Exhibition "Shrinking Cities - Interventions" in Leipzig
Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kultur (ZfzK) Halle-Neustadt Train Station Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig (GfZK) November 19, 2005 – February 2, 2006
In Halle/ Leipzig, the project was presented at one of the investigated sites for the first time. With zones of growth, shrinking, and stagnation all in close proximity, the region is a typical example of the worldwide process of spatial polarization.
The exhibition “International Analysis” was shown in the Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst in Halle-Neustadt, a railway building closed down in 2003 and slated for new use as a cultural center. Here the exhibition and three earlier projects served as an intervention to support these efforts. For the presentation in Halle, on a surface of more than 2,000 square meters, the Berlin exhibition was further developed and supplemented with several new contributions, for example an archive of local initiatives.
The exhibition “Interventions” in Leipzig, with a focus on eastern Germany, presented for the first time concepts for action and interventions for shrinking cities. To stimulate the production of concepts for action, the architecture magazine archplus had staged an idea competition; the Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau had made direct commissions; and the Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig had awarded work stipends. The majority of the projects were developed in close collaboration with citizens and local groups and institutions. The resulting 33 projects and additional presentations of existing practices showed on 1,500 square meters possibilities in five fields of action: negotiating inequality, self-government, making pictures, organizing retreat, and occupying spaces. The projects of the international artists, architects, and researchers ranged from artistic interventions and self-empowerment projects through architectonic, landscape, and media interventions to new legal regulations and utopian visions. A total of 12,400 visitors saw the two exhibitions or took part in the 65 events of the accompanying program.
