Regeneration of Leipzig
Michael Artz
Tapetenwerk is a small factory not far from here that people tried to develop in nearly similar concept like Spinnerei. That means that there are galleries, that there are exhibition spaces, that there are offices for cultural workers. And it is still running until today. There is also a building now called Westwerk, which functions also the same as Spinnerei. It is a new factory building a very huge one. But it is used in a similar way that a lot of corporates and creative people try to figure out how to make their dreams real here. There are exhibition spaces. There are also spaces for rent. There are galleries. There are also of course studios of artists.
Maybe what is also very important that it is not a similar structure but also what has happened around Lindenau Market. The Lindenau Market is also close to here. There was a possibility for cultural workers to get rooms very cheap in context initiative that is called Haushalten. The fact of this initiative was that around Lindenau Market a lot of art rooms and artist-run spaces and artist associations open own space there.
At the beginning without realizing that they are not the only one. There are also other people doing similar things there. But after a while they become of course aware of it that they are not the only one. Because they realized that during the opening one day there were somehow more visitors than normally are at the openings. They realised that there is at the corner another artist space that has opening right now accidentally. So they came together and said, okay, so it functions accidentally, maybe other can function with plan.
They funded art space network for non-profit places called Lindenau. Then more or less it is a play with words Linde and Naum and organizes art events. Maybe somehow little bit similar like the gallery work I mentioned before. That means they also announce the openings. They put the openings together at one date. Make the openings at same time and call it Lindenau. They make a special promotion for this event and make this really packed so a lot of people visit these exhibitions there in Lindenau. And since then I think it is also around 5 years this collaborative is working. They try to establish somehow but could it mean non-profit artist-run spaces network.
Also very interesting maybe not the issue of this but somehow connected with this issue is that they also are engaged in civic movement against fascist cultural center in the middle of the quarter. It is also maybe a well know thing that the right wing movement is not that weak in Eastern Germany. So they have also their cultural centers and one is in Leipzig Lindenau. And they tried also somehow figure out how to deal against such a movement in their own neighbourhood.
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