Discover Your Identity

Since its founding—and especially since 2011—Group “Let’s…” has been engaged with questions of identity, working with various vulnerable groups (LGBT, war veterans, persons with disabilities, youth from rural areas…) through different programs and methodological formats. All programs aimed to empower young people, to help them discover their own identity through socializing and learning, and to define identity in terms of religion, culture, tradition, and literature. Additional goals included deepening the understanding of stereotypes and prejudices by raising awareness of the various aspects of personal, social, cultural, and religious identity, as well as promoting intercultural learning.

Throughout the implementation of the program, participants had the opportunity to learn techniques for creating short films and performances and to present their topics to an audience in the form of final presentations. The knowledge they gained helped them build confidence and apply these techniques in their local communities.

As part of the “Off Frame” festival, a variety of activities focusing on identity were carried out. One such activity was the multi-day workshop “My Wire – My Border,” which dealt with identity and personal boundaries (their nature, origin, form), as well as global boundaries—economic, political, territorial, and social (their function and power). Participants had the opportunity to explore their identity and boundaries, how these boundaries connect with the wires/boundaries of others, what meaning they hold, their nature, how to transform dividing wires into connecting ones, whether their wire is a cage or a personal asset, where the wire stops being private and becomes “public property,” and how we perceive the wires/boundaries others are facing at this moment.

One approach to exploring identity (e.g., in the programs “The Book Makes It Visible”, “Writing Instead of Fighting“) was based on analyzing literary works, reexamining values such as intercultural understanding, the strength of the individual in society, overcoming alienation, understanding value systems and how they evolve over time, the European individual’s struggle against forces resisting cultural and moral progress, the position of women in society, and issues of democracy.

As part of the same program, in 2012 Group “Let’s…” began organizing National Trainings for Living Library Organizers, in partnership with the Council of Europe and the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality. To date, more than fifteen trainings have been held, resulting in numerous Living Libraries implemented across Serbia.

The Living Library works just like a real library, where readers come to borrow a “book” for a certain period. The difference is that the books in the Living Library are people, and both books and readers can engage in real dialogue. These books are people who represent groups that are often targets of stereotypes and prejudice and are frequently victims of discrimination, bias, and social exclusion. In this library, books can speak, answer readers’ questions, and even ask questions themselves and learn in return.

The idea behind the National Training is to bring together a new generation of Living Library organizers in Serbia who will join the existing network formed in 2012. This network ensures quality and cooperation between civil society organizations and institutions involved in the project, as well as stronger impact at the community level. The goal is to train as many organizers as possible to implement Living Libraries with high quality and in accordance with the principles and values behind this project: human rights, diversity, and intercultural dialogue. The strength of the Living Library lies in the people—Books, Organizers, and Volunteers—and participants in the training have the opportunity to experience all roles and steps in the process firsthand.

The main objective of this training is to introduce and further develop the concept of the Living Library as a tool for promoting human rights to the wider public in Serbia.