Under the motto "Don't worry, be artsy," the youth advisory board of the wannseeFORUM foundation independently organized a seminar by young people for young people. From May 22nd to 25th, 2026, young people from all over Berlin were able to come together to address their concerns.
On Friday, participants from all over Berlin, along with some members of the youth advisory board, gathered. The seminar began with introductions, an overview of the weekend, and a discussion of expectations and wishes. After dinner, there was a get-to-know-you session by the lake, where everyone had the opportunity to meet face-to-face and answer questions like "Which decade would you have liked to live in?" or "What is totally overrated?" The evening concluded with a relaxed game of Werewolf.
On Saturday morning, the day began with an introduction to the topic. Worries and hopes of young people. Several questions were asked: What exactly are worries? How can we distinguish between them? When are we allowed to say, "I can't change that"? And above all: What helps us deal with worries?
On Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, the topics and ideas discussed could then be artistically explored in the photography, painting, and creative writing workshops.
Photography took place over two days to provide an in-depth look at the medium. Participants learned how to use digital cameras and created photo series on self-selected subtopics. In painting, participants artistically represented their worries in individual exercises and then combined them in a group exercise to create a "worry space" in order to discover positive aspects within them.
In the creative writing workshop, participants collaboratively developed texts in various genres through diverse exercises. The result was poetry slams, poems, and entire book chapters.
Finally, all participants had time to exchange ideas in a barcamp or to unleash their creativity. In addition to baking workshops and test games, there was also the opportunity to participate in discussion rounds on topics such as "Creating safe spaces for FLINTA* people in a patriarchal society" or "Making politics accessible to everyone".
On Monday afternoon, there was a presentation showcasing all the results from the previous weekend, giving everyone the opportunity to present what they had developed in the workshops or barcamps. Finally, the Pentecost LAB was reflected upon and evaluated. Participants were given a final summary of how to deal with their own worries in a positive and productive way.
The youth advisory board thanks all participants for this successful and enjoyable Pentecost Lab. See you at the summer stage!
Seminar results
In the digital photography workshop, the participants created different, theme-based photo series, all of which reflect in their own way the concerns and how to deal with them.
The pictures taken during the workshop can be found here. here:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCWmiu
The painting workshop group has created artworks using various methods and approaches that represent and embody their concerns. You can see the resulting artworks. here see: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCWjiG
We would like to thank all participants, teachers and workshop leaders for a successful seminar.
