Inauguration of the mosaic in Wietstock

On 22 October 2022 a mosaic picture has been inaugurated in the garden at the village house in Wietstock in Western Pomerania, which was developed by the renowned artist Antje Majewski in an exchange with a group of villagers. The picture, which measures just under six square metres, was produced in a Berlin workshop as a high-quality mosaic from Italian glass stones and shows animals and plants that are significant for the commissioning group from the village in Western Pomerania.

The New Patrons Initiative was funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation for the development of the commission and the design. The realisation of the mosaic by cosmomusivo mosaik was funded by Kunstverein Rügen e.V. through Stiftung Kunstfonds / #NeustartKultur as well as Fondation de France and the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (LFI M-V).

Our special thanks go to the Wietstock volunteer fire brigade, Alwi Agrar GmbH & Co.KG, flz | Stahl- und Metallbau Lauterbach GmbH and the numerous helpers from the village.

Handover "Casa Isadora" from Sol Calero

The SeeCampus Niederlausitz was expanded to include a creative thinking space. Sol Calero's Casa Isadora was adapted to the needs and wishes of the students during a three-day workshop. The work now remains on campus as an open thinking and recreation space for the students.

Many thanks to all involved - the students of the SeeCampus who contributed with creativity and passion and to Sol Calero!

Photos: Victoria Tomaschko

"The most unusual project of my career" | In C - Marler Partitur celebrates premiere

"This is the most unusual project of my entire career" - Sasha Waltz.

On 10 & 11 September in Marl, one could experience how the action model of the New Patrons came to bear as a catalyst of a new communality.

The renowned choreographer Sasha Waltz made an entire city dance with "In C - Marler Partitur".

On the performance weekend, the actors moved in a spiral to the city centre, where the big performance with all participants and dancers of the company Sasha Waltz & Guests took place at the end of the second day.

Construction starts in Mönchengladbach

Four years after the start of the project, the construction of three accessible steel sculptures has begun in the city of Mönchengladbach, providing access to the inner-city garden of the Mönchengladbach Unemployment Centre. Supplemented by a pavilion with an outdoor kitchen, a garden with bridges by Ruth Buchanan is being created here, which aims to create space for gardening, meeting and recreation. The sculptures are named after parts of the body and thus refer to the meaning of the garden as an organism.

Within the framework of a mediation process of the New Patrons Initiative, the team and visitors of the Mönchengladbach Unemployment Centre and pupils and teachers of the nearby Stiftisches Humanistisches Gymnasium Mönchengladbach took the initiative for a joint project that was to make visible the claim to social openness.

The Kunststiftung im Museum Abteiberg is responsible for its realisation. An alliance of sponsors and donors supports the project. The artist, the planning team, representatives of the commissioning group, the cooperation partners and sponsors, Felix Heinrichs - Lord Mayor as patron and the Head of the Department for Education, Culture and Sport were present at the start of construction on 18 August 2022. A garden workshop with Kobe Matthys from Brussels took place beforehand. Photo: Florian Wagner

Premiere of "In C - Marler Partitur" by Sasha Waltz in Marl

On the weekend of 10 & 11 September, the premiere of "In C - Marler Partitur" by Sasha Waltz will take place in Marl. With this piece by the internationally renowned artist, Marl will be the setting for a unique experiment in which an entire city is involved in a choreography and thus experiences itself as a community across all borders and barriers. Over 120 dancers and audience members will form a procession and move in a spiral towards the city centre. The movement begins on Saturday, 10 September at 13:00 at the Scharoun School in Marl Westfalenstraße and ends with a joint performance by all participants, including amateurs as well as dancers from Sasha Waltz & Guests, on Sunday, 11 September at 17:00 at the Forum in Marl.

For more information on locations, participants and how you can still take part yourself, go to: https://marlerpartitur.de.

Graphic: © Daniel Wiesmann

Mariana Castillo Deball accepts commission in Friedland

Mariana Castillo Deball will develop a work for Friedland. The starting point will be the hiking trails and the treasures of the villages that the clients of Friedland have already collected. The first visits and walks have already taken place.

The artist explores ideologically constructed conditions under which artefacts appear in today's culture. To do this, she gathers information from various disciplines such as archaeology and science. Through research and collaboration, she creates works that emerge from the collision and recombination of these different languages.

Mariana Castillo Deball lives and works in Berlin and Mexico City. Her work has been shown at MUAC Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (Mexico City, 2021), Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen (Siegen, 2021), Modern Art Oxford (Oxford, 2020), Documenta 13 (Kassel, 2012) and the 54th and 59th La Biennale di Venezia (Venice, 2011 and 2022), among others.

Photo: Victoria Tomaschko

Charity auction to finance the new village benches in Züsedom

With Jakub Szczęsny, the people of Züsedom developed a bench which, in bright signal orange, places unmissable meeting points in the village landscape, can be used by every age group and, in its design, also offers the younger generation an opportunity to meet. The Züsedom bench.

On 22 and 23 July, four charity auctions will be held at Broellin Castle to finance the new village benches in Züsedom. More than 150 objects from the former Erich Kühl secondary school and the stock of the Züsedom countrywomen will be put up for auction. Bid for a piece of history and support the production of our Züsedom commission!

Visit the auction website here: https://auktion.neueauftraggeber.de

Auction 1 : Friday 22 July 2022 15:30:00 - DDR teaching aids (focus on technology & audio) Auction 2 : Friday 22 July 2022 18:30 hrs - DDR teaching aids (focus on biology) Auction 3 : Saturday 23 July 2022 13:30 hrs - DDR teaching aids (focus on large maps & media) Auction 4: Saturday 23 July 2022 16:30 - School Inventory, Rural & Curiosa

The auctions will take place in the context of "30 Jahre Gegenwart", the 30th anniversary of the Schloss Bröllin e.V. association.

Auctioning is only possible on site, the lots must be taken over directly after the auction. Shipping is not possible.

More about 30 years of Bröllin: http://broellin.de/30-jahre/

Photo: Victoria Tomaschko

Mobile meeting point in Steinhöfel

From 14 to 29 May, the new patrons of Steinhöfel told stories, designed, planned and built. Together with Constructlab, the Kistenflitzer was created - a mobile meeting point that is now available to the twelve villages of the community as a mobile cinema, rolling cocktail bar, church on wheels and much more.

A project within the framework of pilot funding by the Federal Cultural Foundation. The realisation is supported by the Fonds Soziokultur, the Fondation de France and the Brandenburgischer Kunstverein Potsdam. Photo: Victoria Tomaschko

In C - Marler Partitur has begun!

Marl dances: For over two weeks, citizens of Marl had the opportunity to approach the choreography of "In C" based on the composition by Terry Riley in workshops with tutors from the company Sasha Waltz & Guests. Interested audience members were able to see the first results in an open rehearsal before the whole of Marl is invited to dance in September. Photos: Florian Wagner

Simon Denny creates a project in the urban space of Beeskow

The question of how technological developments influence our everyday and community life has occupied Simon Denny (*1982, Auckland, New Zealand) for many years. For the New Patrons of Beeskow, he is designing a sculpture series that makes information accessible and visible in the public space and at the same time promotes the community of citizens in this very space and beyond.

Themes of personal identity and integrity are addressed, as are social debates about data protection and the use of human experience as a raw material.

Photo: Simon Denny visiting Beeskow Photo: Victoria Tomaschko

Inauguration Liberté Baka

It took a few years - but in March, the first project of the New Patrons on the African continent was inaugurated in Cameroon! It all started in 2014, together with the Goethe-Institut Cameroon. The Baka pygmy community in the country's southern rainforest had declared their urgent desire to deal with the fundamental changes in their culture and way of life, and they took the initiative and commissioned a cultural project, which mediator Germain Loumpet has been accompanying and mediating with great patience and passion ever since.

More info on the project can be found here, among other places: https://www.goethe.de/ins/cm/de/ueb/prn/lbaka.html

Supporting change in villages and cities with new creative energies – a look behind the scenes of citizen-commissioned art and mediation

Thursday, 18.11.2021, 2–5pm (in German)

An online event for planners and decisionmakers at the municipal and state levels and everyone interested in civic participation and decision-making processes.

We want to exchange ideas with you about how the New Patrons model offers unconventional insights into community processes and guidance on how to address even complex issues without intimidating would-be local activists. We throw open the door to our workshop and look forward to learning about your perspectives on and suggestions for what we do. We hope to launch a dialogue on how we can engage people in new conversations and on the key role that culture and art play for an innovative practice grappling with societal concerns.

What? We introduce you to a unique approach to civic participation. The New Patrons’ mediation model casts citizens as active partners in dealing with local and cultural concerns of vital public interest. An innovative instrument that has been field-tested throughout Europe, it is now available to German municipal and regional governments as a productive way to channel creative energies into communal concerns. We talk about how citizens become patrons, how international artists bring change to places and communities, how cultural mediation tackles conflicts, and how political leaders, administrations, institutional actors, and funding bodies can forge new alliances that benefit broad public audiences. Are you a policymaker, an urban or regional development official involved in shaping change, or a professional in another field? Or would you like to learn more about the New Patrons model because it aligns with your personal interests? Either way, you are encouraged to attend. Participation is free.

Who? The New Patrons’ program directors explain methods and structures, share experiences and insights from their practice, present exemplary projects. The open conversational format leaves room for discussions of specific points, including your own particular interests. All questions are very welcome!

Where? This introduction to our program is held as a digital event; you will receive the invitation link in an email before the event starts. Please send us an email at webinar@neueauftraggeber.de to register. If you let us know what you do and where, we will take this information into account as we flesh out the workshop’s details.

Why? Efforts to boost civic participation face mounting challenges. Distrust of political processes and a growing inability to live with conflicts on one side and centralized and streamlined structures on the other make it harder to implement participatory decision-making and often hobble efforts to engage in dialogue.

As the Gesellschaft der Neuen Auftraggeber, the German New Patrons, we are familiar with the promises and challenges of civic participation from our own work. Our projects empower citizens to bring the potentials of art to bear on pressing concerns or problems in their villages or neighborhoods. Supported by mediators, they articulate the mission they want art to take on. The objective is to change something about the local reality and shape the environment in which people’s lives are set. Art is rarely the primary interest from the start: it is almost always urgent problems, neglected issues, and sometimes simmering conflicts that prompt citizens to take action.

The New Patrons then bring international artists to the scene whose creative thinking and outsiders’ perspective enable them to develop unexpected solutions. At the same time, the citizen patrons’ active involvement gains public visibility; its prominent manifestation in a work of art serves as an example of what is possible, motivating others to become actively involved as well. To empower communities to reinvent themselves in this way or muster the courage to experiment with strategies toward a different future, we work closely with administrators and political decisionmakers as well as institutions in the field of art and culture. When a site is ultimately transformed and citizens take charge of their communities’ lives, that is always the fruit of a collaborative effort involving many parties.

If you think that you might benefit from our model, experiences, and mediation practice, we’ll be happy to discuss your options, including the possibility of realizing citizen-commissioned art projects in your municipality or region.

We look forward to meeting you!

Program Gerrit Gohlke, head of regional development, Gesellschaft der Neuen Auftraggeber, and Alexander Koch, director, Gesellschaft der Neuen Auftraggeber, host the program and share experiences and insights from their practice.

2pm Welcome and introductions

2:15pm Introduction to the New Patrons model of civic participation with concrete example projects: how a dilapidated one-room schoolhouse is transformed into a new community attraction and a condemned building into a village beach

3pm Q&A

3:15pm Cooperative ventures in cities and municipalities: a report from practice Raising unconventional questions to rediscover familiar spaces and themes—how we share knowledge and forge new paths together

4pm Introduction to the New Patrons’ cost and financing model The New Patrons as an offer and blueprint for action to be rolled out throughout Germany

4:30pm Discussion and final remarks

5pm Event concludes

Image: Die Neuen Auftraggeber von Züsedom, photo: Victoria Tomaschko

The New Patrons of Waldeck-Frankenberg and the artist collective nachbars garten present the project Wasserzeichen (Water Marks)

Saturday, 4.9.2021, beginning: 2 pm

Presentation of the artistic concept to the public with welcome addresses from Dr. Reinhard Kubat, District Administrator of Waldeck-Frankenberg and Ljubica Nikolic, University of Göttingen.

Meeting place: Dorfgemeinschaftshaus (Village community center), Torweg 8, 35110 Ellershausen, coordinates: 51°04'46.9"N 8°53'34.9"E

The unusual art project commissioned by the Waldeck-Frankenberg Water Initiative makes visible the threat to water as a resource and commits the people of the region in a movement to protect water as the source of all life.

The citizen-commissioners and the artists will present their initiative to the public together. In a subsequent performance, exemplary first marks will be set, whose signal effect gives expression to the fleeting nature of water as a resource. The audience will be able to perceive how the water marks evaporate at the very moment of their creation. The only testimony that remains is the incisive urgency of the shared memory of actions, marks and gestures experienced together in the moment.

The public performance is the prelude to a process of further mark setting in the region and beyond, whether these be material or immaterial, on front doors, facades, on streets and squares, on the Internet - wherever they attain the attention of fellow human beings and stimulate conversations about aspects of the manifold threats to water as a resource.

More about the project at New Patrons of Waldeck-Frankenberg

Photo: Kay Zimmermann

Gesellschaft der Neuen Auftraggeber Receives Award

The Gesellschaft der Neuen Auftraggeber has won the Zukunftspreis KULTURGESTALTEN award in the “initiative and network projects” category. The award, which honors forward-thinking cultural policy initiatives and is sponsored by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, was presented yesterday.

We are extraordinarily pleased by the news that we have been honored with this award. It honors an entire network of civic associations, creative artists, and their partners, whom we at the Society of the New Patrons advise and support as they embark on ambitious projects to transform a piece of their surroundings and communities.

Developed by Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft e.V., the new award honors exemplary initiatives and outstanding projects that put forward-thinking cultural policy ideas into practice. It is designed to generate attention for innovative practices, visions, and paradigms in cultural policy and spotlight the honorees’ distinctive contributions to civil society. The award is given out every two years in the three categories “standalone projects,” “initiative and network projects,” and “(pilot) projects in municipal self-government” and comes with a total prize money of €15,000. Established in 1976, Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft e.V. (KuPoGe) is a nonpartisan alliance of individuals and organizations throughout Germany who take an active interest in cultural policy. It is the leading platform for debates around cultural policy in Germany and guided by the conviction that “cultural policy is social policy.”

“The New Patrons are an innovative and participatory model for a cultural policy that is designed to meet the sociopolitical needs of the day and facilitates a democratic production of ‘culture for all by all.’ Their approach provides a thematically open framework that allows for a discourse to be cast into concrete form, and is scalable and adaptable to a variety of contents and structures. The organization of the project’s work in several model regions throughout Germany ensures its broad-based impact,” Dr. Tobias Knoblich (president, Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft) explained the jury’s decision during yesterday’s award presentation ceremony.

“The New Patrons’ winning this prominent accolade makes us optimistic that their model project of a democratic culture aspiring to the highest standards of artistic quality will be adopted more widely in Germany as well. The Federal Cultural Foundation believes that the award acknowledges a successful partnership between art and politics in which all parties’ actions are guided by the interests of civil society.” Hortensia Völckers, artistic director, Federal Cultural Foundation.

Image: Die Neuen Auftraggeber von Eberswalde. Photo: Victoria Tomaschko

WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN 2020 – AND WHAT WE LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2021

Clandestine - that's what we call something that takes place in silence, in secret, in a familiar circle. In 2020, the projects of the New Patrons continued clandestinely – and quite cheerfully – despite and because of the special challenges of the year. Long before the artistic projects commissioned by citizens become public with a big whoop and a tare, they mature in dialogue, experience twists and surprises in the conversation between commissioning groups, artists, and take one step back and two steps forward. That was also the case in 2020. During on-site meetings outside, in online conferences, at the digital studio visit. The New Patrons received a lot of support last year. In addition to the Federal Cultural Foundation, also the municipal administrations and individuals from numerous other institutions and offices have given the projects a tailwind, paved the way for the future and attested to their support. The concerns of the commissioning groups were never ignored, cultural offices and committees, city 1councillors and regional developers took their time for them. They can see: what is happening within the projects touches on fundamental aspects of community, care and social inclusion in the local and regional environment. And so 2020 has been a year of new commissions, artistic drafts, community meetings and much trusting communication – on balance, a year of visions that are beginning to take practical shape. After a short breather at the turn of the year, the work now continues. Artists are working on drafts. Mediators and commissioning groups sit down with structural engineers and architects, talk to administrations and committees, draw plans, write applications for subsidies and building permits and tell the media about the projects. Not only to further advance the processes at the current sites of action, but also to anchor the New Patrons model in Germany with a long-term structure beyond the pilot phase. Citizen-commissioned art is thriving, continuing to grow and entering the public sphere. What initially developed in a clandestine and protected manner is now getting hands and feet, showing its face and letting its voice be heard. Look forward to seeing it develop together with us!Eleven commissions in the making In Züsedom (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Mönchengladbach-Wickrath (North Rhine-Westphalia) and Waldeck-Frankenberg (Hesse), New Patrons groups signed their commissions for artistic productions last year. Deciding on a commission's wording is the moment when a group goes public with its concern. Currently, eleven groups of citizens are working together with the mediators on the realization of their commission – from finding the right artist and discussing ideas and drafts to concrete questions of implementation. In other locations, groups are also in the commissioning process to become public this year. See all ongoing projects...Artists on board They are currently working on their project proposals: Artistic drafts by Ruth Buchanan, ConstructLab and Rimini Protokoll, Martin Kaltwasser, Daniel Knorr, Antje Majewski, Laure Prouvost and Jakub Szczęsny are being commissioned by the citizens' groups. In doing so, they do not simply carry out the assignments or apply for individual projects. They are invited as active partners to understand the background from which a project emerges. They interpret the commission, follow up, research and develop ideas for a new work. Artist research is underway in other commissioning groups this year. The contributors to the projects in Germany are in good company: Artists from international projects...First project drafts published With Ruth Buchanan's draft, the New Patrons of Mönchengladbach are literally building bridges for the city. The draft envisages sculptural interventions in a garden plot that provide new access to the site. What emerges is intended to benefit the whole urban community, which finds numerous public educational and cultural institutions in the center but few connections between them and few places to hang out together. Rimini Protokoll and ConstructLab have developed a festival idea for the New Patrons of Steinhöfel, which is intended to bring all twelve villages of the community into dialogue with each other about growing old well in the countryside. For the "Steinhöfler Festspiele" active stage elements in each village and a common festival center are to provide for the exchange. The final festival can become the prelude to further activities in the municipality. Comission complete Commissioned by the Iraqi Kurd Sartep Namiq, a comic book has been in the making since 2016 and went to press at the end of the last year. It will be released by Egmont Comic Collection this March. It was commissioned from comic artist Felix Mertikat in collaboration with cyberpunk legend Bruce Sterling and many other contributors. The project began four years ago in the Tempelhof refugee shelter, with the aim of creating an encouraging story without words about living well together. The first copies go to non-profit organizations, refugee organizations, shelters, libraries, schools and educational institutions. The comic will then also be available in bookstores from March on. Read more...Mediators actively on the road Some have been involved for a long time, others joined the team in 2020: The mediators of the German New Patrons Society accompany the citizens' groups in their projects. Whenever a civic initiative wants to change a village, build a monument or realize an idea, the conversation begins with the mediator on site. They are scouts, advisors and negotiators. They avoid quick answers and do not have a ready-made construction plan in their luggage. Their specialty is the art of listening. Who are the mediators of the New Patrons?New series within our Public Dialoge: Commissioned by – Art in Relation In 2020, we discussed live and online within Whatever you Want! at Grüner Salon of the Volksbühne Berlin and on various other digital and real stages. This year, the new series Commissioned by – Art in Relation illuminates the specifics of an art on a civic mission from the perspectives of art history, sociology, anthropology, architecture and urban development, economics, art mediation, and conflict mediation. Essays, statements, proposals for action and practical formats such as seminars and workshops are presented on a monthly basis. Contributions by arch+, Karin Harrasser, Silke Helfrich/Commons Institute, Shannon Jackson, Judith Laister, Isabelle Stengers, Nora Sternfeld and international actors of the New Patrons, among others, will be available on our website as a growing archive as well as published with different media and cooperation partners. See Public Dialogue...Press review The patrons groups had a number of visits from press and media last year. Television and radio reports were broadcast by ZDF, Deutsche Welle, Deutschlandfunk and various stations of RBB, among others. Comprehensive articles appeared in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, on Zeit online and in taz. Reports in the Rheinische Post, Berliner Zeitung and MOZ, to name just a few, accompanied the activities in the regions. The yearbook of the Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft and the magazine of the German Federal Cultural Foundation helped to raise awareness of the New Patrons model in Germany. And then there was... Since 2018, we have offered the seminar Mediation within the New Patrons model at the Institute for Art in Context at the Berlin University of the Arts. There have also been seminars and workshops at the Bauhaus University Weimar, the HfbK Dresden and other institutions, some of which will continue this year.

2020 Review

Thank you very much for your support in the past year! We wish you peaceful and healthy holidays and look forward to seeing you again in the new year.

Have fun with these impressions from 2020!

WATCH VIDEO

Whatever You Want! #8: Online edition

PETITIONS, PROTESTS, LIQUIDE DEMOCRACY – FANTASIES OF EMPOWERMENT OR MUCH-NEEDED DEMOCRACY UPDATE?

PANEL DISCUSSION AT GRÜNER SALON OF VOLKSBÜHNE BERLIN

With Lewamm Ghebremariam, campaign strategist at Change.org e. V., founder of the network Wake Up Eritrea, board member of Clubcommission e. V. Christopher Lauer, publicist and former member of the Berlin House of Representatives Alexander Koch, director of the Gesellschaft der Neuen Auftraggeber (Society of New Patrons)

Moderation Christine Watty, Deutschlandfunk Kultur

We are pleased to present the 8th edition of our event series Whatever you Want! in collaboration with Volksbühne Berlin as an online format.

WATCH DISCUSSION

Online petitions, iconoclasms and toppling monuments, civil disobedience and bottom-up processes—current participation models all have one thing in common: they believe that participation in civil society goes beyond representative and democratic processes.

In recent months, for example, the Fridays for Future movement and Black Lives Matter protests have increased public awareness of demands to deal with climate change and racism. Is this mobilization an expression of the often-cited “crisis of democracy” or, on the contrary, a sign of the vitality of the democratic model.

Against this background, we want to learn more about trust in existing political institutions—and about progressive ideas for an optimistic update to democracy. We will take a look into the analog and digital toolbox of civic engagement and ask what we can achieve with which instruments. The focus, at the end of the parliamentary day, is on everything that differentiates fantasies of empowerment and feel-good yet politically ineffective clicktivism from action that might actually change the world.

Guests enter into the ambivalences of current forms of collective self-empowerment. What is there to the concept of initiative democracy, which offers self-representation as an alternative to being represented? Who speaks for whom? Who is (not) participating? What about power? And what does art do?

Was Ihr wollt! Die Neuen Auftraggeber: Ermächtigungsfantasien? Petitionen, Liquid Democracy, Neue Auftraggeber

+++CANCELLED+++

According to the recommendations of the Robert Koch Institute on the COVID-19 virus, the event has unfortunately been cancelled. We will inform you promptly about a possible new date for the event. You can find detailed information about the refund modalities of already purchased tickets HERE.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020, 7pm@Grüner Salon/ Volksbühne Berlin Panel discussion, in German

With Alexander Koch, Director Gesellschaft der Neuen Auftraggeber Christopher Lauer, publicist and former member of the Berlin House of Representatives Paula Peters, Chief Global Officer Europe at change.org Host: Pia Rauschenberger, journalist (Deutschlandfunk Kultur, amongst others)

From online petitions, a democracy festival in the Olympic Stadium, demands for liquid democracy, and civil disobedience in climate policy to bottom-up processes in Neue Auftraggeber projects, participation models currently being discussed have one thing in common: they conceive civil society participation beyond traditional representative-democratic processes.

Is this part of the oft-cited “crisis of democracy,” a symptom of lost trust in existing political institutions? Or, on the contrary, an assertive update to democracy as an expression of a contemporary, lively parliament of the many? And more importantly: are these effective instruments in the analogue and digital toolbox of civic engagement? What can we actually achieve with such tools? At the end of the parliamentary day, do they remain nothing more than fantasies of empowerment, politically ineffective feel-good clicktivism?

This evening will be dedicated to answering these questions. It will interrogate the ambivalences in current forms of collective self-empowerment. What is there to the concept of initiative democracy, which opposes being-represented to self-representation? Who speaks for who? Who is (or isn’t) part of the conversation? How does power figure in with this? And what is art’s role?

Further info and tickets Photo: Tadashi Kawamata, Mémoire en demeure, 2003-2006, Saint-Thélo, France © Les Nouveaux Commanditaires

Funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation. Kindly supported by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe and the Federal Agency for Civic Education.

Was Ihr wollt! Die Neuen Auftraggeber: Neue Bauherrschaften - Öffentliche Architektur im Bürgerinnenauftrag

Dienstag, den 14. Januar 2020 um 19:00 Uhr

In Kooperation mit ARCH+

„Architektur ist das Ordnen von sozialen Beziehungen durch Gebautes“, so der Philosoph Christian Posthofen. Und also ist Architektur auch ein sozialer Kampfplatz: Wem gehört und wer nutzt das Gebaute? Wer plant es, wer braucht es – und wozu? Und das öffentliche Bauen? Wer entscheidet über das Programm, die Finanzierung, die Gestaltung, wenn neue Schulen und Rathäuser, Straßen und Plätze entstehen? Wem gehört die Stadt, wem das Dorf? Das Gespräch an diesem Abend will neue Perspektiven und progressive Beispiele einer neuen öffentlichen Architektur im Bürgerinnenauftrag aufzeigen. In Kooperation mit der Architekturzeitschrift ARCH+ sollen Projekte und Debatten aus Vergangenheit und Gegenwart Wege aufzeigen, wie neue Bauherrschaften aus allen Teilen der Gesellschaft das öffentliche Bauen zu ihrer Sache machen können, um soziale Beziehungen neu zu gestalten.

Diskussionsrunde in deutscher Sprache mit u.a. Christoph Schäfer, Künstler, Stadtplaner, Planbude Alexander Koch, Direktor Gesellschaft der Neuen Auftraggeber Anh-Linh Ngo, Herausgeber / Editor-in-chief ARCH+Hier gibt es mehr Info und Tickets. Foto: Simon Patterson, La maison forestière, 2011, Ors, France © Les Nouveaux Commanditaires Gefördert durch die Kulturstiftung des Bundes. Mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa und der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung.

Discourse at Grüner Salon/ Volksbühne: #5/6 Mouth shut? Practice in times of noisy rhetoric.

Tuesday, 12th November at 7 p.m.Tickets and more info It can get loud with everyone screaming and shouting. Sometimes it’s healthy but overdoing it can poison the social climate. Meanwhile we might miss something much quieter, yet incomparably more powerful: action. Precisely when we act, without too many words, is when we can accomplish something powerful. This evening's Diskurs is about action and how it transforms. How can we take action against our problems, and conflicts, instead of only talking about them? How can action be used to change society? Does art, especially, contain within it a promise of transformation? While screaming mouths fight for dominance, perhaps the ground is already being dug up around them.

Discourse in German with: Alice Creischer (artist, author) Dorothea von Hantelmann (art historian, curator) Maria Schmidt (activist, Extinction Rebellion) Zoë Claire Miller (artist, speaker bbk berlin, co-founder Berlin Art Prize) Moderation: Alexander Koch

Photo: Fabien Rigobert, Logis Castille, 2008 - 2010, Amiens, France © Les Nouveaux Commanditaires Funded by Kulturstiftung des Bundes. With the kind support of Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa and Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung.

OUT NOW! Atlas of Social Innovation, Volume II

The Atlas of Social Innovation series provides a comprehensive overview of the multifaceted manifestations and practices of social innovation from a global perspective. This second volume brings together leading experts of the field. In 43 articles, the atlas gives new insights into current trends of social innovation research and its connection to other schools of thought and research traditions. A global project by Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund. Including an essay by our director Alexander Koch about the New Patrons/ Neue Auftraggeber.

Find more information here.

Was Ihr wollt! Die Neuen Auftraggeber Von der Wut zum Mut: Über politische Beziehungskrisen

15th October 2019, starting at 7 p.m. (entry at 6 p.m.) @ Grüner Salon/ Volksbühne Berlin

Which new strategies does politics offer to cities and towns, and to their civil societies? How can filter bubbles and echo chambers be opened up, creating new chances for democratic compromises? What kind of language must we invent, which would allow us to understand each other better, to endure and overcome our conflicts? We would like to listen to people who can report from their own practices, describing how they involved whole towns in their discussions, sketched plans for a new community consciousness, or reached new public audiences. A workshopping conversation with representatives from the laboratory of local politics.

Discourse in German: Steffi Wiesner, Koordinatorin für Freiwilligenarbeit im Landkreis Potsdam-Mittelmark, Sprecherin der, Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Freiwilligenagenturen im Land Brandenburg (Lagfa Brandenburg) Simone Russo, Referentin und Steuerungsunterstützung Mitglied des Strategiezirkels der Stadt Bochum Claudia Neu, Projekt SOK – Neue Infrastrukturen für gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Department für Agrarökonomie und Rurale Entwicklung Lehrstuhl für Soziologie Ländlicher Räume Moderation: Gerrit Gohlke

Global Strike #AlleFürsKlima

On Friday September 20th you will meet us here: https://globalclimatestrike.net/

So, see you at high noon at the Brandenburg Gate.

In contrast to everything else, the climate can not wait anymore!

Auftrag formuliert – Die Neuen Auftraggeberinnen von Greifswald

In Greifswald hat die Gruppe der Auftraggeberinnen mit der Mediatorin Susanne Burmester ihren Auftrag formuliert. Die Lehrinnen der IGS Erwin Fischen wünschen sich einen künstlerischen Ausdruck für die Leistung, die sie täglich für die Gesellschaft erbringen.Hier gibt's weitere Infos zum Projekt.

Neue Auftraggaber at NDR Kulturjournal (TV)

Journalist Sylvie Kürsten accompanied the Neue Auftraggeber in Greifswald and Wietstock together with mediator Susanne Burmester. The result is a beautiful portrait showing the first projects in the north of the country.

Watch online (German)

Network meeting in Berlin

The network of Neue Auftraggeber meets regularly at various locations in Germany. The open exchange of project progress is an important part of the mediators' work. In the model regions in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia/ Rhineland and Ruhr area there are anchor points as regional contact points and communication centres for mediators, citizens and artists. The representatives of the anchor points were also invited to exchange ideas with us. It was particularly enriching to learn about the experiences of the French mediators Mari Linnman and Amanda Crabtree. Both have been successfully implementing projects in France for many years.

No Art Without a Purpose – Neue Auftraggeber at Spike Art Magazine

“Why does the integration of art into society, which is otherwise so difficult and almost always doomed to failure, seem to work here, of all places? And how has the New Patrons bridged the gap between the elitist and navel-gazing art world on the one hand and the everyday life of so-called normal people, on the other?”

This issue #59 of Spike Art Magazine looks at the non-heroic ways of doing things differently that can open our minds and make the world better. With an excellent text by Dominikus Müller about Neue Auftraggeber. Thanks to Spike for allowing us to publish this text online. Read.

Whatever You Want! Decision-Making on the Citizens’ Behalf. Is it Still Democratic? 12.03. at Volksbühne

Paneldiscussion In German with

Prof. Dr. Dr. Hans-Joachim Gießmann, Executive Director of the Berghof Foundation Dr. Nicole Rieber, Project Manager in the field of Digital Peace Education at the Berghof Foundation Prof. Dr. Angela Mickley emer., Conflict Management, Peace Education and Ecology in the Department of Social and Educational Sciences at the FH Potsdam, Head of Continuing Education Mediation at the FHP in cooperation with Konflikthaus e.V., Research/Development on Crisis Intervention with Social Focus, Dealing with the Past, Reconciliation. Co-Speaker of the Platform Civil Conflict Management Mechthild von Schwerin, mediator, landscape planner, artist Moderation: Alexander Koch, Director of Neue Auftraggeber

07.05.19, 7 pm, doors open from 6 pm, Ticket: 5 Euro / 3 Euro reduced fee

Further information and tickets

Whatever You Want! Decision-Making on the Citizens’ Behalf. Is it Still Democratic? 12.03. at Volksbühne

Paneldiscussion In German

12.03.19, 7 pm, doors open from 6 pm, Ticket: 5 Euro / 3 Euro reduced fee

3rd event: 07.05.19

Further information and tickets

Interview mit Gerrit Gohlke im Karuna Kompass

Berlins jüngste Straßenzeitung hat die 6. Ausgabe veröffentlicht. Unser Mediator Gerrit Gohlke hat sich mit Autor Dominikus Müller unterhalten und erklärt, wer die Neuen Auftraggeber sind. Ein sehr schönes Interview! Mit dem Kauf einer Ausgabe tun Sie auch noch Gutes! Der komplette Erlös bleibt bei den Verkäuferinnen und Verkäufern.

Mehr Infos

Whatever You Want! The Art of the New Patrons: When citizens become patrons 19.02.

Discourse In German

With Susanne Burmester, Denis Bury, Holger Friese, Gerrit Gohlke, Kathrin Jentjens, Alexander Koch and Lena Ziese Presented by Antje Stahl

1st event: 19.02.19, 19:00 , Ticket: 5 Euro

Around 500 projects have already been commissioned in Europe. For this opening evening, we will discuss the motivations behind them, the topics that top people's lists, and how artists come up with answers to the challenges on-site. How do the projects work? How does one become a patron? Who pays for it? And how might art be able to assert itself in the midst of life as a contribution to democratic cohesion? On this first of six evenings in the “Whatever You Want!” event series in the Grüner Salon, mediators for the New Patrons report on civic projects with international artists.

2nd event: 12.03.19

Further information and tickets

Die Neuen Auftraggeber von Mönchengladbach

In Mönchengladbach kommt es am Abteiberg zu einer neuartigen Projektpartnerschaft. Das Arbeitslosenzentrum Mönchengladbach e.V. und das Stiftische Humanistische Gymnasium (HUMA) wollen gemeinsam ein künstlerisches Projekt in Auftrag geben, das den Garten des Arbeitslosenzentrums umgestaltet und auf neue Weise in das städtische Leben integriert. Zu diesem Zweck soll ein international renommierter Künstler oder eine Künstlerin dafür gewonnen werden, den Garten als Ort des sozialen Miteinanders zu gestalten – und gemeinsam mit den Nutzern des Arbeitslosenzentrums und den Schülern des Gymnasiums in ein herausragendes Kunstwerk zu verwandeln. Der Garten soll auf diese Weise auch die starken sozialen Traditionen der Stadt künstlerisch in Erinnerung bringen.

Mehr zum Projekt

Gesellschaft der Neuen Auftraggeber erhält Auszeichnung “Berlin’s Best”

Berlin’s Best ist eine Auszeichnung von KREATIV KULTUR BERLIN, dem Beratungszentrum für Kulturförderung und Kreativwirtschaft in Berlin. Ausgezeichnet werden Akteure, die Lösungen anbieten, Netzwerke, die Dinge voranbringen oder Unternehmen, die einen Mehrwert für andere schaffen – und die Gesellschaft der Neuen Auftraggeber ist als Best Practice Beispiel dabei. Im Interview mit Berlin’s Best verraten Alexander Koch, Gerrit Gohlke und Karola Matschke mehr über die Neuen Auftraggeber und die Idee dahinter.

Hier nachlesen

Spaces of Culture des Goethe-Instituts zu Gast im Berliner Büro

Die Initiative “Spaces of Culture” des Goethe-Instituts war zu Gast bei uns! Die Gruppe junger Kulturarbeiterinnen aus der Türkei hat angeregt mit Alexander Koch diskutiert, wie Menschen Teilhabe an Kulturprojekten ermöglicht werden kann.

Mehr zum Programm

Veranstaltung im Schloss Genshagen: Impulse für die Stärkung der Zivilgesellschaft in Europa

Die Stiftung Genshagen und Neue Auftraggeber laden Vertreterinnen und Vertreter aus Politik, Wirtschaft und Stiftungslandschaft ein. Es wird das europäische Netzwerk Neue Auftraggeber vorgestellt, das in den Nachbarländern seit vielen Jahren erfolgreich kulturelle Potenziale und soziale Dynamiken aktiviert. Auch in Deutschland zeigt dieses Modell vor allem in ländlichen Regionen und Städten im Strukturwandel seine Wirkung. Seit 2017 unterstützt in Deutschland die Kulturstiftung des Bundes für fünf Jahre die Pilotphase des Projekts mit 2 Millionen Euro. Gemeinsam werden strukturelle und finanzielle Perspektiven erörtert, um die Neuen Auftraggeber mittel- und langfristig in Deutschland zu etablieren – etwa durch Unterstützungsnetzwerke aus Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft.

Förderer: PwC-Stiftung Jugend - Bildung - Kultur Die Gesellschaft der Neuen Auftraggeber wird durch die Kulturstiftung des Bundes unterstützt.

Symposium im Bärenzwinger Berlin

Vom 26. bis 27. Oktober 2018 veranstaltet das künstlerische Leitungsteam des Berliner Bärenzwingers ein Symposium in Neukölln. Bei dieser Veranstaltung sollen künstlerische, wissenschaftliche und stadtpolitische Positionen zusammenkommen, um die vergangene, gegenwärtige und zukünftige Nutzung, Funktion und Bedeutung dieses Orts gemeinsam zu diskutieren. Alexander Koch ist als Gast eingeladen und wird Die Neuen Auftraggeber als Strukturmodell für eine zeitgenössische Kultur im Bürgerauftrag vorstellen.

Weitere Infos und Teilnahme

Vortrag in Athen – Die nächste Revolution? Über Konflikte, Begehren und die Bewegung der neuen Auftraggeber in Europa

Am 18.11.2018 hält Alexander Koch als Mitbegründer der Bewegung Neue Auftraggeber in Deutschland einen Vortrag bei der Biennale in Athen. Er wird besonders spannende Projekte aus ganz Europa vorstellen und zur Debatte stellen.

Weitere Infos (in Englisch)

Ihr Auftrag bitte!

"Tobias Asmuth erzählt eine jüngere Episode aus der Geschichte des kleinen Dorfs Blessey in der französischen Provinz nach, wie die Zusammenarbeit mit dem weltbekannten Schweizer Künstler Rémy Zaugg das Dorf und das Selbstbewußtsein seiner Bewohner verändert hat. Es ist eiun herausragendes Beispiel dafür, welchen nachhaltigen Wirkungen die NEUEN AUFFRAGGEBER, die seit Frühjahr 2017 durch die Kulturstiftung des Bundes auch in Deutschland gefördert werden, zeitigen können." aus dem Editorial des Magazin #31 der Kulturstifung des Bundes.

Lesen Sie den Artikel hier