13 May 2016, High school of Woodworking – Ruse

On the invitation of the International Elias Canetti Society based in Ruse/Bulgaria, Alessandro Althaus, a young designer from Germany, held a workshop on the technique of stencil graffiti to local students in Ruse. The event was hosted by the Vocational School of Woodworking and Interior Architecture in Ruse.

Alessandro Althaus started the workshop off with a brief historical introduction to the art of graffiti on the whole and more specifically on the technique of stencil graffiti. Taking a couple of works from famous artists such as Banksy, L.E.T. and others as an example he showed the paramount possibilities and features of the comparatively young style. Afterwards the group started right away with sketching their first drafts and cutting and laminating the stencils. Alessandro put himself in the position of the trainer and provided the young artists with useful tricks and his immense inside knowledge.

The young participants, the youngest of whom are students at the Thomas Kardzhiev Elementary School in Ruse, quickly managed to produce results which impressed Althaus and other adult participants like high school teacher Tanya Paseva. After using the templates for printing T-shirts with the stencil graffiti technique the results were shown to the astonished parents in late afternoon of the same day. The event was held in cooperation with the German based Goethe-Institut Sofia.

Alessandro Althaus holds a degree in illustration from the University of Applied Sciences in Düsseldorf, where he also lives. He has been internationally recognized for his trademark large size graffiti works with impressive 3D effects.