The Veggera Project: A Feminist Intergenerational Initiative in a Cretan Village
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The project’s name is inspired by the old tradition of late evening gatherings with women in the villages, called veggeras. “Veggeras” provided the opportunity to the women to converse, share their knowledge and expertise.
The participants of the project will be Zooming in live from the village of Eleutherna- Rethymno, Crete Greece for a “Veggera”, an event hosted by Panorama Traditional Tavern.
Veggera Project Team speak about their experiences and pass on from one generation to the next this knowledge, building a sense of belonging. Despite its importance for the womens’ community, the veggera is mostly a thing of the past. The “Veggera Project” engages women living in rural areas in Crete with issues concerning gender equality and stereotypes. It aspires to create a strong supportive community among women in the village, contribute to the tightening of bonds between them and reveal their potential. It empowers women through a participatory and entertaining process via a series of workshops of intergenerational exchange, where the content of the workshop is formulated by the participants based on their ideas and knowledge. At the same time, the Veggera Project treasures the life narratives of these women, thus witnessing the transformation in the rural society and the life of women. In the presentation we will describe our methods, the reception of the project from the village community, and we will show some results and discuss possible actions for the continuation and expansion of the project.
Presenter Bio
The “Veggera” event at Eleutherna village is hosted by Peter Nikoloudakis, Tourism Manager and Business Hosting at the Panorama: Social event hall Greek Restaurant and supported by The Aegean Foundation of Anthropology.
Irini Ampoumogli is an actress with an MA in Stage Directing. Her interest and activism in intersectional feminisms and social inequalities also led her to attend an MA in Sociology (University of Crete). She is member of the Centre for the Study of Gender and collaborator of the Gender Equality Committee of the University of Crete on issues regarding gender violence and sexual harassment. In collaboration with several theatres and institutions (Hellenic Network of Theatre in Education, Centre for the Study of Gender et.al) Irini has used her experience and academic background to participate in and create performances and educational programs to raise awareness against racism and gender stereotypes for youths and adults. In 2019 she received a scholarship from the Robert Bosch Foundation to create the Veggera Project and learn more about the lives of women in small traditional communities of Crete, Greece.
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