Patrons: Saim Kadir (Kasi) Cetinkaya, Heja Ibrahim, Anke Marckmann, Julia Miahipour, Deniz (Bosslo) Salakoslu, Gina Lea Schwan, Cosmo Stadie

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Commission: Pinneberg's city center, like in many other towns, is undergoing change. We envision an artistic work that supports this transformation. We aim to commission a piece that contributes to a new sense of Pinneberg. Public spaces and (vacant) buildings should serve as inspiration for this project.

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Mediator: Michael Annoff

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Artists: Nuray Demir and Minh Duc Pham

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Period: 2025 ongoing

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Partner: Kulturstiftung des Bundes

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Program: Citizen-Commissioned Dance and Performance

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On the one hand, Schleswig-Holstein; on the other, almost still Hamburg: Pinneberg is located in the commuter belt of the Hanseatic metropolis and faces challenges due to its position. Like in many places, the city center has changed. Long-established businesses have disappeared, meeting and leisure opportunities are becoming scarcer, and spaces for social interaction are dwindling. The proximity to vibrant Hamburg makes it even more difficult for Pinneberg to assert and further develop its own urban appeal.

The once taken-for-granted "Pinneberg feeling" in the city center has faded in the eyes of many locals. Yet, another development often goes unnoticed: entrepreneurs are constantly opening new businesses, bringing fresh energy to the city—many of them with a migration background. Without their restaurants, grocery stores, cosmetic shops, and services, the revitalization of the city center would hardly be imaginable. Entrepreneurship in Pinneberg is diverse and demonstrates that the city remains a place where new ideas can take root and flourish.

"Pinneberg is neither fish nor fowl. Can the city center become a place where we reinvent communal life—despite all our differences?"

The New Patrons of Pinneberg—local business owners, residents, and social workers from the city center—want to draw attention to this question through an artistic project. In 2025, Pinneberg will celebrate 150 years of city rights. For the patrons, this is not just a moment to look back but an opportunity to think ahead together: How can Pinneberg’s center once again become a place that brings people together? How can public spaces foster new encounters? How can a new sense of Pinneberg emerge?

"The artistic work should create opportunities for encounters, connections, and gatherings among Pinneberg’s residents whose paths would not otherwise cross."

Advised by mediator Michael Annoff, the group aims to invite an artist or a collective to develop a work that makes the city's transformation visible. The goal is to rediscover urban space and reflect on community life. Public spaces and (vacant) buildings should serve as inspiration. A special focus will be placed on the perspectives of young people. The performative or choreographic work should remain accessible and experienceable for the city’s residents in the long term.

Pinneberg exemplifies the changes many mid-sized cities in Germany are undergoing. The New Patrons of Pinneberg look forward to artistic ideas that accompany and enrich this transformation.

At the recommendation of mediator Michael Annoff, the group in Pinneberg decided to commission not one, but two artists: Nuray Demir and Minh Duc Pham will collaborate on their concern.

Demir and Pham share an artistic approach grounded in intensive research. In their work, they frequently move beyond the boundaries of performing and visual arts, as well as curatorial practice. Starting from a shared interest in the unique qualities of materials and spaces, they disrupt habitual ways of seeing and invite audiences to reconsider their perceptions. In doing so, they open up new possibilities for encounters and perspectives in artistic and public spaces. Their processes are often rooted in the histories and local contexts of the sites in which their works are exhibited or performed. 

Both artists frequently address transnational working environments and life stories, thereby creating connections between people, communities, and societies.

Nuray Demir has presented her work at venues including HAU – Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin, Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm in Frankfurt, Wiener Festwochen, Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, and the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn. She was also part of the leadership team of District * School Without Center.

Minh Duc Pham’s work has been shown at institutions such as Haus der Kulturen der Welt, the Humboldt Forum, and Radialsystem in Berlin, the Museum of Fine Arts Leipzig, Burg Hülshoff – Center for Literature, and the VCCA Vincom Center for Contemporary Art in Hội An, Vietnam. His solo exhibition Never Quite Right is currently in preparation at Kunsthalle Osnabrück.

Demir and Pham have successfully collaborated in the past on Nuray Demir’s performance Semiotiken der Drecksarbeit. Their relationship with mediator Michael Annoff is built on a foundation of shared responsibility and critical dialogue developed through previous joint projects.

Nuray Demir and Minh Duc Pham bring exactly the kind of perspective between conceptual thinking, artistic practice, and form-making that is important to the commissioning group. They now develop a draft for an artwork to accompany and enrich the transformations in Pinneberg.