CAD 2012

Cooperative Art Strategies and Participation Potentials in the Public Space

From February 19 to 26, 2012, the »Citizen Art Days pilot« project took place in Berlin’s public space and the Freies Museum Berlin. The project has been initiated by Stefan Krüskemper, María Linares and Kerstin Polzin with support from the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung bpb (“German Federal Agency for Civic Education”).

Growing segregation within the social space leads to the erosion of the "public space" as a location for social communication and democratic processes. We initiated the Citizen Art Days following the belief that artistic approaches represent a suitable starting-off point to confront these developments creatively and formulate self-developed standards. At Citizen Art Days artists and urban actors examined Berlin’s public space together with interested citizens using artistic strategies and developing concrete projects. City tours, workshops, art projects and presentations provide a convenient framework for discussion and collaboration. Thematic issues discussed include, among others, the economy, sustainability and interaction in the public space.

In the main program of the Citizen Art Days 2012 in February the English artist and founder of the “University of Trees”, Shelley Sacks, carried out 9 »Earth Forum« workshops over a five-day period. Here, the necessity for a rethinking of our approach to the earth was the core of the artistic form. At the closing weekend participants of the Earth Forums could take part in a training course to be able to carry out Earth Forums by themselves in the future.
The Spanish cultural producer group Platoniq was setting new impulses in the area of own-project funding in its “crowdfunding the commons” workshop, accentuating a difference between crowfunding and “crowcapitalism”.
Berlin artists Dellbrügge & de Moll deployed artistic strategies to help extend the sphere of influence of Berlin street and homeless magazine vendors in their "voice over" workshop. Unfortunately, this offer was not embraced. Vendors of street and homeless magazines kept away from the museum’s door. A case for reflection and analysis.

Short workshops, presentations and city tours provided by a number of other artists further enriched the Citizen Art Days program. Susanne Bosch and Dragan Miloševski (Belfast) provided creative methods for conflict resolution. Pia Lanzinger, Folke Köbberling, Simone Zaugg and Pfelder as well as the Reinigungsgesellschaft presented, among other things, different methods of participatory action, while the work of Juliane Wedell investigated the “shadow economy” and Stephanie Hanna and her team represented the “Senior Street Art” project. Performance-based art activities were represented by the “ILLEGAL (in German “Black”) WORKER” art event of María Linares and the “Superconstellation” work of Stefan Krüskemper and Kerstin Polzin.
ID22 provided city excursions on two days. Presentations were held by Niko Paech (“Postgrowth Economy”), Elfriede Müller (on Henri Lefèbvre) and Matthias Böttger (Raumtaktiker) about “We” in the public space. The final podium was moderated by Thorsten Goldberg. 
The Citizen Art Days were launched including a Bastelperformance (“Handicraft Performance”) by the philosopher Hanno Depner concerning models of thinking and an Ich-kann-nicht-singen (“I can’t sing”) choir led by Michael Betzner-Brandt.

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