GEWALT.FREI

Cologne / Leverkusen, 2011

Iris Hoppe and Kristina Leko With the participation of school children and students from several schools in Cologne Mülheim: Grundschule Kopernikusstr., Gesamthauptschule Tiefentalstr. and Hölderlin-Gymnasium as well as with a secondary school in Leverkusen Schlebusch.

A participatory art project with and for young people focused reflection and prevention of violence. The project encompassed discussions, writing and poster workshops, other artistic creative workshops as well as guest lectures from experts. It culminated in a public reading, a poster campaign throughout the City of Cologne and in an exhibition with related mediation program. At the same time, the same body of work was a research into different formats of art education in the context of violence prevention, and was as such funded by the regional Center for Political Education (Landeszentrale für politische Bildung NRW).

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Gewalt.Frei project was intended as a model project for the prevention of violence to be implemented in schools and youth centers. It pursued the goal of cultural and art education on the topic of violence and examined different forms of intolerance in our society. Within the workshops we worked using complex and holistic methods in order for participants to engage with and attend to a process of self-reflection. In addition, appeals were made to the social responsibility of each individual, with the aim of promoting a democratic nonviolent way of communication and action. A series of posters promoting nonviolence developed with children and young people were used for a poster campaign in the city of Cologne. In the second phase of the project an artistic exhibition to the theme of violence was used as a starting point for school workshop. Within that workshop young people developed their own artworks related to the subject, which were subsequently integrated in the exhibition, which was then used for guided tours related to the topic of violence prevention for the other school classes and other schools to attend.

Gewalt.Frei in Cologne – School-workshops and poster campaign.

Although the subject of violence is cross-social and applicable to all schools where cyber-bullying and bullying are concerned, this very theme gains more relevance in neighborhoods like Cologne-Mülheim or Leverkusen Schlebusch, which can be described as socially weak areas. By inducing reflection processes in the schools, we wanted to question the violence endemic to them, and accordingly to reduce it.

In cooperation with interested teachers three project groups were formed comprising 48 participating students from three schools in Cologne-Mülheim. Through discussion and the sharing of experiences of violence, as well as through creative workshops we produced texts and pictures, followed by a series of posters and a public reading. The poster campaign in the city of Cologne consisted of 18 different poster motifs in A1 format, displayed on 720 advertising pillars for the period of two weeks (15-28.11.2011). The campaign made the voice of children and adolescents present in public space. In this way, we encouraged our project participants to participate in democratic processes in their neighborhoods. This phase of the project was funded as a citizens’ initiative by the EU program Mülheim 2020, as both artists lived in Cologne Mülheim at the time.

Gewalt.Frei exhibition – School-workshop in Leverkusen.

The joint exhibition of Iris Hoppe and Kristina Leko in Kunstverein Leverkusen was a tool to bring participative work with young people to the next level. The exhibition showed two video installations and two text-based works, which developed different methods of participatory art making. In addition, the exhibition made a comprehensive overview of the topic of violence with respect to historical, cultural and contemporary social events: confessional and political violence, the French Revolution as well as violence in entertainment and the media. The exhibition itself was subjected to participatory mediation strategies which were embedded in it and further transformed the exhibition. The exhibition served as a starting point for creative workshops in the comprehensive school in Leverkusen Schlebusch and was extended through newly created artworks by the students two weeks later.

Based on our specific working methods, we developed a structure for the direct involvement of the young students in the artistic process. Artistic research materials (photos, videos, music, texts) were used to motivate the young people to engage in multi-faceted discussion of the topic in the form of discussions, exchange of experiences and their own artistic productions. Lectures and interactions with several invited speakers, experts from various disciplines yet related to violence, fed into further workshops. After a comprehensive examination of the subject of violence from different perspectives, we were able to take part with the young people in the development of their independent artistic processes. They created their own works of art, which fed into our "duo exhibition" at the Kunstverein Leverkusen Schloss Morsbroich e.V.

The second exhibition, opening with the artistic contributions of the young people, took place on the 3rd of December 2011. In the accompanying educational program, guided tours featuring the students, i.e. the participating teens, were organized for general school audiences in the town of Leverkusen.

RELATED
Iris Hoppe, Evaluation of the project / Publication

CREDITS 
Das Projekt Gewalt.Frei target="_blank">Gewalt.Frei target="_blank">Gewalt.Frei was initiated and organizes by artists Iris Hoppe und Kristina Leko and kicked off with the European funds within the program Mülheim 2020, as both Gewalt.Frei in Cologne Project team: Iris Hoppe, Kristina Leko Participating schools: Grundschule Kopernikusstr., Gesamthauptschule Tiefentalstr. and Hölderlin-Gymnasium Poster campaign: 18 different posters, A1 format, 1500 copies, 15-28.11.2011, approx. 300 advertising pillars Project supported by: Mülheim 2020. Photos: Iris Hoppe, Kristina Leko. Gewalt.Frei in Leverkusen Exhibition in Kunstverein Leverkusen Schloss Morsbroich e. V, November 2011-January 2012. Project team: Iris Hoppe, Kristina Leko. Curatorial team: Sabine Becker, Katharina Hohenhörst. Technik: Bernd Syring. Additional support: Landeszentrale für politische Bildung NRW, NRW.BANK, Office of Cultural Affairs of the City of Zagreb.

GENRE&FORMATS
Project: participatory art project; project with specific social groups; intervention in public space – poster campaign. Artwork/s and artifacts: workshops; series of posters; multimedia exhibitions including video, audio and space installations, photographs, text-based works, documents, drawings, objects.

 

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