Initiatives of the New Patrons in Spain, Croatia, and Germany have joined forces for a common project. In 2025 and 2026 they collaborate on Art Living Lab to Repair the Land. This EU-funded cooperation addresses the ecological and social consequences of industry and industrial change through citizen-commissioned artworks. At its core lies the demand for a “Just Transition” – a fair and equitable shift towards climate-neutral industries. As in all New Patrons projects, local knowledge, concrete needs, and the collaboration of diverse actors are at the heart of the process.
The cooperation focuses on three regions affected by industrial transformation. In Wietstock, in the northeastern German Vorpommern region, the project addresses the impacts of agriculture and industrial food production before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In Barruelo de Santullán, Spain, it looks at the aftermath of the closure of a coal-fired power plant that had once provided work for the entire town. And in Šibenik, Croatia, the project engages with the social and ecological consequences of “over-tourism,” which has replaced the city’s former carbide industry.
The citizen commissions are accompanied by public workshops and trainings in each country. An international publication will present the results at the end of the project period. The goal is to make local knowledge visible, bring it into broader discourse, and strengthen the European exchange around region-specific challenges.
In Germany, Art Living Lab to Repair the Land is coordinated and implemented by Kunstverein Rügen e. V., under the responsibility of mediator Susanne Burmester, Chair of the Society for Citizen-Commissioned Art and Mediation, supported by Lisa Marie Steude. In Spain, Concomitentes together with the RIA Foundation lead the project, mediated by Alfredo Escapa Presa. In Croatia, the Association for Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Research, with mediator Sonja Lebos, is responsible.
Participating Countries' Projects
Germany: Agriculture Aftermath
During the GDR period, most villagers in Wietstock (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) worked in the local agricultural cooperative (LPG). After reunification, it was transformed into a market-based enterprise with only five employees. Most residents lost their jobs, many left the village, and local self-governance was abolished. Today, Wietstock has around 120 inhabitants who face the challenge of rebuilding a sense of community while also responding to climate change and the monopoly of large agribusiness. How can they strengthen local, diverse agriculture and create a sustainable common good?
Spain: Energy Aftermath
During the heyday of coal mining, approximately 12,000 people lived in Barruelo de Santullán, linked in one way or another to the mining industry. Today there are only 1,200 people living there, most of them retired from the mining industry and their families. Some of them want to understand what is the material and immaterial legacy that their ancestors bequeathed them, in order to leave to those who succeed them something they can use to avoid repeating the dynamics and mistakes of the past. They want to rethink what is required to live from the co-responsibility with the human and more-than-human in a territory in which coal mining has been replaced by work in the biscuit industry in the nearby town of Aguilar de Campoo.
Croatia: Electricity Aftermath
The river Krka and its waterfalls enabled the city of Šibenik to be one of the first cities in the world that got lit by alternating current. Rapid electrification gave a strong impetus to the industrial development, especially carbide industry in the landscape around the river, giving Šibenik a special place on the global map of the proto-chemical industry at the start of the 20th century. This industry was dismantled at the beginning of the 21st century, when Šibenik turned to mono-economy of touristic (over)development. Many citizens regret that the industrial memory of their town has been erased, and therefore claim the possibility of inscribing the memory of the industry that enabled post WWII modernization of Šibenik.
Visit the Website of “Art Living Lab”
Art Living Lab to Repair the Land wird aus Mitteln des Programms Kreatives Europa der Europäischen Union ko-finanziert, sowie unterstützt vom Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Kultur, Bundes- und Europaangelegenheiten Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, der Daniel and Nina Carasso Stiftung (Spanien), dem Ministerium für Kultur und Medien der Republik Kroatien sowie der Stadt Zagreb/Büro für Kultur und Zivilgesellschaft (Kroatien). Art Living Lab to Repair the Land wird koordiniert von Concomitentes (Spanien) und gemeinsam entwickelt mit Association for Interdisciplinary & Intercultural Research (Kroatien), Kunstverein Rügen e.V. (Deutschland) und RIA Foundation (Spanien).
