“Youth participation in democratic life is about individual young people and groups of young people having the right, the means, the space, the opportunity and, where necessary, the support to freely express their views, contribute to and influence societal decision making on matters affecting them, and be active within the democratic and civic life of our communities.”
[EU Youth Participation Strategy]
Highly motivated mentors, enthusiastic young participants, and a city where inspiration awaits in everything seen [and unseen], were the elements of our workshops’ success. Designed to engage, connect, and empower ARTiculate’s workshops in creative writing, ceramic art, and the visual arts provided an alternative platform for our young participants from the University of Granada and Room for Art to express their views on matters affecting them.
During the creative writing workshops, under the mentorship of Erato Ioannou and Christos R. Tsiailis, young participants elaborated on their own understanding of their relationships with the world, reclaimed their voice, and articulated these insights through fiction, poetry, and memoir.
Under the guidance of Souzana Petri, participants familiarized themselves with the tactile experience of working with clay—their minds and bodies enveloped in the world of creativity end empowerment drawn from turning an amorphous mass into a work of art.
Marina Zervou introduced our young participants to the liberating world of fanzines. They were immersed in a “free play” of art where found and made images were combined with the written word without bias and judgment.
