“Urban development without culture is no longer imaginable today, because the connection ensures new forms of thinking and design.” – Dr. Hilke Berger

Especially in a time of social and political uncertainty, the role of artistic creation is essential for a resilient democratic society. As clear and - hopefully - consensual as this statement is, it seems difficult to implement in reality.

Rising commercial rents, the conversion of entire commercial complexes and real estate speculation are leading to the displacement of artists, exhibition venues and cultural initiatives from inner-city neighborhoods. Precarious incomes and enormous rent increases are leading to the loss of studios that are essential to artists' existence. The development of new studio spaces is rarely successful and is often limited in time.

The symposium explores the question of how working and production conditions for art can be significantly changed.

• What scientific approaches are being developed?
• What is the situation in other European cities and how are the challenges being met there?
• What does urban development of the future look like if it takes these challenges into account?
• Can increased international exchange in a network open up new opportunities and lend more emphasis to necessary demands?

In keynote speeches, the participants from London and Copenhagen will present their situation and the work of their organizations. A scientific classification is the subject of Prof. Dr. Renée Tribble's impulse. In the subsequent World Café, the discussion will open up to all those present, which will then be continued in an in-depth discourse on the panel.

Schedule

10.30 a.m. Arrival of the guests
11.00 a.m. Welcome by Sylvia Henze
11.15 a.m. Impulse Renée Tribble, TU Dortmund
11:45 a.m. Impulse Michala Paludan, Copenhagen
12:15 p.m. Impulse Lea O'Loughlin, ACME, London
12:45 World Café
13:30 Lunch
14:30 - 16:30 Panel (Renée Tribble/ Michala Paludan/ Lea O'Loughlin/Sylvia Henze/Moderation Constanze Brockmann)
From 16:30 Discussion and conclusion.

The event will be held in English. There is a handicapped-accessible entrance and parking spaces available.

Address: Künstlerhaus Sootbörn, Künstlerhaus Sootbörn e.V., Sootbörn 22, 22453 Hamburg, https://kuenstlerhaus-sootboern.de

An event of the Atelier für die Kunst e.V., on the occasion of its 35th anniversary, project patronage Internationale Gesellschaft der Bildenden Künste (IGBK).

Lea O'Loughlin
Co-Director of Acme, London

Supporting artists since 1972, Acme is a charity in London which provides affordable studios, work/live space and a programme of residencies and awards. It supports over 830 artists across 15 buildings, and will open a new studio building for 30-40 artists this Autumn. Acme is also currently campaigning to purchase the Acme Propellor Factory building, London's largest affordable artist studios housing a community of 180 artists.

"Acme was founded by artists, for artists, in 1972. We support the development and production of art by reducing the practical challenges that artists face, increasing their ability to take creative risks. We work collaboratively with partners to deliver affordable and secure artist studio provision, and develop pioneering residencies and awards programmes that support artists at all stages of their careers.“

Lea O’Loughlin is Co-Director of Acme, the largest provider of permanent affordable artist studios in England. Lea has held various roles at Adelaide Central Gallery (Adelaide, Australia), The Museum of Modern Art (New York, USA), and The Royal British Society of Sculptors, The Florence Trust, Tate, Gasworks, Cubitt Artists’ Studios (London, UK). Prior to her appointment as Co-Director in 2018, she was Head of Residencies and Awards at Acme.

With expertise in artist mobility, precarity, access, diversity and inclusion, and the long-term resilience of cultural organisations, Lea is an honorary board member of Res Artis, the international network for artist residencies, having previously served as President from 2018 to 2022, and a previous member of the British Council’s UK Arts Hubs Advisory Board. She currently sits on the steering group for Contemporary Visual Arts Network (CVAN) London, champions artist mobility as a member of On the Move, and regularly contributes to research, advocacy and evaluation projects.

Michala Paludan
Artist, Copenhagen

Michala Paludan is a Danish artist currently living and working in Copenhagen. Paludan is a fellow of the Whitney Independent Study Program and received an MFA from California Institute of the Arts, prior to that she studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. During the past decade Paludan has framed how power is produced and negotiated across networks and movements, through media such as video, photography and installation. Paludan has exhibited widely in Scandinavia and abroad.
She is active in cultural politics and has extensive knowledge of the studio situation in Copenhagen. She is currently the chair of The Council for Visual Art in Copenhagen and part of an independent working group for artist housing in Copenhagen. Prior to this Pauldan was the chairperson of UKK, which is an professional organisation for artists, curators, and art mediators. They work for a sector of art with more diversity, new forms of practice, and mission-oriented structural development.

Prof. Dr. Renée Tribble
Head of Department and Professor of Urban Design, Urban Land Use Planning and Urban Design Processes, TU Dortmund University

Renée Tribble is Professor of Urban Design, Urban Land Use Planning and Urban Design Processes at the Technical University of Dortmund and an independent planner. She is a founding member and partner of PlanBude Hamburg and Projektbüro, also in Hamburg. She received her diploma in architecture from Bauhaus University Weimar and worked at HafenCity University from 2008 to 2014 as a research assistant in the field of urban design and neighborhood planning. She was a visiting professor for urban development planning and management at the University of Kassel and completed her doctorate under the title "Reizungen und Reaktionen: Art and Planning". Her focus is on the conception, consultation and support of urban development processes, participatory and cooperative urban planning, urban design, process design and moderation. In her research she concentrates on urban practice, art, alternative urban development and cooperative planning processes.

Sylvia Henze
Artist and chair of Ateliers für die Kunst, Hamburg

Sylvia Henze has been committed to the creation of affordable workspaces for artists since she became the chair person of the Ateliers für die Kunst association in 2003. She is active in cultural policy, initiates relevant networks and is spokesperson for the Arbeitsgruppe bildende Kunst. The AgbK is an association of artists' organisations, museums, galleries, etc., which campaigns for better conditions for the visual arts in Hamburg.
As an artist, she works in the fields of sculpture, installation, photography and video. Her works, which can be categorised as conceptual art, often deal with socially critical or political themes. She often works in an international context and has spent several years abroad, for example in Hungary and Cyprus, where she has addressed geopolitical issues in her work and exhibited internationally. She has received various grants, e.g. from the Stiftung Kunstfond, the Hamburgische Kulturstiftung, the European Union and the Hungarian Ministry of Culture.