Young people just got a new meeting place in Lublin – Labirynt’s Basement (Piwnica Labiryntu). Refurbished and newly equipped, the venue is entering a new phase as it becomes a space for young people. It’s already an eight venue in Lublin to come about through the European Youth Capital 2023.
Labirynt’s Basement joins Lublin’s growing network of spaces dedicated to the youth and their activities. Among other contributors, we owe the opening of this revamped space to our partner – IKEA, which provided the furniture and equipment - said Krzysztof Żuk, Mayor of Lublin.
Located at 5 Popiełuszki St., in the Wieniawa District, Labirynt’s Basement is ran by the Equality March Association, a member of the Polish Prides Alliance. It will be open Tuesday to Sunday between noon and 7 p.m. Labirynt’s Basement provides steady access to psychological and legal support, social skills training and support group meetings. The Opening Day schedule includes a discussion about the situation, needs and future plans of young people in Lublin. 4–7 p.m. will be hangout and board game time. The following day (2 December) will feature a bag and T-shirt painting workshop (from 2 p.m.), and a karaoke party between 6 and 9 p.m.
We are proud and happy to see as many as eight youth spaces emerge in Lublin in such a short time. They form a network that drives diverse cooperation; it has already become a national and international success story. These youth places and projects are proof that Lublin is the European Youth Capital, addressing the diverse needs of young people - said Beata Stepaniuk-Kuśmierzak, the Deputy Mayor of Lublin for Culture, Sports and Participation, Mayor’s Plenipotentiary for the European Youth Capital.
One of the goals put forth in our application for the European Youth Capital title was to create open, non-commercial youth spaces that would provide a creative and free-flowing outlet for young people. The need for such places was confirmed by our youth policy studies. As well as being meeting places, these venues have the important task of providing psychological support, and this is what Labirynt's Basement does. The City is planning to arrange for regular free-of-charge psychological counselling in Lublin’s other youth spaces.
“Hej!” at 11 Peowiaków St. – opened in collaboration with IKEA as part of the “Youth Space” action within a bilateral initiative called “Youth for the City, City for the Youth – projects and initiatives to engage and act in the local communities, which benefits from the financial support from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through EEA Grants and Norway Grants. ReWir launched in early July 2023 under the guidance of the Cultural Felin Association. In September 2023, the Rury District got a new youth-meeting venue called Simply a Cool Place (Po prostu Fajne Miejsce), which operates under the guidance of the Bona Fides Association for Supporting Activity and the 5Medium Foundation.
Apart from “Hej!”, Śródmieście – as Lublin’s most youthfully vibrant district, driven by the numerous local universities – has a youth space called Prusa 2. It operates under the guidance of the Institute of Social Activation and Development in cooperation with the TRACH Foundation of Cultural Animators and Culture Makers. Also, this autumn saw the network expand to include the now four-year-old Base (Baza) from 88 Długa Str. and the Kosmos in Wieniawa, which operates under the guidance of the TEATRIKON Foundation for Creativity, Education and Youth Animation. Yesterday, on 30 November, the Culture Point (Punkt Kultury) from 21 Skibińskiej Str. joined the network. A total of over 10 thousand young people have visited these spaces so far.
The event is part of the Lublin European Youth Capital 2023 Summary Festival.
