Intercultural Weeks and Intercultural Film Week - participants wanted

The planning of this year's Intercultural Weeks is affected by many imponderables. In particular, the kick-off event is affected by the necessary restrictions. There will not be a "Festival of Cultures" in 2020, as was the case in previous years. However, the series of events will take place. Under the motto "Living together, growing together", a strong sign of togetherness will be set.

The two-week series of events from 19 September to 4 October will kick off on 19 September at 4 pm with a silent start. The "Pictures of silence" campaign is intended to impressively convey the emptiness at the site where the colourful festival of cultures should have taken place. With one hundred colourful and illuminated XXL balloons, the diversity of the city of Chemnitz is impressively recreated. Pictures of past Intercultural Weeks, a one-dimensional layout of the square with the outline of a site plan and the names of participating organisations are representative of the cohesion that the festival presents every year in the heart of our city.

During the two weeks, Chemnitz residents are invited by clubs, associations, institutions and organisations to find out about the topics of migration, integration and asylum and to take advantage of offers for tolerant and peaceful coexistence. Theatre performances, film screenings, dance classes and concerts, country evenings, sporting events, readings and discussions with authors, training courses, lectures, workshops and information events on a wide range of topics, as well as exchanges between religions, are intended to arouse interest in people and encounters. All events are of course organised and carried out in compliance with the regulations and guidelines set out by the coronavirus pandemic. The diversity of the city of Chemnitz should also be reflected in the variety of events on offer.

Intercultural film week
The coronavirus (COVID-19) also plays the main role in event planning for the Intercultural Film Week. And yet the association AGIUA e. V. is preparing the event series with partners. Feature films and documentaries are intended to get people talking to each other. Films of various genres will be shown - feature films, documentaries, short films etc. - accompanied by an additional activity. Discussions with the director, panel discussions and even a small event are possible.

Contributors wanted
Anyone who would like to take part in the two-week series of events Intercultural Weeks and/or the Intercultural Film Week with their own programmes is asked to register their interest in good time using the registration form. The registration deadline is 30 June.

The registration forms for the programme booklet are now available here.

This year, posters and programme booklets will not be printed. The programme will be made available digitally for reading and printing.

The organisers are also looking forward to receiving offers of sponsorship and support for the preparation and implementation of the Intercultural Weeks.

Keyword Intercultural Weeks
The Intercultural Weeks have been organised in Chemnitz since 1991. The municipality was one of the first cities in the five new federal states to take up the motto "Many cultures, one future - Foreign Citizens' Week" and organised a major concert event with an international line-up in what was then the Luxor-Palast. That was 29 years ago, but the advocacy of better political and legal conditions for coexistence in Germany and the desire to develop a better mutual understanding through encounters and personal contacts and to help break down prejudices remain important goals of the Intercultural Weeks to this day. The coronavirus pandemic has not changed this. A fundamental attitude of solidarity in our society is more vital than ever before. And that is why there will also be Intercultural Weeks in Chemnitz in 2020.

The Intercultural Weeks in Chemnitz are prepared and implemented by the Migration Officer in close cooperation with the city administration, the Migration Advisory Board, the association AGIUA e. V. Migrationssozial- und Jugendarbeit, the women's centre Lila Villa in the association akCente e. V. and with the support of numerous Chemnitz associations and initiatives.

For further information please contact:
Etelka Kobuß,
Migration Officer of the City of Chemnitz
Tel.: 488-5047 or 488-6465
E-mail: migrationsbeauftragte(at)stadt-chemnitz.de