soziale stadt - bundestransferstelle
besonderem Entwicklungsbedarf - Soziale Stadt"
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5.6 District Culture
The vibrancy and identity of city districts are intertwined with the richness of their cultural life (1). More than half of all programme districts are highly multicultural societies whose inhabitants come from a myriad of cultural, social and religious backgrounds (2). On the one hand a district's assimilates different groups. On the other hand local colour is a blend of precisely this variegated palette of subcultures. Creativity is born of the tension between constraint and freedom, betweeen deficit and potential, particularly when various actors converge and create new alliances: "Confrontation with art and culture broadens our horizons, reaffirms basic values, sharpens our sense of social belonging and is part and parcel of emancipation, character development, individual freedom and determining individuals' life purpose and sense of self. […] Art and culture are oases where people can transcend the roles of labourer and consumer imposed on them by market society.“(3) Cultural activities underscore and demonstrate the distinctive characteristics each district has developed as a result of its history, inhabitants, architecture and public spaces, allowing the "cultural topography" to be discovered or reclaimed (4).
In areas that have an Integrated Action Plan in place or which are in the process of implementing one (5), nearly three quarters have integrated district culture into their schemes. Of all measures and projects being undertaken, those falling under the rubric of district culture are quite popular, ranking sixth out of 17 fields of activity. This is probably due to the small scale and low cost of cultural projects (e.g. children's painting projects, street or outdoor parties, community gatherings and small theatrical performances) that are comparatively simple to realize.
Culture-related problems and opportunities in programme districts
When asked to name the problems in their districts, just under 60% mentioned deficits in sociocultural infrastructure. We can, however, safely assume that cultural aspects play a role in other problem areas as well (e.g. a lack of children's and youth organizations and/or recreation and sport facilities). Some model districts, for example Ludwigshafen-Westend, Singen-Langenrain and Schwerin-Neu Zippendorf, have pinpointed a lack of cultural facilities as particularly problematic. In Neunkirchen city centre there have been complaints about the inadequate events and communications infrastructure. In Hannover-Vahrenheide-Ost (6) they speak of "over-burdened local facilities."
At the same time more than half of the programme districts consider their existing sociocultural infrastructure an asset to further development. 45% have made the improvement of sociocultural infrastructure their aim.
Strategies for nurturing district culture
The district cultural projects are multifaceted, focusing on developing creative potential, establishing and strengthening a sense of identity and on closely-related image improvement, participation and learning with an emphasis on communication. Although culture cannot be instrumentalized to eliminate social deficits, it is precisely in disadvantaged neighbourhoods that culture finds itself up against social difficulties (7). In this atmosphere cultural initiatives also assume an informal educational function.
Art and cultural projects are capable of integrating difficult-to-reach groups into the district development process. This is because these projects do not require language skills or high levels of education, but simply the ability to spontaneously get involved in something new, to take practice-oriented, nonverbal action and to stretch ones imagination and creative abilities. Addressing individual population groups face to face and arranging cultural activities to fit in with daily routines is the most successful method to spur community involvement.
Strategies encouraging district culture in Socially Integrative City areas are aimed at weaving art and culture into the fabric of the local communities, creating opportunities to identify with the programme areas, improving image, casting the districts in a new light by launching cultural initiatives, changing accepted perceptions and inspiring new modes of learning and expression, along with establishing and expanding cultural networks. The projects and initiatives commonly rely on productive tasking, i.e. an emphasis on participation and doing-it-yourself.
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Practical example |
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Neighbourhood art projects By constructing sculptures and starting art projects many programme districts are attempting to break away from monotonous design, create new reference points, showcase their neighbourhoods, inspire identification and make public spaces more attractive for all. Art projects are often conceived, constructed and even financed by local individuals or organizations. Pictures clockwise from top left: "Balanceakt", residential development in Berlin-Hellersdorf(an art sculpture on the roof of a highrise, a metaphor for the difficulties of human interaction) (Photo: Wolf-Christian Strauss, Berlin); "Windwörter" art construction site, housing complex I-III in Neuruppin(under artistic guidance local youths mounted words they considered important to their lives on four-metre poles; the words rotate in the wind) (Photo: Plankontor, Neuruppin);"Warnowthron" in Rostock Groß Klein (an example of art objects made of salvaged materials from the kunstschule rostock e.V., the surfaces of the spheres were designed by children and youths under artistic guidance) (Photo: Stefan Albrecht, Eickhof); "Kunst aufs Dach" in EastLeipzig(An idea stemming from Forum for East Leipzig). Artworks including a representation symbolizing a rising sun and photos of pupils from the "Ostentdeckungen" [Discovering the East] competition were installed on the roof of an old service station with the help of local young people) (Photo: Andreas Kaufmann, Leipzig). |
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In some programme areas the primary goal is to establish venues for cultural activities, for example by reallocating or remodelling existing buildings and room space for cultural purposes. This is particularly viable for large estates in the former East German districts where the dismantling of infrastructure and urban contraction offer immense possibilities for the reutilization and remodelling of vacant spaces for cultural events. Cultural initiatives, clubs and artists have the opportunity to use event space either free of charge or for a small fee (8). Integrating the community directly through low-threshold schemes allows residents to become active in their neighbourhoods.
Establishing and strengthening a sense of identitycan be assissted by "the search for clues in the district itself", i.e. delving into district and local history and and making it a tangible presence. Both long-time and newly settled residents go on "expeditions", experiencing new aspects of their district. Film and photo documentation, exhibitions, publications, thematic walks and interviews provide a good basis for reappraisal of local history (9). Small-scale community festivals and wide-ranging cultural events can also contribute to a stronger sense of identity. "Historical workshops" provide interested citizens with the opportunity to learn more about the history of their quarters. They sniff out the traces of lifestyles in times gone by and compare them to contemporary life (10). Artworks often produced in conjunction with local individuals become hallmarks of specific locations, functioning as eye-catchers, signposts, and orientation guides. They can act as unsettling or thought-provoking messages, spurring residents to reevaluate parts of their district, even leading to a reassessment by the city as a whole (11).
Initiatives and measures supporting culture go a long way towards improving a district's image, both internally and externally. As an integral part of coordinated public works they not only boost the district's image, but often have an effect beyond the borders, bringing about a more positive perception from outside (12).
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Practical example |
(Pictures: Daylight Filmproduktion, Berlin) |
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Hip-hop festival at Kotti (Berlin-Kreuzberg–Kottbusser Tor) The annual hip-hop festival in Kreuzberg gives children and youth the opportunity to showcase their talents. The youngsters are involved from the very start, helping to set up and organize the event and receiving remuneration for their efforts. The rap festival is a competitive event. A jury consisting of hip-hoppers and residents from the quarter presents the prizes which are donated by housing companies and local property owners. At the hip-hop festival 2001, 19 bands performed in front of a crowd of 600. |
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Cultural measures and projects in districts work towards constructing cultural networks which allow all relevant players to get involved in promoting culture. Possible partners include: administrative departments, clubs, local sociocultural institutions, schools, childcare facilities, churches, community education centres, neighbourhood management and businesspeople. The resulting artworks are not the primary goal, it is the cooperative process which is the crucial feature. Emphasis is placed on nonverbal forms of communication such as dance, music, sport or games. With their organizational experience, expert knowledge, and communicative structures clubs offer optimal prerequisites for launching new initiatives (e.g. amateur dramatics, music, dance, literature and painting groups).
Several of the model areas have clubs concentrating on cultural work (13). The club Kultur vor Ort e.V. in Bremen-Gröpelingen combines its work with district development. Kultur vor Ort e.V. conceives culture as the nurturing of a democratic and communicative public, counteracting resignation and apathy in their neighbourhood with a model of creative participation. It considers local culture a concrete link between the physical structure of the city and the social and cultural life of the district. “Art and culture are not merely the icing on the cake of urban life available to a select few. More accurately, they function as a driving force behind public activities and catalysts for civic life. This is because art and culture are capable of transcending social, ethnic and religious boundaries, they can build a sense of identity, strengthen social competencies and even generate economic impulses.“(14) It is essential for the participation of diverse population groups that projects and activities are intercultural in their conception and take place locally, as is often the case in sociocultural centres (15) and "district shops" (16).
Cultural youth work, which adopts social interaction methods, takes children and young people seriously. It encourages them to participate and integrate, increases their self-esteem, helps lend their life purpose and advises them on handling daily life. Open crafts, painting, music and games courses for children appeal to a broader audience; adults can often be reached through such initiatives too. In autumn 1999 the project mus-e (Multicultural Social School Project for Europe) was initiated in the programme districts in North Rhine-Westfalia with half of the funds coming from public coffers and the other half from the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation Germany.(17) Art and creative exploration help children to develop their personalities, build self-confidence and improve social skills, nurturing balanced and tolerant young people. Sir Yehudi Menuhin, patron of the project, said, “Children must first learn to sing and dance. Mathematics and languages can come later.
The pilot project “Bitte wenden! Kunstaktionen auf der Rückseite der Stadt” (Please turn over! Art projects on the reverse side of the city) was launched by the Bundesverband der Jugendkunstschulen und kulturpädogogischen Einrichtungen e.V. (Federal Association of Youth Art Schools and Cultural Education Institutions, or bjke) in the second half of 2002 as part of the programme Perspectives for Young People in Social Conflict Areas. In this context eight youth art schools offer mobile, culturally educational projects for children and youth in Socially Integrative City areas: "Working with artists and cultural and social educators, young residents made one design wish come true in their community between June and September 2002. The bjke model project aims to draw on the strengths of children and young people from socially disadvantaged areas through participatory art projects and to make cultural instruction a fundamental element of city renewal."(18)
(1) Bernd Meyer, Kultur in der Stadt - Empfehlungen, Hinweise und Arbeitshilfen des Deutschen Städtetages 1987-1998, Stuttgart 1998, p. 28. 
(2) In Hannover-Vahrenheide, for example, there are inhabitants registered from 58 different countries. (Geiling/Schwarzer/Heinzelmann/Bartnick, Begleitende Dokumentation, p. 30)
(3) Kulturpolitischer Leitantrag des SPD-Vorstandes – auf Initiative des Kulturforums der Sozialdemokratie zum Nürnberger Parteitag im Herbst 2001 – Informationsdienst Soziokultur No. 46, p. 1.
(4) Ulrike Meyer and Ulla-Kristina Schuleri-Hartje, "Kultur im Stadtteil", Soziale Stadt info 10 (2002), p. 2.
(5) Integrated action plans exist or are being formulated in 187 of 222 programme districts (second survey, Difu 2002).
(6) Geiling/Schwarzer/Heinzelmann/Bartnick, p. 107.
(7) Deutscher Städtetag (Ed.), Kultur in der Stadt. Empfehlungen, Hinweise und Arbeitshilfen des Deutschen Städtetages 1987-1998, 1999, p. 16.
(8) Cf. the following projects in the database: Umnutzung eines ehemaligen Schlachthofareals (Nuremberg, Leonhardspark); Musikübungsräume - Umbau einer ehemaligen öffentlichen Toilettenanlage durch Jugendliche (Hamburg-Harburg - Mümmelmannsberg); Boxion - Kunst und Kultur für Leerläden (Berlin-Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg - Ortsteil Friedrichshain, Boxhagener Platz); Die Fassadengalerie. Leerstand als Kunstobjekt (Schwedt - Obere Talsandterrassen).
(9) Cf. the following projects in the database: "Es hat sich viel geändert - Menschen und Meinungen aus dem Piusviertel". Fotoausstellung über die Bewohnerschaft (Ingolstadt - Piusviertel); Videowerkstatt Westend. Kinder und Jugendliche erproben sich als Reporter und Filmemacher im Stadtteil (Wetzlar - Silhöfer Aue/Westend); Nachbarschafts-TV. Interkulturelle gemeinwesenorientierte Jugendarbeit (Dietzenbach - Östliches Spessartviertel); Stadt Deiner Träume. Stadtteilerkundung mit der Kamera (Düsseldorf- Flingern-Oberbilk).
(10) Cf. The Geschichtswerkstatt (History Workshop) in Cologne-Kalk (www.gw-kalk.de, updated: 10 September 2002). ”Our aim is to display the social, economic and cultural aspects of the working class suburb of Kalk. Our work focuses on people. How did the workers live who so decisively contributed to making Kalk the flourishing commercial centre it was? How did cultural life look in our suburb? Which developments can we expect in the future and what do they mean for the residents of Kalk.
(11) Cf. The following projects in the database: Kunstbaustelle "Windwörter" (Neuruppin - Wohnkomplex I-III); Kattentürme (Bremen - Osterholz, Blockdiek); Marxloh - Mosaik - Kunstprojekt zur Stärkung der Identifikation (Duisburg - Marxloh); Weihnachten in Westhagen. Lichtinstallation und Stadtinszenierung (Wolfsburg - Westhagen); Treppeninszenierung. Öffentliche Treppen im Stadtteil (Wuppertal - Ostersbaum).
(12) Two examples of inter-district strategies are the Consol Theater in the Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck district, founded in 1999 by the Forum kunstvereint e.V. on the former Consolidation mine (urban development aid (International Building Exhibition) funded the project [Austermann/Ruiz/Sauter, p. 32], and the Naomi Musical at the Astrid Lindgren School in Schwerin-Neu Zippendorf (Cramer/Schuleri-Hartje, p. 35).
(13) E.g. Berlin Kottbusser Tor – Kotti e.V. Neighbourhood and community clubs focused on district-related sociocultural work; Bremen–Gröpelingen: Kultur vor Ort e.V.; Hamburg-Altona–Lurup: Verein zur Förderung von Stadtteilkultur; Hannover–Vahrenheide-Ost: Stadtteilinitiative Kulturtreff Vahrenheide e.V . ; East Leipzig: Initiative Bürgerverein Volkmarsdorf aiming to foster art and culture in the district.
(14) Kultur Vor Ort.e.V. (Ed.), Kultur Vor Ort, Dokumentation 1998-2001, Bremen 2001, p. 10.
(15) ”Socioculture” includes a vast range of cultural work, events, approaches, themes and contents. It can be found in sociocultural centres and in many areas of cultural training, cultural youth work, cultural education, youth art schools and in some aspects of aesthetic education. Socioculture and facilities representing it are more closely geared towards taking a direct and frank approach to new social topics, problems and tasks than other cultural institutions. Because their cultural offerings are target-group oriented and because they actively incorporate visitors, sociocultural institutions are able to exert an integrative and preventative influence. According to Hermann Glaser socioculture is the attempt to understand art as a medium of communication – as a single, but very important way to bring pluralistic (and thus divided into a myriad of self-interests, conflicts of interest and prejudices) societies together at the "communicative level" (from Hermann Glaser, Tour d'horizon Kultur in der modernen Gesellschaft: Kulturpolitische Mitteilungen No. 61/62 II-III/93, p. 116).
(16) In Cottbus-Sachsendorf-Madlow a former child daycare facility was transformed into a sociocultural district centre and in Kassel-Nordstadt a former slaughterhouse was refunctioned into a cultural centre. This cultural centre is linked to the Nordstadt Project Round Table, (a decision-making panel for the implementation of the Socially Integrative City programme) ensuring participation in every phase of the district development process. Cf. the following projects in the database: South Side Centre - District Integration. Intercultural work in district cultural centres (Nürnberg, Südstadt); Cultural Centre Die Kunstplatte e.V. (Stendhal-Stadtsee); Bayouma House. Intercultural meeting place (Berlin-Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain - Boxhagener Platz).
(17) Mus-e is: “a social project which helps disadvantaged children overcome social barriers, violence and racism; a cultural project which brings music, dance, fine arts, etc. to culturally-disadvantaged neighbouthoods. Around 70 artists will be regularly engaged in the district over the next three years; a school project that delivers new impulses to district schools and strengthens their role as local institutions.”
(18) Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend, Bundesverband der Jugendkunstschulen und kulturpädagogischen Einrichtungen (bjke) e.V. (Ed.), handout, “Bitte wenden! Kunstaktionen auf der Rückseite der Stadt. Kulturpädagogische Projekte mit Kindern und Jugendlichen in Stadtteilen mit besonderem Entwicklungsbedarf 2002. Cf. infodienst KULTURPÄDAGOGISCHE NACHRICHTEN, No. 64 July/August 2002, p. 42-44.
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Translated from: Soziale Stadt - Strategien für die Soziale Stadt, Erfahrungen und Perspektiven – Umsetzung des Bund-Länder-Programms „Stadtteile mit besonderem Entwicklungsbedarf – die soziale Stadt", Deutsches Institut für Urbanistik 2003 |
Im Auftrag des BMVBS vertreten durch das BBR. Zuletzt geändert am 04.08.2005