Begehungen Art Festival 2025

"Everything is interaction. Nothing stands alone, a common bond entwines the whole of organic nature."

The great naturalist Alexander von Humboldt wrote these lines at the beginning of the 19th century under the impression of his first great journey to America from 1799 to 1804.

During his visit to Lake Valencia in Venezuela, Humboldt recognized that its continuous loss of water was the result of deforestation for plantations. He identified the lack of wood and water, as well as the danger of flooding due to dry soil, as a consequence of human intervention. Even then, Humboldt's insight into the interactions in nature could be applied far beyond the concept of nature.

The plantations established by the Spanish colonial rulers on Lake Valencia are an expression of the exploitation of nature, but they also point to systemic structures of exploitation, to poverty on the one hand and boundless wealth on the other. To this day, the exploitation of resources means destruction and prosperity, income and labor disputes, food and species extinction, curse and blessing.

Under the title EVERYTHING IS INTERACTION, the art festival Begehungen aims to make the complexity of the issues of resource consumption, species loss and the climate crisis visible. The festival is intended to be an inspiring place for new, forward-looking discourse - a space for encounters, exchange and creative impulses. It is part of the official program of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025.

The exhibition brings together 32 international artistic perspectives on the social, ecological and economic consequences of environmental destruction, questions of justice and power and the associated social crises. Dr. Claudia Tittel is the artistic director of the exhibition.

The exhibition is based on the works selected by the artistic director, an artist-in-residence program with European partner institutions of the exhibitions and project ideas from the worldwide Open Call.

The Open Call was reserved for artists under the age of 30, which means that almost a third of the exhibition is dominated by young perspectives.

The exhibition will include installations, photographs, drawings, sculptures as well as video and sound artworks. A good quarter of the artworks will be created specifically for the festival.

Admission to the exhibition and all events is free of charge. Begehungen e.V. is happy to receive donations.

Artists:inside:

Ana Alenso (VE)

Lara Almarcegui (NL/ES)

AWOL (Absent Without Leave) Giuliana Marmo / Belén Arellano Cañizares / Stefan Ralevic (VE/ES/SR)

Tina Bara (DE)

Ursula Biemann & Paulo Tavares (CH/BR)

Böhler & Orendt (DE/RO)

Borek Brindák (SK)

Daniel Canogar (ES/US)

Jan Fabian (CZ)

Abie Franklin & Daniel Hölzl (GB/AT)

Tim Gassauer (DE)

Elza Gubanova (UA)

Sarah Damai Hoogman (NL)

Clemens Hornemann (DE)

Anne Duk Hee Jordan (KR/DE)

Nadia Kaabi-Linke (DE/TN/UA)

Diana Lelonek (PL)

Tea Mäkipää (FI)

Gisle Nataas (NO)

Henrike Naumann (DE)

Olaf Nicolai (DE)

Uriel Orlow (CH)

Johanna M. Reich (DE)

Amparo Sard (ES)

Katharina Sauermann (AT)

Günther & Loredana Selichar (AT/IT)

Hito Steyerl (DE)

Gregor Schneider (DE)

Daniel Otero Torres (CO)

Rikuo Ueda (JP)

Anna Weberberger (AT)

Valeria Zane & Victor Nebbiolo di Castri (IT/FR)

The exhibition will be complemented by a festival program with concerts, readings, lectures and performances. The works in the exhibition and site-specific circumstances will become starting points for more in-depth discussions.

Concerts

19.07. 19:00 Bikini Beach & Kochkraft by KMA Garage Rock & Indie-Rave-Punk

20.07. 17:00 Mina Richman Songs between Soul, Folk & HipHop

02.08. 20:30 Drone Operator & Joss Turnbull

An evening that thinks outside the box. Drone Operatør is a post-digital, kleptomaniac free jazz project that skillfully combines drones and saxophone.

Joss Turnbull explores with us the sound of different drums, with bare hands and electronic elements.

Presented by raster soundtrack europe 20 - 25

08.08. Yaneq rhymes and loose thoughts

16.08. 20:00 KUF jazzy Ambient-Electro, played live

17.08. 17:00 Superbusen Fictitious band, made flesh for partying

17.08. 20:00 Koyaanisqatsi, new soundtrack by The Odd Time Bend Cult film with new film music

Godfrey Reggio's cult film from 1982 is one of the most influential works of art in film history. With powerful images and a montage technique that has become a standard, the documentary takes a deep look at the impact of mankind on nature and the environment. With this closing film, the art festival remains true to its tradition and brings the film to the stage with a unique live soundtrack. The Odd Time Bend from Chemnitz creates an atmosphere of analog heat and history. They don't play concerts, they activate spaces - and sometimes a decommissioned power station becomes the transmitter of their message.

Performances

18.07. 20:00 Gisle Nataas & Haakon Thelin Architecture As Instrument

19.07. 14:00 Valeria Zane / Victor Nebbiolo Di Castri Aural Dissipation

09.08. 20:30 Elza Gubanova & Leon Seidel Notes On Ecocide as a live audio essay

Theater & Readings

27.07. 17:00 Elisabeth Weydt Nature is right

(Supported by Zauberberg Medien GmbH)

15.08. 20:00 Climate Monologues Documentary theater by Michael Ruf

(In cooperation with weiterdenken - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Sachsen e.V.)

16.08. 17:00 Uwe Ritzer The sell-out: water, soil, raw materials

(In cooperation with weiterdenken - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Sachsen e.V.)

In addition

20.07. 14:00 Choir karaoke Singing together

25 - 27.07. & 01 -03.08. Pavilion of Fear mobile art and participation project of the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz

26.07. 14:00 Hör@Begehungen DJs at Kraftwerk and in the webstream

27.07. 14:00 Record Picnic Neighbors and Vinyl

08.08. 18:00 Interaction, neighborhood and energy talk & concert

Jan Kummer, Yaneq and Julia Naunin discuss the energies that neighborly and musical interactions create. Afterwards, we will experience this potential in a concert by the Chemnitz band Daffke Duo and the Berlin art and music activist Yaneq with songs from his recently released album "Reime und lose Gedanken".

Workshops

The AWOL Collective is realizing the multi-layered and socially committed project Thirds Fictions during the festival period. This project will be continued over several weeks through workshops and their results. Festival visitors are cordially invited to participate.
Pre-registration is requested for the workshops, as the number of participants is limited to 10 people. Remaining places can be requested at the Infopoint on the day of the workshop. Please send registrations and questions to awol.s.coop@gmail.com

20.07. / 2 pm (duration approx. 3h)
"Letters to the Archive" / "Briefe an das Archiv"
What constitutes an archive and how does archiving take place collectively? By merging personal narratives with collective history, we question how the present can be archived through autoethnographic means and the reuse of materials. We invite Chemnitz residents to write letters in ink from the dust of HKW-Nord to a fictitious archive. The archive will collect their thoughts and each participant will receive a reply letter in the course of the correspondence. This creates an ongoing dialog between temporality and imagination.

27.07. / 2 pm (duration approx. 3h)
"Byproducts"
What is left over from industrial production and how can it be reused? We reflect on the importance of gypsum as a by-product of coal combustion, discuss the current impact of the energy transition and explain how this material, which is often used to build affordable housing, is cast. With the help of these plaster molds, we will jointly produce a copy of the power plant infrastructure that enables alternative heat generation.

03.08. / 2 pm (for children aged 7-12, duration approx. 4 h)
"Sounds of the Future" / "Läuten der Zukunft"
What does a power station sound like in our imagination? This workshop invites children to explore the potential of reused materials that were left behind at HKW Nord before its imminent dismantling. Under guidance, the young participants will transform discarded objects into sound devices, discovering the power of creativity in upcycling while thinking about the sounds of the future. This workshop encourages imaginative thinking and environmental awareness and offers a playful approach to the topic of sustainability.

Subject to change without notice. Detailed information on the individual program items as soon as possible.

The CHP plant was built in 1957. The expansion of the HKW Nord to its current size began in the early 1980s. On January 18, 2024, the lignite-fired power plant was shut down by the operator eins energie in Sachsen GmbH & Co.

The chimney of the combined heat and power plant is known far beyond the city limits. At a good 300 meters, it is the tallest structure in Saxony. In 2013, the functional building was transformed into a widely visible work of art and one of Chemnitz's most popular landmarks. The corresponding concept was developed by French artist Daniel Buren under the title Seven Colors for a Chimney.

The Begehungen art festival uses an area of around one hectare, including the historically significant cooling tower 1 and various technical facilities such as the huge metal deionized tanks. An exhibition area of more than 2,000 square meters will be created in three large halls.

The company eins energie in sachsen GmbH und Co KG is the owner of the festival site and a cooperation partner of the Begehungen 2025 art festival

Address

Dammweg 10, 09114 Chemnitz

Approach

From the Dammweg access road from Chemnitztalstraße and from Blankenburgerstraße it is about 200 meters to the entrance.

Please use public transportation, your bike or your feet to get here. Our premises are not far from the beautiful Chemnitz Valley cycle path.

Limited parking is available at the corner of Dammweg/Blankenburgerstraße and at Dammweg 10 (signposted).

Park&Ride tip: Use one of the numerous inner-city parking garages and then continue from the central bus stop with bus 22 (HS Dammweg) or 23 (HS Am Glücksberg) or streetcar CB13 (HS Küchwald). These lines also run regularly from Chemnitz main station.

Participation and inclusion are core values of our social interaction. The Begehungen e.V. team is deeply convinced that everyone should be able to visit our art festival, regardless of their background, age, financial means or physical abilities. That is why we work in several languages, offer guided tours for children and do not charge a fixed admission price. In addition, the Begehungen art festival goes to great lengths to ensure that people with mobility, hearing or visual impairments have easy and natural access to the exhibition and all programme items.

For people with hearing impairments

• Guided tours and events with translations into German sign language

People with visual impairments

• Audio guide with audio description of selected works of art
• Tactile models of selected works of art
• tactile room plan of the buildings

People with limited mobility

• Barrier-free access to the exhibition, catering and all programme items
• Wheelchair-accessible WC
• Portable seating

Cultural accompaniment

• If you have a disability and need someone to accompany you to the Begehungen art festival, please contact www.kulturbegleitung-chemnitz.de. Andrea will be happy to help you. 
• Do you have specific questions regarding barrier-free offers or would you like to be offered a guided tour? Write us an e-mail to info@begehungen-festival.de

You can support the not inconsiderable costs for barrier-free measures with a donation.

The festival was founded in Chemnitz in 2003. It is one of the most renowned art events in Saxony and attracts thousands of visitors every year. It is also part of the official programme for the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025.

For the first edition, twelve empty shops in Chemnitz's Sonnenberg district were the setting for a photography exhibition. In the following years, the festival moved to the Brühl, a largely deserted shopping boulevard at the time, for several years, grew continuously and opened up more and more to other art genres. Since 2010, the art festival has changed its venue every year.

Since then, a former prison, empty cultural centres and schools, abandoned allotment gardens, an old brewery, disused department stores, a drained swimming pool, an orphaned museum or an overgrown railway station have been locations for the festival.

The Begehungen art festival sees itself as an inclusive and accessible festival. Access to all programme items and the exhibition is free of charge. The festival is made possible by a lot of voluntary work by the members of Begehungen e. V. and many helpers.

The Begehungen art festival is largely organised on a voluntary basis by Begehungen e.V. and numerous helpers. We would be delighted if you could support this work with a DONATION. Thank you very much!

By bank transfer:

Account holder: Begehungen e. V.

IBAN: DE10 8705 0000 0710 0502 32

Institut: Sparkasse Chemnitz

Via Paypal:

Please use Paypal-Link

The Begehungen art festival is an official part of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 program.

Stefan Schmidtke, Managing Director Program of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 gGmbH: "The Begehungen art festival incorporates everything that makes Chemnitz European Capital of Culture 2025 - and has done so for 20 years. "C the unseen", the motto for the program of the European Capital of Culture year, is also programmatic for the Begehungen. The festival takes place in unusual places and makes them visible.

It invites international artists and the local neighborhood to discover these places and enter into conversation with each other. The tours open up spaces and new perspectives. This is also what the Capital of Culture stands for: encouraging people to participate, creating access and breaking down barriers.

Welcome to c/o56 Chemnitz - the official festival hotel of the Begehungen 2025 art festival. Your temporary home in the middle of the countryside and yet centrally located. Our hotel is just a few minutes' walk from the Begehungen 2025 festival site and offers you the ideal starting point for art, culture and city experiences. Look forward to a GreenSign-certified hotel with spacious, air-conditioned rooms, our lively Lounge56, a rooftop gym with a view over Chemnitz and an underground parking garage with 113 parking spaces and 6 e-charging stations.

Offers for festival guests:

✔️ With the promocode AKTION56 you save 15 % on your overnight stay (excluding breakfast).

✔️ With the promo code BEGEHUNGEN25 you get a 10% discount on the overnight stay, including breakfast, welcome drink on arrival and an exclusive Begehungen give-away. Bookable from 1 night, cannot be canceled free of charge*.

Enjoy art, culture and Chemnitz hospitality at c/o56 Chemnitz - we look forward to seeing you!

General: info @ begehungen-festival.de

Press: presse @ begehungen-festival.de

Booking / Festival programme: booking @ begehungen-festival.de

Questions for application: application @ begehungen-festival.de