugal. When I looked in Helena’s profile I saw a beautiful movie from Odemira beginning with textiles hanging around with letters sewed on it. I saw the sun and beautiful site specific installations on a field which impressed me immediately; timeless music as a background. Then, a very kind person was talking about ‘her’ art. We begun a nice e – mail conversation which gave me kind of secure background that I may cooperate with a very nice, open minded person. But I really couldn’t predict that this exchange would have an influence on so many levels: craft, artistic, personal and business one. To be honest, it was a challenge for me to come to Odemira... Since now, I’ve achieved things, which I hadn’t expected before coming here. Besides I have my own tempo, my Host showed me that sharing your activities with the audience is an obligatory thing when you just want to live from what you are doing.

For five months I’ve learned the basics of the craft and got familiar with 12 and 24 shafts looms. Besides realising my own projects I’ve participated in the production for Helena’s collections.

I’ve started a blog which I treat as my digital diary and also my visit card. We have also started Hempweavers – a project which is settled between two disciplines: weaving and painting. We create handwoven hemp / linen canvasses with different textures and colours. Hempweavers is a beautiful idea which is close to my interests and stream of my activities. We are planning to continue this subject after the official deadline of the exchange.

Helena showed me that making borders between disciplines is just uncomfortable and to tight for being free. What’s more, my Host repeats that there is no reason to wait until you start your company because you will never be 100 % sure if this is the right moment; actually always can be the right moment.