Graffiti Wall Project at the European Youth Week
Photos by the talented Iris Haidau
Back in April, I was invited by the great team at Cecoforma to the European Parliament to facilitate a graffiti wall / collaborative mural activity during the European Youth week. The idea was to give a voice to young people and let them share what is most important to them in the current moment, two months before the European elections. It was fun to see them engage with the two-sided graffiti wall, share their ideas and connect with one another at this great event.
Here is how the mural came to be:
Step 1: Creating the anchoring visuals
We knew that we wanted to have something on the wall before the young people start drawing to anchor them to the event, so I came up with two drafts, one for each side of the graffiti wall. The illustrated characters wanted to convey that the voice of young people matters a lot, and that it’s important that hey express their views because that is how change happens. The visuals were general enough so that people were not constrained by them, instead the point was to make them an inspiring starting point.
Step 2: Preparing the graffiti wall
At the event, while the participants were in plenary sessions, the event team built up the graffiti wall in the middle of the marketplace area, and once they were finished, I started drawing the illustrations on the two sides of the wall. I got some help from the exhibitors hanging around, which was quite handy as the walls were big, but together we were able to finish just on time.
Step 3: Facilitation of the graffiti wall activity
After that, it was time for the young people to make their mark. It was really great to see some ideas that were repeating themselves and also the many different perspectives that were inside this group of participants from all over Europe. The resulting graffitis were not just an engaging creative activity for the participants, but also great symbols of all the different voices coming together and elevating each other.
If you are interested in having a similarly engaging creative team activity at your event, feel free to reach out.