Fuß in der Tür #31 – Ist das noch radikal – oder nur noch gut gemeint, Ellen Blumenstein und Florian Malzacher?
With its working group Urbane Praxis, the Council for the Arts (Rat für die Künste) launched an initiative, which in
With its working group Urbane Praxis, the Council for the Arts (Rat für die Künste) launched an initiative, which in 2021 will show the cooperation and action field “Urbane Praxis” with Berlin-based actors in a network of city-wide campus projects. Using examples of various practices, also beyond Berlin, this podcast discusses perspectives and potentials of urban practice and why now is a good time to talk about it.
#31 – Ist das noch radikal – oder nur noch gut gemeint, Ellen Blumenstein und Florian Malzacher?
Democracy needs agonistic spaces where conflicts become visible and productive—not hidden away. Have art (in public spaces) and urban practice transformed from a place of potential disruption to a place of consensus—exploited by city administrations, real estate developers, or marketing departments to conceal conflicts? Have they mutated into social band-aids and now only serve to integrate, without naming lines of conflict? Are they losing precisely what they can achieve: irritation and genuine debate?
GUESTS:
Ellen Blumenstein works internationally in the field of contemporary art as a curator and author. Together with Florian Wüst, she founded the cultural policy initiative Haben und Brauchen (Have and Need) in Berlin in 2010. As founding director, she headed the IMAGINE THE CITY program in Hamburg until 2022, which realizes projects in an urban context at the intersection of culture and urban development. Prior to that, she was chief curator of the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin for five years. Since 2018, she has been accompanying the curated workshop process “Art and Planning” at Spreepark Berlin, in which five artistic concepts were selected by an advisory board for permanent implementation in the park.
Florian Malzacher is a curator, author, professor of dramaturgy and curatorial practice at the HfG Karlsruhe, and host of the series The Art of Assembly. From 2013 to 2017, he directed the Impulse theater festival, and before that, from 2006 to 2012, he was chief dramaturg and curator of the interdisciplinary festival Steirischer Herbst. His numerous publications on post-dramatic theater, the relationship between art, activism, and politics, and curatorial practice have been translated into over 15 languages. His most recent publication is the book Gesellschaftsspiele. Politisches Theater heute (Party Games: Political Theater Today).