Poster campaign for Chemnitz2025
Also: "Take a seat!" campaign and micro-projects with a great response
Sometimes we have to write it again in big letters on billboards: Chemnitz has what it takes to become European Capital of Culture 2025.
This is not an assertion to encourage us, but rather to help us face the facts: It always starts with a crazy, challenging idea, but the people of Chemnitz have often turned it into something great.
This city is home to so many creative minds and committed doers, so many innovative companies and, increasingly, more and more start-ups. - Uniting them all behind the big idea of making Chemnitz the European Capital of Culture 2025 can and will give the city a boost. And initiate a new departure that puts the city's culture centre stage.
It's definitely worth it. And it's already paying off. The "Take a seat!" campaign, for which the submission deadline ended on 31 March, counted over 20 project applications. We didn't make it easy for the people of Chemnitz. They were not only asked to list the places with potential in the city, but also to make suggestions as to how these brownfield sites could be revitalised - and, above all, whether there are already partners, neighbours, associations, companies and friends who would help to realise the project.
The response to the latest funding round for micro-projects, i.e. small cultural interventions that make urban life more exciting, diverse, eventful and tolerant, has been equally overwhelming. Around 70 ideas were received by the closing date for submissions on 31 March - a record.
In short: the potential is there - the Capital of Culture application wants to make it visible and tangible. And it's worth it...
So what else is possible in a city,
... that takes the pride of previous generations into the future - even if it seems as hopeless at first glance as the project of Viadukt e.V., founded in 2014, to prevent Deutsche Bahn AG's decision to demolish the viaduct on Annaberger Straße. But commitment and perseverance ultimately gave rise to a citizens' movement that forced the company to rethink its approach.
... that attracts attention with its creative flair - even if it's an idea as crazy as a brightly coloured chimney by none other than Daniel Buren. The design by the French artist, known for his large-scale projects, did not only have friends at first. But after intense debate, Saxony's tallest work of art has become a popular landmark.
.... which provides space for cultural diversity - even if it is only temporary, such as during IBUG, the international festival for urban art. The public response in the Chemnitz cultural region proves the fascination of the idea of transforming almost forgotten industrial wastelands into new, exciting places thanks to artistic intervention.
The motifs are also available for download HERE - for anyone who still has space in canteens or shop windows, on pinboards or in meeting rooms. The posters can also be sent out for display on request.