Welcome to this page where we call out for your support in proceeding with our project.
Please read on and see what it is ail about.

Atelier Janja Gora Crowd funding 

Funding international ceramics center project

For more than 10 years we have been building our international ceramics center literally stone by stone, making a small but great progress every year. We managed to rebuild the house torn in the Croatian war, build the atelier and gathering space, build the great janjagama anagama. Meanwhile, thanks to great help and support of our good friend Lou Smedts, we came in touch with many ceramists around the world and became what the name says, ‘international’. We love it!!! Our home has become a meeting point for an abundance of the most different beautiful people, sharing their life experience and knowledge, enjoying the energy of the spot.

We want to build on.
We have entered a new phase of our development and want to invite you to help and support our vision.

Here is what we want to do:

We want to finish the infrastructure of our center and move on with our art and development projects.
We want to build a few small  ‘organic’ houses 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 type of natural building, offering at the very beginning of their existence 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 sort of camping bathroom with a few toilettes, showers and a big basin to wash and clean. Warm water will be provided by the rocket stove heater. To make the story complete, we want to finish the exhibition gallery as well, and prepare everything for the sculpture garden. Some of the elements of the garden will be a bridge over our temporary river, resting and chill out spots, playgrounds for children made of clay and other natural materials as well.

The bigger picture

The wish to create a unique spot in this part of the world is not only a dream, but also has its practical and sustainable side and offers great potential in the future. We live in a post war area, with very poor economy and many actual and existent political problems. Any, even a small positive change is more than welcome to help us all live a better, richer life.

By realizing this project we will be able to organize workshops and lectures of national and international level. In the meantime, this cute ‘organic and artistic’ camping spot will attract visitors who are on their way to the famous National park Plitvice lakes to stay here, only 30 km away from the lakes, spend more time in the area and by doing so help the development of the whole area and its people. A great potential for employment and sustainable tourism. It will also bring creative jobs to our children, allowing them to stay here and not follow a great exodus of people in a search for a better and decent life elsewhere abroad.

Important notice

All of the building and planning will be done by our own hands and hands of the volunteers and friends of our atelier, open for the wide public including the local community. Everything will be done in the manner of sustainable building with locally available natural materials (stone, wood, straw and of course lot's 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 this was done up until now you can see on the pictures on our face book page.

Funding

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.

How can you help?

If you want to donate to our goal, please contact us by email: info@janjagora.com and we will send you the information on how to do it. Also, you can just click on the Pay Pall link on this page and donate. Any way you do it, will help us develop our project. Thank you.

In short

We are building a few small accommodation huts (chalets), sanitary infrastructure, gallery and educational sculpture garden/park. For all of that we need an amount of € 35000,-. But even if we don't reach that goal, we will still be able to build as it concerns a small units that can be built gradually, piece by piece. As they are built, they will immediately be put in the function and that way help in generating money for the next step.

Rewarding

As a token of our gratitude and appreciation for your gift, we would like to offer you thankful rewards for your donation. Please take a look at the table below for the idea. If you decide to make use of this offers, please let us know so that we can communicate the details with you. Also, if you would like to receive a present in a form of the unique ceramic art piece, just let us know and we will communicate with you about your wishes.

This campaign is a big test and challenge for us. Building hut's, chopping wood, carrying big, heavy stones, spending sleepless nights and days on the long trips, all off that is nothing compared with the effort to try to explain your dream, vision, moment, to sustain the spirit. I hope...