On 12 December 12, Ziedoņa klase – Ziedonis Class – the educational direction of Imants Ziedonis Foundation Viegli (Lightly) visited forms 9a and 9b of Smiltene Secondary School. Implementing the European Economic Area project, Ziedonis Class explored the thoughts of young people about contemporary art and culture, and sought answers to various questions about the best ways to acquire knowledge about this topic.

The team of Ziedonis Class, the artist Luīze Rukšāne and the expert in working with youth Artūrs Jenots visited the school. Luīze and Artūrs led creative workshops for the pupils of the ninth form to understand the current expectations and needs of young people regarding contemporary art and culture. The artist Luize Rukšane, whose large-format mural Par atcerēšanos/On Remembering was unveiled on the wall of the Smiltene Culture Centre this autumn, created works of art together with the pupils, making collages from the current news headlines. In the creative workshop, Luīze introduced the participants to the current events in Latvia and the world, encouraged them to think about their collages, as well as outlined the historical origin of the collages, while Artūrs used various creative improvisation methods in discussion with the pupils about contemporary art and culture, as well as the ways of learning, finding out more about how the pupils would like to learn about this topic.

“We were delighted that the students we met at Smiltene Secondary School, whose number reached 50, were responsive and creative! I was greatly interested to observe the ideas which the students developed from the given eight news headlines during the session with Luīze Rukšāne. Our team gained an insight into what young people already know about contemporary art and culture, as well as what they would like to find out and experience. This will help us create cultural education classes suitable for this audience,” says the head of Ziedonis Class Elizabete Pavlovska.

It is planned that in 2023, creative workshops with pupils will be held in all those cities and towns of Latvia, where murals have been created as part of the European Economic Area project. Find out more about the project “Me, A Human Being in the World”, A Tool for Fostering Contemporary Culture Processes, which is supported by European Economic Area Financial Mechanism on the social networks of Ziedonis Class Facebook, Instagram and on the website www.ziedonaklase.lv.

Imants Ziedonis Foundation Viegli , Ziedoņa klase is implementing a project “Me, A Human Being in the World”, A Tool for Fostering Contemporary Culture Processes (project No. EEZ/2021/1/28) with the support of the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism for the period 2014–2020 programme Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Cultural Cooperation, awarded under the open call Support for the Creation of Professional Art and Cultural Products for Children and Youth.

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