LightLab Democracy: Europe's role in the world

"What We Still See – Between Image Overload, Overwhelm and Humanity"

The light and sound installation is a central component of the LightLab Democracy exhibition and forms its artistic core.
Three rooms in Kulturbunker Köln-Mülheim are transformed into immersive experiential spaces of light, colour and sound.

The installation traces historical and contemporary lines of injustice – from colonial violence and the genocide of the Herero and Nama to the ongoing urgency of human rights today. It reflects a world shaped by war, displacement, violence and disinformation, where suffering often passes before us as an unceasing stream of images.

At its heart lies the question: What happens to our humanity when we see everything – and yet become numb?

Between sensory overload and attention, the work creates spaces for pause and invites us to look again – and to understand attention as a conscious act of responsibility.

A few words from Edda Dietrich

In my journalistic and artistic work, I deal with the topics of democracy and human rights. The conception and implementation of films and animations, as well as the development of artistic actions on these topics, are among my main areas of work.

‘Democracy is more than a set of tools, more than a form of government; it is the opportunity for humanity to resonate with itself, to negotiate – and to decide how we want to live together in this world.’

Her work:

Edda Dietrich combines many years of journalistic experience with an independent artistic practice. After working as an editor for text and photography at the Meinerzhagener Zeitung and the Lüdenscheider Nachrichten, as well as a freelance public relations consultant in the Märkischer Kreis, she studied painting at the Alanus Kunstakademie in Alfter.

As a freelance journalist and visual storyteller in Berlin, she developed film and photographic formats for civil society organisations such as OMNIBUS für Direkte Demokratie gGmbH, Mehr Demokratie e.V. and Democracy International e.V. Her work consistently operates at the intersection of political education, artistic intervention and public discourse.

She gained her first experience with light art while working with light artist Ingo Bracke. Since 2021, she has been creating her own light and video installations at socially significant locations such as Hambach Castle, the Landestheater Detmold, Hartenfels Castle (Torgau) and the Berlin cultural quarter ‘silent green’. Her installations create spaces in which history, the present and democratic issues can be experienced sensually.

This LightLab Democracy exhibition is the culmination of two years of collecting citizens' opinions with the EU for Global project. Eu for Global is about connecting people together across Europe and bringing their voices into discussions about how the European Union works in the world. The goal is to make EU decision-making more open, more inclusive, and closer to the everyday experiences of people living here — including those whose voices are often left out.

Over the course of the project, we have:

• Asked people from different parts of the EU what they think the EU should stand for and how it should act on global issues.
• Held local and transnational panels in eight EU countries where citizens exchanged ideas and developed recommendations together.
• Collected insights from diverse communities, including people with different backgrounds and experiences.

All of these conversations have helped shape a set of citizens’ recommendations on key topics such as youth participation, the rule of law, sustainability, disinformation, digital rights, and more.

The project reaches its final moment with the LightLab Democracy — an immersive exhibition that brings these ideas to life through art, light, and sound. At this final event in Cologne, you can explore the stories, recommendations, and reflections gathered across Europe and see them transformed into a shared experience.

EU for Global shows that democracy is strongest when people take part, speak up, and are heard — not just in words, but in action.