Hosted on Saturday the 20th of May by ESN Twente – in collaboration with PPIE, ISA, ACSSE, UT Muslims, LaVoz, SUUT, IrNUT, Unicef Studentteam Enschede, Global Lounge, and Buddy – the Culture Festival offered an array of programs including dance, language, music, and fashion workshops, sports, culinary dishes, and the Guilty Global Pleasure party featuring international music.
Let’s eat!
Guests flocked to the Global Lounge at noon to get a taste of the local dishes provided by PPIE, ACSSE, and ISA, such as Indonesian cilok and Chinese dumplings. ‘We decided to serve dumplings because it’s a traditional spring festival food in China,’ explains Yunzhen, a member of ACSSE. With full stomachs, participants then joined the various workshops held throughout the Vrijhof and Bastille buildings.
Workshops showcasing various cultures
Each workshop was hosted by a different association and showcased their unique culture. Guests certainly had no difficulty finding an activity to suit their interests, thanks to the wide variety of workshops offered.
Persian and Chinese language workshops taught the fine art of speaking and writing these complex, eloquent languages; while the traditional Indonesian Angklung instrument workshop and the Dancehall, Latin, and Bollywood dance workshops showed participants how to express themselves to music.
Sustainable fashion
Bello & Eco, a sustainable fashion company, showcased their selection of garments and explained the importance of sustainability in the fashion industry. ‘Sustainable fashion is clothing that have been handmade from organic fibres,’ explains Carmen Lavier, owner of Bello & Eco.
‘None of the pieces of clothing shown here have been mass produced – they are all hand-woven by independent craftsmen from bio-degradable ingredients such as straw and alpaca fur, and dyed with natural herbs. It is important that we create a demand for sustainable clothing, as it supports not only the environment but also the ones who make it.’
Hijab workshop
UT Muslims proved that religion can also be fashionable during their hijab workshop, in which a woman demonstrated the many ways to wear a hijab. Participants were given vibrantly coloured head scarves with which they could try the styles on themselves. Niswatun Faria, member of UT Muslims, explains that their reason for hosting such a workshop is because students may be curious about why a significant number of women wear hijabs around campus.
‘In this workshop we show them what it looks and feels like to wear one, and how to put it on and style it,’ says Faria. ‘There’s actually a lot of misunderstanding about why we wear hijabs: many people still think we wear it because we are oppressed, but for us it’s our personal choice or just something we are used to. I, for instance, have been wearing a hijab since I was very young, and I would feel strange without one, as if I was naked. Hijabs are also a fashion statement, and there are even many fashion lines dedicated to head scarves.’
Rules of the game
After the workshops, participants moved to the volleyball fields for some spirited games of Bumper Ball, Beach Volleyball, Basketball, water balloon fights, and Kabaddi, a traditional Indian sport.
‘How it’s played is each team tries to cross into the other team’s territory and tag as many of their members as possible, without getting caught themselves,’ explains Varun Sudhakar, Indian-born bachelor student of Advanced Technology. ‘Playing Kabaddi today made me so happy, it really took me back to my childhood when I would play it after school in Mumbai.’
Guilty Global Pleasure party
As the sun sets, students relax outside on the grass while enjoying another round of international cuisines, including Shole Zard from IrNUT, Bruinebonen from SUUT, and Tamales from LaVoz. After a few hours’ rest from the activity-packed day, they gather their strength again and head to the Atrium for the Guilty Global Pleasure party, for a night of party songs from all across the globe.
