Patrons: Danilo Bandlow, Bianca Haisch, Heiko Kühl, Angela Kuboth, Simon Voigt, Caroline Wenndorff
Commission: We wish for a bold artwork that connects people of all generations. Through it, we want to discover how we can tell the story of our shared tomorrow. It should be open and easily accessible, so that as many people as possible can take part and see themselves reflected. Something bold should emerge. We are looking for an artistic work that draws on the creativity of local people and embraces the value of the unfinished and the imperfect – in keeping with the character of our city. For Neubrandenburg has experienced many ruptures and has always managed to begin anew.
Mediators: Alina Kokoschka, Anna Wiese
Artist: Regina Rossi
Period: 2025 ongoing
Partner: Kulturstiftung des Bundes
Program: Citizen-Commissioned Dance and Performance
Neubrandenburg is a town that has had to start over again and again: almost completely burned down at the end of the Second World War, rapidly expanded in the GDR as a planned district capital, and once more in upheaval after 1989 – each generation here has its own experiences with change and new beginnings.
A large part of the city’s population came in the 1950s to make a fresh start. Their families now live in the city in the second and third generation; some people move away, others arrive anew. Many carry stories that began elsewhere. Out of ruptures and transitions, something new has continually emerged.
Yet this shared wealth of experience often remains invisible today. The city has lost some of its vitality. The New Patrons of Neubrandenburg observe that the different generations now often live side by side – each on their own.
The group wants to counter this tendency: they are seeking an impulse from outside and are therefore commissioning an artistic work in the field of dance or performance. The work should bring together people of all generations and invite them to contribute their creativity, their skills, and their stories. It should be open and accessible, with a shared process at its core.
The patrons have chosen Regina Rossi, an artist whose practice is deeply rooted in accessibility, active participation, and shared experience. Born in Brazil and based in Hamburg, the choreographer creates works that move between dance, theater, music, and performance for audiences of all ages. She invites people into encounters on stages, within installations, in public space, in schools, and in virtual environments. Her piece Du bist dran! (It’s Your Turn!) was selected for Tanzplattform Deutschland 2026. In 2025, she received the Hamburg Children’s Theater Award, and in 2024 she was nominated for the German Cultural Innovation Award Kulturlichter.
With her enthusiasm for exploring new places, Regina Rossi convinced her patrons. Through movement and encounter, she reimagines public space and demonstrates how familiar places can unfold into vibrant environments between everyday life and utopia. By bringing together movement, play, and storytelling, she creates opportunities to collectively explore local histories, memories, and visions for the future.
Rossi is excited by the openness of working with the New Patrons and by the possibilities that emerge from the process itself. What might grow out of the group’s wish over the coming months? What creative potential lies within a city and the ideas of its residents? She is equally interested in questions of relationships and collaboration: How will we come together? How can we develop a shared language through this process? And how can this unusual new partnership create meaningful points of connection and encounter?
“I am looking forward to the insights and relationships that will emerge from this process, but equally to the moments of friction and differing opinions. They create the potential for depth to develop—conceptually, aesthetically, and in the relationships we build with one another.”
Regina Rossi, artist
The group's wish is for something lasting – a format that becomes anchored in urban life, that can be repeated, transformed, and carried forward. Equally important to them: the artistic work should embrace the unfinished and the open-ended. For they see in this a special strength of their city.
They have already identified the ideal site for the work: Lake Tollense and the adjacent cultural park. The densely built city center should open up towards this space, for the lake and its wide open grounds offer a fitting stage for rediscovering a sense of community. For the group, Lake Tollense is a place full of history and stories, a place that connects people – and uniquely intertwines the city’s past and future. The patrons see great potential in Rossi’s artistic approach to open up unexpected perspectives on their city, the area around Lake Tollense, and the cultural park.
