At Workshop I Cincu, we were reminded of an important lesson: valuable results are achieved through hard work, patience and perseverance at every stage of the process. There are no shortcuts that can replace the full experience and satisfaction of creating something with your own hands.
This was clearly demonstrated by the workshop participants, determined and ambitious, who worked with great dedication under the attentive guidance of Alex Herberth, a craftsman with more than 25 years of experience, carpenter and conservator-restorer, and coordinator of KraftMade Research & Lab in Cincu, Transylvania.
From the precisely split log to shaping it with the broad axe, smoothing it with the adze and finishing it with the hand plane, participants went through every stage of the process and truly put their hands to work. In the end, they left not only with a few hard-earned blisters, but also with the much-desired chopping board they had crafted themselves.
United by their passion for heritage and the craft of woodworking, the participants successfully completed all stages of the workshop and discovered, step by step, how much patience, precision and skill lie behind an apparently simple object.
The programme continued with a meal lovingly prepared by Brighitte Boghean and served on the veranda of the parish house, accompanied by stories about the fascinating identity and history of the building. After a short break, participants explored the Evangelical Church in Cincu during a guided tour led by Brighitte, who shared stories about the history of the church and the community, about past and present, about people and places. What stories they were!
Before saying our goodbyes, we enjoyed homemade cake and aromatic tea made from local herbs, sharing a quiet moment to reflect on the experience we had lived together.
We will now let the images speak for themselves and continue telling the story of Workshop I Cincu.
Our thanks go to the participants for their enthusiasm, commitment and perseverance, to Alex Herberth for the patience, expertise and passion with which he guided us through the secrets of woodworking, and to Brighitte Boghean for her hospitality, the lovingly prepared food and the stories she shared about the community and the church in Cincu.
We would also like to thank the KraftMade Research & Lab team (Alex and Marlen Herberth) for their openness in sharing their knowledge and experience with us and for making this rich and, we hope, memorable experience possible.
In the end, one of the participants, Samaya, perhaps captured the spirit of Workshop I Cincu best:
“Thank you! It was a fantastic workshop! Good for the soul! Wonderful people, food even better than at my mother’s home 😁, and an unforgettable experience!”
Photos: Gabriela Cuzepan
