collision of arts

The five artists who make up our group's organisational team visited Ebersbach-Neugersdorf as a new project location for a fortnight and laid the foundations for a successful ‘Collision of the Arts’. The ‘Collision of the Arts’ team spent two weeks in Ebersbach-Neugersdorf in May. We pursued our respective artistic fields of activity and developed our first participatory approaches. 
This led to networking with local players in the cultural scene, first and foremost GründerZeiten e.V.: they are actively dedicated to preserving the former textile factory, which they named after the former factory owner ‘Lina Koch’. Based on the history of the building, which in some aspects is exemplary for the more recent history of the town, we were able to get an impression of the place.
At the end of our stay, we took part in the annual honey festival and put our ideas to the test.  For example, there was a hands-on movement activity which, in combination with food colouring, was great fun, especially for the little artists from Neugersdorf. We also put up large pinboards on which local residents answered our region-related questions and we were able to better understand the issues that affect the town. We were able to observe the creation of a large mural that deals with the textile history of the region and now adorns the outside wall of the Kulturfabrik. We also set up a cinema room in which we presented the documentation of our project in Weißwasser, giving us an impression of what can be created in Ebersbach-Neugersdorf.

In addition to our 5 association members, we would like to create 5 art residencies in Neugersdorf. The invited artists will be present in the town for a fortnight in the summer of 2025 to realise their site-specific projects and come into contact and interact with as many people as possible.
At the beginning of this period, there will be a welcome party for the artists and local residents so that interaction is possible from day one. Halfway through, there will be an ‘open day of creation’ so that interested parties have the opportunity to see the works in process. The finale of the two-week residency will be the opening of our exhibition at the Lina Koch, which will be accompanied by a supporting programme with live music, workshops and guided tours. The exhibition will then be presented for a further week with guided tours. In addition, works will be developed that are intended to remain on site. By means of the project, we want to stimulate a revitalisation, encourage participation and promote tolerance and diversity through the diversity of our art collision.