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Solidarity Action #2: Hartware MedienKunstVerein (HMKV)

Dortmund for the Dortmunders – Whose city is it?

April 21 – July 22, 2012


Dortmund is known not only as the seat of the prominent sports club Borussia Dortmund (BVB), but also as a neo-Nazi stronghold. For many years, the latter have claimed Dortmund as "their" city. It is precisely this contention that is challenged by the project Dortmund for the Dortmunders –Whose city is it? initiated by the multilateral academy ggmbh (mla) and planned for a span of three years.

 

Dortmund for the Dortmunders – Whose city is it? seeks close scrutiny and open debate, an approach in direct contrast to the more "traditional" methods against right-wing groups, which range from disregard and expulsion (i.e. by having the city buy property rented by neo-Nazis and regulating their leases) to the time-tested stance of communication withdrawal ("We don’t talk to neo-Nazis").

 

A group of about thirty youths from the Autonomous Nationalist Movement (at the moment the most eloquent and proactive group in the right-wing scene in Dortmund) and a group of about thirty youths with strong democratic beliefs meet and work together in creative, future-oriented workshops. The main issue is Dortmund’s future: what does it look like? To whom does it belong? By challenging right-wing extremists, the workshops call into question areas of dominance; the latter strive to "win back" the public domain. The main goal of the project is to develop, test, and put into practice a methodical didactic concept for a direct and well-structured exchange between young people with right-wing viewpoints and those with democratic beliefs—all within a tolerant (but nevertheless confrontational) context. This project strives to strengthen democratic youths in their convictions against right-wing extremist ideology.

 

Dortmund for the Dortmunders – Whose city is it? is a collaboration in solidarity with the 7th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art. HMKV supports the project brought into life by the mla ggmbh, and takes part in the following activities:

  • a workshop with Artur Żmijewski (June 12–14, 2012) in the context of his exhibition Democracies, taking place at the HMKV, Dortmunder U

  • suggestions for artists bound by different project formats

  • and an exhibition at the end of the three-year period encompassing the project


Project partners: multilateral academy ggmbh (mla), Hartware MedienKunstVerein (HMKV), and others.

 

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