Stadt_formen Konferenz

In 2022 I had the pleasure and honor to participate the second time in the jury of Projektfonds Urbane Praxis.

The Berliner Projektfonds Urbane Praxis supports artistic and cultural projects in publicly accessible spaces that deal with urban space and society in Berlin. We see public space as a meeting place, as well as a cultural and artistic venue. The aim of the Berliner Projektfonds Urbane Praxis is to promote a more solidary society with the help of art and culture and to consolidate new and existing partnerships. Access is to be created and barriers broken down. The fund offers the opportunity to creatively shape the city beyond the profit motive.

Within this framework, the Stadtformen conference took place on

25. November 2022 in Berlin

at

KINDL – Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst
Am Sudhaus 3
12053 Berlin

with contributions by Berlinklusion, Clubcommission, Dekoloniale, Initiative Barrierefrei Feiern und Urbane Praxis e.V.

 

Public urban space is becoming increasingly commercialized, and rents are rising. This makes it all the more important to be able to actively shape one’s own living space. Artistic and activist work in public space in particular continues to shape and change the city.

The Berlin Project Fund Urban Practice (BPUP) has been funding projects of a transdisciplinary urban practice since 2021. The focus is particularly on the interaction between art, culture and urban development. The DRAUSSENSTADT Call for Action has also been able to fund over 200 outdoor events in Berlin to date.

But for whom is the urban space accessible at all? Who can, who may, and who should participate? How can Urban Practice contribute to an urban society that is more just and inclusive?

In our work as a funding format, we are also moved by this very question of accessibility: Who do we reach with our calls for proposals, and who do we not? Which needs do we have to focus on in the future in order to concretely reduce barriers? This requires a critical and solidary examination of urban practice.

At the conference STADT_FORMEN we will explore these questions and further develop approaches from different perspectives.

In the long term, the Berlin Project Fund Urban Practice would like to create a space for networking and thus strengthen communication between the various actors from civil society, administration and politics.

Program

Moderation: Dana Cermane and Team Berliner Projektfonds Urbane Praxis (DGS and DE)

9.30 a.m. Registration and quick testing / coffee and tea

10 a.m. Welcome by Team Berliner Projektfonds Urbane Praxis (DE)

10.15 a.m. Greeting by Helge Rehders, Senate Department for Culture and Europe

10.30 a.m. Input by the Berlin Project Fund Urban Practice Team

10.45 a.m. PAUSE

11 am Inputs on Power and the City

Colonial Continuities: Artistic Design in Urban Space (DE) | Speaker: Anna Yeboah, Dekoloniale

Who (doesn’t) own the city? Art and Disabilities in Urban Space (EN) | Speakers: Kate Brehme and Kirstin Broussard, Berlinklusion

Kate Brehme and Kirstin Broussard present their latest project UNBOUND: Germany’s first accessible and flexible transdisciplinary residency program for artists*. They highlight the diverse barriers of Berlin’s cultural landscape and the strategies they have used to break them down.

12.30 Lunch

13.30 Workshops: Creating (New) Places and Changing Spaces

1. challenges in the development of cultural (open) spaces (DE) | Speakers: Jakob Turtur and Nicolai Rohrer, Clubcommission

In the workshop you will work on different approaches to develop cultural spaces. One focus will be on the current situation on the Berlin real estate market and political urban development.

2. barrier-free event planning and community management (DE) | Speakers: Felix Brückner and Elnaz Amiraslani, Initiative Barrierefrei Feiern (Initiative for Barrier-Free Celebrations)

In this workshop you will learn in a practical way how to make cultural projects accessible for people with physical or sensory disabilities. When exactly is an event accessible? What are the minimum requirements? The speakers will answer these and other questions with you.

3rd Agile Urban Practice (DE) | Speakers: Sabine Kroner, Kristin Lazarova and Nina Peters, Urbane Praxis e.V.

In the workshop, the speakers will discuss perspectives from the previous popUP week of Urban Practice. They will show potentials and needs of the self-organized network of the Initiative Urbane Praxis and discuss with you how the cooperation between bottom-up initiatives and administrative structures can be further developed.

15.30 PAUSE

16.30 Panel: What is needed for an inclusive and sustainable Urban Practice in Berlin? (DE)

with Roberta Burghardt and Christopher Dell (BPUP jury members) | Various & Gould and Kotti Island Disc (BPUP projects) | Katalin Gennburg, DIE LINKE and Mathias Schulz, SPD

Moderation: Team Berliner Projektfonds Urbane Praxis

6 p.m. End at the bar

8 p.m. End