On January 31, Ziedoņa klase – Ziedonis Class – the educational direction of Imants Ziedonis Foundation Viegli (Lightly) visited the 5th form pupils of Ādaži 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 creative workshop held at Ādaži Secondary School has been the third one of the series. The workshop tutors in this series include Artūrs Jenots, an expert in working with young people, and a young artist, this time – Ance Eikena.

In the workshop led by Artūrs Jenots, young people discussed what art was and what was specific to contemporary art, making it different. Artūrs used a variety of creative improvisation techniques to talk to the pupils about contemporary art and culture, as well as the ways in which younger pupils would like to learn about the subject. Young people recognized that it was of great importance that art could be explored and taught informally – without assessments or marks, creating a relaxed atmosphere in the learning process, making learning engaging for pupils.

The students also had the opportunity to meet the artist Ance Eikena, who created the mural Tādi kā radi/ Somewhat like relatives”on the wall of Ādaži Secondary School. The students asked the questions they were interested in about the work of art and, inspired by the themes depicted in the mural – the diversity of families, created their own works of art. Artist Ance Eikena also introduced the young people to various contemporary artists and their works. The task of the 5th form pupils was to draw their family as flowers, using watercolours. In the conversations after the practical activity, the young people admitted that during the workshop they overcame their fear of painting and realized how many different interpretations of art can be made, as well as how many different techniques can be used to create a work of art.

“Although the younger pupils cannot yet give an exact formulation of how they would like to learn contemporary art topics at school, this workshop was very instructive for us. The 5th form pupils of Ādaži Secondary School were very creative and open to artistic expression. Young people happily expressed their thoughts and emotions through art, painting portraits of their families as flowers with watercolours. We gained insight into what young people already knew about art, its various techniques, and culture, as well as what they would like to find out and experience,” said Elizabete Pavlovska, the head of Ziedonis Class.

It is planned that this year two more creative workshops with pupils will be held in Zemgale and Latgale – the towns, where murals will be created by young artists this spring 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 network profiles of Ziedoņa klase – Ziedonis Class on Facebook and Instagram.

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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