Berlin

Water as one of the oldest symbols of mankind with its reflective quality is a powerful topic and token of audiences’´ delight. Berlin as a city surrounded and perforated by lakes and defined by rivers and canals is an ideal setting for research on cities by rivers and watersides. To foster this, close cooperation with organizations such as River//Cities is mandatory as exchange and networking are the basis of any development. In cooperation with River//Cities and further partners the audiences preferring events close to water or on water are being modeled and monitored.

 

River Spree is a relatively small river. Due to all its canals and bridges as well as its length of 46 km, its presence in Berlin  is very noticeable.
For a long time, a big part of the river served as the border line between East and West Berlin. In this area, the waterfront has already been “repossessed” by cultural and recreational institutions – such as beach bars, beach clubs, a pool, a restaurant and a  night club on a river boat, etc. This area is still changing very fast. Many of the old industrial sites have been or are planned to be transformed into the office buildings (Media Spree).

Looking at the Spree in Berlin, three different aspects can be summed up:
Firstly, its waterfront is being used for recreational activities, especially on the outskirts.
Secondly, on the Museumsinsel (Museum Island) and in the government district it reveals its representative character.
Thirdly, the old industrial sites evoke a completely different experience.
In the 19th century, Berlin expanded immensely and numerous factories were built along the river which was then used as a means of transportation. Later on, due to the decline of a heavy industry, there is a lot of industrial wasteland waiting for its transformation.

Members in Berlin, Germany

FÖRDERBAND e.V. - Berlin, Germany was founded as a cultural organisation in 1989 by a number of artists and other culturally active people from Berlin. Since then, and still nowadays, its aim is to develop, advise, and promote projects of various artistic and sociocultural types such as visual, and performing arts.
Consequently pursuing the idea of networking, Förderband e.V. is now an established and integral part of the cultural landscape in Berlin and its surroundings.
Förderband initiates and plans context-based cultural projects. Many of them broached the issue “water” – in many different ways: For ten years, we organised an interdisciplinary art festival in two water reservoirs in Berlin. Another project is planned to raise attention to an old industrial and aims at dealing with the topic of restructuring of a whole industrial complex which is situated at the riverside. In 1996, we came across old industrial architecture in the surroundings of the Eastern harbour – formerly no man’s land. Here, the Spree used to form the border where old depots provided emergency supplies for the divided city at both sides of the Spree. At this time, it was obvious that this attractive area would be transformed and luxurious offices and apartments would be built. 13 artists were asked to reflect on this exciting turning point: RESERVOIR II.


Our core fields of activity are:
- Developing and implementing own projects
- Resourcing cooperation partners and innovative temporary projects
- Advising (on content and expertise) as well as supporting other related projects, associations, and institutions which significantly sustain the cultural landscape in Berlin
- Practice-oriented professional training for unemployed people by integrating them in artistic, cultural, and community-oriented projects

www.foerderband.org

 

Hochschule der Popularen Kunste / University? of Applied and Popular Arts - Berlin, Germany HDPK is a private university of applied science, concentrating on training and research in the area of the creative industriesplied and Popular Arts and closely connected and related to the cultural scene in Berlin and Germany.

HDPK is offering accredited and officially approved study programs in the field of music production  (six/seven semesters, B.Mus.), media management (six/seven semesters, B.A.) and media design (six/seven semesters, B.A.). and media design (six/seven semesters, B.A.). Set in the middle of Berlin, close to a rich and diverse cultural environment, the university concentrates on training and research in the area of the creative industries. Closely connected and related to the cultural scene in Berlin and Germany, the University of Applied and Popular Artsfocus of music production lies in practical artistic work - the focus of media management is cross media strategies related to the event and music industry - the focus of media design is digital media in the form of immersive social media (Web 2.0). Cooperation with industry and public institutions as well as projects for students guarantee practicality and employability, while not neglecting the theoretical and analytical traditions of an university. Research in the field of media, communication, sustainability, and design completes the academic and application oriented agenda of the hdpk.

hdpk runs a research institute for the creative industries. One important focus of research is the topic and wider of sustainability. Sustainability in its balanced appearance of economic, ecological and social factors. Of these social sustainability with it implications for stakeholders and actors as well as audiences comes into view. Another focus is the aesthetic quality and the symbolic interaction of audiences and events. Together with AEN (Audiences Europe Network) issues of audience development and audience theming as well as storytelling are being developed.

www.hdpk.de

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