Democracy Workshop: "When Art meets Ideas"

Von Anna Lauska

On June 10, the creative democracy workshop titled “When Art Meets Ideas” took place in Riga. The event was organized by the Country Office Latvia in cooperation with the Latvian youth organization Klubs Māja (Club “The House”) and YATA Latvia – a youth organization of the Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA) in Latvia. The venue was the House of the European Union.

The workshop brought together 14 young participants aged between 15 and 23 and was structured into three segments. It began with honoring the winners of the German essay competition held in March, followed by a round of energizing icebreaker games. Afterwards, together with Marta Rībele, the participants explored the fundamental principles of democracy in depth, reflecting on them through conversation and personal experience. A key part of this session involved discussing what democracy means to each individual.

The creative portion of the workshop encouraged participants to let their imagination run free. Each youth group created its own unique “visualization of democracy,” expressing how they personally perceive democratic values. This segment was led by Staņislavs Babins – an experienced trainer in non-formal education – who inspired the participants to experiment with colors, forms, and ideas.

The workshop had a clear and focused goal: to help young people develop a meaningful understanding of the often abstract principles of democracy, enabling them to grasp and artistically represent these values. Thanks to the workshop leaders’ professional guidance and the participants’ enthusiasm and commitment, this objective was successfully achieved.

The result? – Four vibrant, symbol-rich visualizations created through diverse and extensive group work. These artworks will be digitized and used as visual material for future conferences and events, such as the upcoming German-Baltic Conference in Riga this October. The pieces created by the young participants impressively reflected both the diversity of society and the individuality of each participant. At the same time, they powerfully conveyed that these differences are united by shared core principles of democracy and human rights. In this way, the workshop brought the European Union’s motto – “United in Diversity” – to life on a micro level. Through this workshop, the European Union’s motto “United in Diversity” was brought to life on a micro level.

The German-Baltic Future Foundation extends its sincere thanks to Club “The House”, YATA Latvia, Staņislavs Babins, and Marta Rībele for a successful and meaningful event – and is looking forward to continued collaboration!