Project Work of the Degree Programme Arts Management Cultural Work

Brandenburg is a forest state, but the forest ecosystem is in bad shape. Climate change is radically altering the living conditions (not only) of the forest. This means that our relationship to a cultural landscape that is particularly significant in Western culture is also at stake: the forest. New narratives are needed that integrate the forest into a new terrestrial relationship beyond the local and the global. In this relationship, nature no longer confronts man as an object that he can dispose of. Rather, it also directs its gaze to nature's disposal over man. The logic of the terrestrial aims at the interconnections of different subjects: man - the forest.

The interdisciplinary course therefore focused on today's forest as the result of an interrelationship between humans and nature. Students of cultural work and communication design jointly developed new narratives of the forest. How can complex ecological and cultural contexts be made aesthetically and discursively tangible with the means of design and cultural mediation?

Documentation: https://neueerzaehlungenvomwald.fh-potsdam.de

On the occasion of the 100th birthday of the internationally prominent media philosopher Vilém Flusser, an international summer school was planned for May 2020 at his last place of residence in southern France, with funding from the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service). Because the Corona virus intervened, the project had to be carried out as a digital winter school. Several tools were further developed or relaunched for further research and teaching on the history of digital culture. Thus, a multilingual Flusser Wiki, the emulation of an early media-artistic work on hypertext, as well as an extensive video archive with rare and previously not publicly accessible interview recordings were created, which vividly convey the thinking and speaking of the media philosopher.

In cooperation with Dr. Baruch Gottlieb (West den Haag) and Dr. Katerina Krtilova (ZHdK Zurich)

This publication project was inspired by an anniversary. In 1750, the modern discipline of aesthetics was invented in Brandenburg by Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten. 270 years later, in 2020, this anniversary has passed almost unnoticed. That's why a student editors:inside collective has selected the best 30 from 75 student essays on freely chosen aesthetic topics, edited them and compiled them in an attractively illustrated book. They show whether and where the old theories are still competent and which objects are considered aesthetic today.

In Corona times, the forest is in demand like rarely before: as one of the few real spaces in which we can still occasionally escape the new impositions. But in doing so, the forest reveals its entire contradictory nature more than ever: for we are entering an endangered space today. The consequences of climate change can hardly be overlooked any more, and in some places the forest is only a reflection of the place of retreat and inwardness imagined since the Romantic era.

Between biology and history, forestry and climate research, cultural sciences and aesthetic experience, the students in summer semester 2020 developed their own short audio contributions on a self-selected WALD topic, which were bundled into a glossary with its own dramaturgy. The resulting transdisciplinary audio walk conveys a multi-perspective view of the forest: from BETONWALD and WALDRAUSCHEN to WALDABSEITS and WALDANATOMIE to WALDDUNKEL and WALDWEBEN, the project explores the potential of audio walks for cultural and environmental education. It is a prelude and finger exercise for the exhibition on the same topic planned for summer semester 2021.

Download and further information: www.waldvergessen.fh-potsdam.de

In cooperation with Elena Zieser (lecturer)

In the summer semester 2019, the seminar "From Audiowalk to Audioguide. On the Art and Culture of Listening" under the direction of Prof. Nicola Lepp, an audio walk was created. The theoretical discussions and empirical observations on formats and dramaturgies of this medium of mediation were also to be put to the test in concrete practice. With the support of the radio play author and audio artist Elena Zieser, the students developed and implemented a concept for an audio walk. It starts at "our" front door: the campus. It leads through the campus with different voices from the university and touches on various topics in which cups also play a role.

The audio walk can be listened to here and downloaded on Android smartphones.

We can't choose our anniversaries - can we? Every year, great personalities and events are celebrated in public. And cultural work is called upon to develop different events and formats for these occasions. But every anniversary is actually worth celebrating. In 2018, the Cultural Work degree programme and the Department of Design at University of Applied Sciences Potsdam organised a research-based teaching project over two semesters on the topic of "Visualising and Communicating Literature". It explored the question of what interests today's generation of students about the author Theodor Fontane and why he should still be read today. In response, the students developed their own approaches for communicating him and bundled them into an exhibition.

This was initially presented at the FHP's annual exhibition. In the Fontane Year 2019, the exhibition was then presented at the Kiosk in Neuruppin and at the House of Brandenburg-Prussian History.

Documentation: https://warumeigentlichfontane.fh-potsdam.de/

In cooperation with the Department of Design

Single-board computers are small compact microprocessors that can operate as fully functional computers. In the do-it-yourself niche of digital culture, they are interconnected with sensors and actuators by hackers, hobbyists and nerds, whereby the potential of the computer beyond prefabricated programme packages and standardised applications can be experienced in their own installative as well as artistic practices. After an introductory workshop on the basics of programming and robotics, the interdisciplinary project seminar worked with a class set of such open computers and explored precisely this basic experiential dimension of digital cultures under weekly changing themes. Selected works were presented at the Werkschau 2018. In addition, a 64-page brochure with pictures and texts of the results was produced.

A further student work from the context of digital handicrafts is the decision-making device "heads or tails" documented here https://vimeo.com/449648292

Hello, we are the Mission Sustainable team from the Cultural Work programme at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam. We are a group of five students who are passionate about pen & paper and have started a project called "Mission Sustainable". Our aim was to introduce participants to the topic of sustainability in a playful way, while also imparting background knowledge and social skills. To achieve this, we relied on the expertise of a theatre educator and scientists from the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Research Institute for Sustainability Potsdam (RIFS). We realised this project in the form of a two-day workshop. This included a theatre workshop and a pen & paper round in two game groups. The theatre workshop provided methodological support and preparation for the implementation of the game. The pen & paper story was developed by two professional playwrights and approved by our partners at the Heinrich Böll Foundation and RIFS. It is a story about a research team carrying out reconnaissance work in the Amazon. Here, the players encounter indigenous peoples and supporters of corrupt logging companies and are faced with difficult decisions. The project was supported by our sponsor proWissen Potsdam e.V. and our cooperation partners Biosphäre Potsdam and Waldritter e.V.

In our project "Each1Teach1.live", a total of 8 artists from a wide range of disciplines and genres have come together to work on joint works in an interdisciplinary manner. We, the project team of four FHP students, invited the artists to 11-line to get to know them in a relaxed atmosphere and talk about their shared ideas for the project. Over the course of eight workshop days, the artists were able to let off steam and get creative at freiLand Potsdam.

The aim was to create working groups that would not necessarily work together in everyday life. For example, a techno DJ worked together with a guitarist, a sound designer with a drummer, a performance artist who worked with several musicians at once and other colourful mixtures.

Based on the results of the workshop days, a presentation was then conceptualised, which also heralded the end of the project. On 14th of April 2023, the final works were then presented in a smaller circle, followed by a jam session and DJ set. The project has led to connections being made that the artists had not made before and connections that will continue to work together in the future.

An exhibition about perception, neurological diversity and identity. The VIELFALTER project creates a space to bring the topic of "neurodiversity/neurodivergence", which is heavily underrepresented in the diversity debate, to the centre of public debate.

An exhibition at the KunstHaus Potsdam offers neurodivergent people a platform to exhibit different perspectives of perception through artistic creation. The artistic works will be supplemented and contextualised by theoretical and autobiographical input. A live performance on the topic of ADHD, a participatory art workshop as an artistic dialogue, a lecture on discrimination and the strengths of neurodivergent people and a concert will provide further insights into the topic through a variety of approaches.

In line with the principle "nothing about us without us", a dialogue between neurodivergent and neurotypical people, between artists and visitors, is to be encouraged in order to break down stereotypes and counteract existing prejudices and stigmatisation within our society.

A project by Karla Hinske, Valeska Wahlbuhl, Kim-Sarah Nägele and Anna-Lena Öhrke

We are six female students who came together with the common motivation of making the theatre scene more accessible and therefore more diverse.

As we discovered through our own experiences and extensive research that the theatre landscape is characterised by a wide variety of access barriers, we decided to work with a heterogeneous group of young people from Potsdam.

The result is a pilot project that starts at the interface between school and the theatre world.

In collaboration with the Friedrich-Wilhelm-von-Steuben Gesamtschule and theatre educator Ronja Petersen, we were able to organise a six-day project week that took place both at the school and on the rehearsal stage of the Hans Otto Theatre. Here, the young people had the opportunity to gain insights into various facets of theatre and develop their personal skills through acting.

In addition to a guided tour behind the scenes of the Hans Otto Theatre and a visit to a play in Berlin, the highlight of the week was the final performance of scenes they had developed themselves on the subject of "foreign" on the rehearsal stage of the Hans Otto Theatre with an audience of friends and family.

Combining art forms to bring light into the darkness.

Following the guiding principle, LUMEN combines several art forms such as lighting design, set design, sound, spoken word and film. In the process, an innovative mediation format with an experimental character develops that offers a diverse and at the same time intensive examination of diverse contents.

Thematically, LUMEN deals with the symbiotic dialogue between nature, city and man. The focus is on the future of urban planning. In order to point out the importance of a cultural change in traditional spatial planning with regard to future-oriented urbanisation, the installation creates scenarios with the help of dystopian and utopian models that illuminate various processes of man in urban space. You can get an insight into the result of the creative process here or on Instagram @projekt_lumen.

A project by Leokadia Remmler, Joshua Haack, Marika Rechtacek and Rina Klassen.

In our project Fashion Madness we dealt with the downsides of the fast fashion industry for the environment and society. The aim was to raise awareness for sustainability in relation to clothing among young adults aged 12-18 from Potsdam. Attention and education were created and it was shown how it is possible to change one's own consumption behaviour in the fashion sector.

Specifically, we organised a thematic online project day on 08.05.2021. It consisted of input lectures by experts in the field of fair and slow fashion as well as a practical part where the young people could upcycle old clothes in a sewing course via Zoom. The idea was to encourage them to deal with the issue in a non-school setting, on a voluntary basis, in order to promote sustainable thinking.

A project by Charlotte Terzer, Ronja Baule and Lisha Kable

Combining art forms to bring light into the darkness.

Following the guiding principle, LUMEN combines several art forms such as lighting design, set design, sound, spoken word and film. In the process, an innovative mediation format with an experimental character develops that offers a diverse and at the same time intensive examination of diverse contents.

Thematically, LUMEN deals with the symbiotic dialogue between nature, city and man. The focus is on the future of urban planning. In order to point out the importance of a cultural change in traditional spatial planning with regard to future-oriented urbanisation, the installation creates scenarios with the help of dystopian and utopian models that illuminate various processes of man in urban space. You can get an insight into the result of the creative process here or on Instagram @projekt_lumen.

A project by Leokadia Remmler, Joshua Haack, Marika Rechtacek and Rina Klassen.

In our project Fashion Madness we dealt with the downsides of the fast fashion industry for the environment and society. The aim was to raise awareness for sustainability in relation to clothing among young adults aged 12-18 from Potsdam. Attention and education were created and it was shown how it is possible to change one's own consumption behaviour in the fashion sector.

Specifically, we organised a thematic online project day on 08.05.2021. It consisted of input lectures by experts in the field of fair and slow fashion as well as a practical part where the young people could upcycle old clothes in a sewing course via Zoom. The idea was to encourage them to deal with the issue in a non-school setting, on a voluntary basis, in order to promote sustainable thinking.

A project by Charlotte Terzer, Ronja Baule and Lisha Kable

The study project group "Sex (in)visible" organised a performance of the forum theatre play "Let's talk about sex, power and role models". This took place on Saturday 29 May at 8 pm via the video conferencing software "Zoom". The performance was preceded by a workshop with 6 participants in which there was an open exchange about sex, role models and power structures in this context. With the theatre pedagogue Thekla Lanz and the theatre artist Hatef Soltani, the participants developed a forum theatre play, i.e. a play according to the method of Augusto Boal, in which the audience could participate.

During the performance, it was possible to intervene in the scenes presented. This is the Forum Theatre method from the Theatre of the Oppressed, which Augusto Boal continuously developed during his life. The point is that in theatre, reality is not seen as the only possibility, but with the help of the spectators, whom Boal calls spectator-actors, solutions are found so that reality can be reshaped. In the play, the reality of sexuality was to be re-examined: It was about lust, love, body image, shame and the questioning of heteronormative and patriarchal structures.

A project by Elisa Senz, Sarah Mierzchala, Fahrina Bestvater, Johanna Schumacher, Natia Nikolashvili, Victoria Greb, Julia Adolf, Hanna-Greta Kulik and Nicolai Raab.

The project "SUB.TEXTE - Kampf um Freiräume" (SUB.TEXTS - Fight for Open Spaces) sheds light on a part of Potsdam's history that is often not visible against the city's historical backdrop. Potsdam initially appears to be a city characterised by its Prussian past marketed to tourists. However, many people, both Potsdam residents and tourists, are often unaware that the state capital also has a distinct sub- and alternative cultural scene. To show how diverse Potsdam's cultural landscape is, however, we made a documentary film about sub- and alternative cultural projects and initiatives that emerged from the squats of the 1990s. The film shows under which conditions the projects developed, which cultural centres and creative spaces emerged from them and which wishes, goals and needs shape the scene.

A project by Annelie Bäumel.

The "Casino" sub-project is part of the interdisciplinary project "Campus - History - Traces" of the arts management and cultural work and archival studies degree programmes. On 07 May 2020, the students will open an exhibition on the military history of the student-managed cultural centre Casino on campus. The aim is to make the history of the site visible and to create awareness of the history of the former officers' casino.

As a networking space, the casino at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam forms the focal point of the campus for students. However, not everyone is aware of the military past of the cultural centre, which is now managed by students. The campus is an example of the military history of Bornstedter Feld, in the Bornstedt district of the city of Potsdam. In 1935, the "Adolf Hitler Barracks" were built on the current campus grounds. After the end of the war, the barracks buildings were used by Soviet troops until their withdrawal in 1994.

We, a group of students of cultural work and archives, would like to research the history of the casino and make it visible to its visitors in the form of an exhibition on site. Our aim is to make students aware of the past of this popular meeting place. We would like to stimulate debates and create awareness for the drastic transformation of this place.

Members of the project group
Nina Bauer
Laura Ettlich
Clara Lahn
Lilli Berlin

The traces of the past of the buildings of the University of Applied Sciences in which we teach today are hardly visible to visitors to the campus. An interested team of students from the archival studies and arts management and cultural work degree programmes wants to change this.

The multifaceted history is to be made visible and tangible through everyday stories and visual material. A space for critical discussion is to be created. The offer is directed at all students, teachers and staff of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam and at all visitors. In addition to an exhibition in the casino, an audio walk across the campus will be available. This will be tested together on 07 May 2019, from then on it will be available 24 hours a day. The audio walk should be as barrier-free as possible in order to make participation possible for all people. Through the intensive examination of the military and political history of the Bornstedt district, we are creating the space for contemporary witnesses to talk about their experiences. Come by and hear for yourself!

Members of the project group
Pauline Oelsner
Blanca Zacher
Zeinah Kamel

The podcast damals heute über morgen (Back then today about tomorrow) is about everyday topics from the lives of 18- to 30-year-old Brandenburgers. In three episodes we talk to the generation before 1989/90 and today's young adults first about dating, sexuality & family planning, in the second episode about education, work & opportunities and then about perspectives, wishes & the future. How did they meet then and now, what are their plans and where do they want to go? We talk to people from Cottbus, Schwedt, Zossen and Guben, among other places, and discuss the statements of the Brandenburgers in each episode with experts in the studio. Our goal is to create a dialogue between then and now that deals with tomorrow.

The broadcast dates of the three episodes are 14 May, 28 May and 11 June 2020 on the radio station ALEX Berlin 91.0(www.alex-berlin.de). To the episodes:

#1 - Brandenburg: Dating, Sexuality & Family Planning
The perfect date, sexual openness and finally a small family - that's what everyone wants. Or do they? In our first episode, we talk to journalist and author Valerie Schönian about the realities of life and what both generations have in common - and what they don't have in common.

#2 - Brandenburg: Education, Work & Opportunities
Do you definitely want to study or would you rather do an apprenticeship? An internship or a break after the stress of school? The second episode also deals with the dream jobs and educational opportunities of young Brandenburgers - then and now. Henry Bernhard, also an author and journalist, what do you think?

#3 - Brandenburg: Perspectives, Wishes & Future
What is the future? Where is it taking us? What do protests do to us and what did it look like thirty years ago? We talk about the desires to change things and possible obstacles in this endeavour with Dr. Martina Weyrauch, Director of the Brandenburg State Agency for Civic Education.

Links to the audio stream:

Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/2ypUhiq
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2SH8U7N
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2zim6t6

Members of the project group
A. Peters
K. Scheidemann
M. Buhlmann
N. Schwarz
R. van Kleef
R. Mesgarha
S. Festag
U. Hentschke

"Everything blurs. The worse the images, the more egocentric. [...] I don't want to read the news anymore." (Hünniger, 2017)

The theme day "MakeNewsNotWar - Peace Journalism in Conversation" questions the classic forms of war reporting and invites the participants to reflect on their own perception of news about warlike conflicts.

Disorientation. Overstrain. Media disenchantment. It can be observed that reactions to warlike conflicts increasingly follow the same pattern and gather to form a social feeling of helplessness. But to what extent can this approach of the media and journalists be questioned? What influence do they exert on our understanding and handling of the topic of war and what consequences become clear? Through a discursive examination of the structures of conventional war reporting as well as the presentation of an alternative counter-model, peace journalism, the student project aims to raise awareness of the topic.

The theme day begins on 21 February 2020 at 11:00 a.m. and will take place at the Cultural Centre Casino of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam.

More information can be found on Facebook at MakeNewsNotWar.

Members of the project group
Claudia Stoleru
Anastasia Kahl
Mia Bisplinghoff
Lisa Haferkamp
Ute Nkatha Hermann
Miglė Vyturytė

Stolpersteine can be found throughout the city. Each of the brass plates bears the text "Here lived..." and gives the victims of fascism back their names. The theatre project "Along the Stumbling Stones" refers to this art project and artistically deals with the history behind the names.

One name. One year. One story.
Although the Stolpersteine lie on our paths, we rarely notice them consciously. With the theatre tour "Along the Stumbling Stones" we devote our attention to the people behind them and give their story space.

The content of the project consists of two modules that build on each other: First, the performers take part in a seminar week in which they deal with biographies and contemporary testimonies. Then, with the help of the material, they develop their own texts and performances for a theatre tour that follows some of the Stolpersteine in Potsdam's city centre. The results will be dramaturgically prepared under professional supervision.

The seminar will take place in February and the theatre tour on several dates in March.
We invite the people of Potsdam to perceive the city differently than they are used to. Making history visible is just as important to us as remembering the victims. "A person is only forgotten when his name is forgotten.

"AUFBRUCH - Raum in Sicht" is a project by students of cultural work and European media studies. On 18 May 2019, it will fill the former Potsdam city canal with local artists to create a place for cultural networking and encounters.

For this purpose, various artists will present themselves under the common motto AUFBRUCH - RAUM IN SICHT. On an additionally installed stage, musical and performative performances as well as panel discussions will take place on topics such as the ongoing space problem in Potsdam, presentation possibilities for creative artists in the city centre and the use of urban space for this purpose.

The subdivision of the canal by mobile walls is emblematic of the lack of space that artists in Potsdam are confronted with.

The project is supported by the Offener Kunstverein Potsdam e.V.

Members of the project group
Lea Budzinski (KA)
Simon Knop Jacobsen (KA)
Tilman Böhnke (EMW)
Elias Amler (KA)

The encounter project "Before I Die" deals with the taboo subject of dying and invites university students to gain insights, exchange experiences and reduce fears. Through insights into the everyday work of various institutions, encounters with both dying people and relatives, and accompanied discussion rounds, a space is created in which young people dedicate themselves to this topic. The project raises awareness of the topic and breaks taboos through increased visibility.

Bornstedt is growing rapidly, and with the influx of many families, the need for offers to organise free time within the neighbourhood is also increasing. With various events on 10 and 11 May 2019, we - Sarah Franke, Maja Herzog, Saskia Miersch and Marlen Trautmann - invite visitors to engage with the topic of literature in different ways in a neighbourly atmosphere.

On these two days, we will be offering seven free events at various locations in the heart of Bornstedt: a scavenger hunt for young people, a walking tour through Bornstedt, a reading in the casino of the FHP, a literary breakfast in the Bornstedt district shop, a writing and a book workshop as part of the Potsdam Science Day at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam and a radio play theatre "Emphasis; the Neighbourhood" at Circus Montelino. With changing locations and events with different content, we want to respond to the diverse needs of Bornstedt residents. Our goal is to create a network in the district, but also to open up the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam to the residents. Our concept of the "Bornstedter Wortkünste" (Bornstedt Word Arts) takes into account the multifaceted nature of the Potsdam district with a diverse range of events.

Members of the project group
Sarah Franke
Maja Herzog
Saskia Miersch
Marlen Trautmann

In the countryside it's dead calm and in the big city everyone is always hectic: Certainly there are other prejudices against people in big cities and villages. But why always talk about each other and not with each other?

In the project, young people aged 14 to 16 from Berlin and Drebkau, a small town in southern Brandenburg, are networked with each other.
With the help of a self-conceived simulation game, we playfully get to the bottom of the issue of migration from the countryside. The participants take on different roles and are encouraged to act democratically: argue in a team, defend their own positions and finally find compromises together. A subsequent reflection round motivates the participants to take advantage of opportunities to make life in their own rural region more active and attractive.

The event will take place on 4 May 2019 on the grounds of the "Wilde Möhre" festival. Thus, the day also gives participants the unique chance to visit and explore the well-known site outside the festival season.

Members of the project group
Jana K.
Mathilda K.
Hannah S.
Elena Z.

The four students Myriam, Elena, Hannah and Insa organised the three-part event series "Body Chaos - Perception from Head to Toe" on 1 and 2 March 2019 as part of the Brandenburg Women's Week in cooperation with the Potsdam association Frauenaspekte e.V.. The three events dealt with the topics of physicality and the perception of women's bodies in society.
The project was funded by Potsdam's Equal Opportunities Commissioner Martina Trauth and the Office for Equal Opportunities and Diversity of the state capital Potsdam.

The project kicked off on Friday, 1 March, in the FrauRaum with a lecture on "Images of Women in Art History" by FHP art historian Prof. Dr. Susanne König. The lecture examined which female ideals of beauty and types of women exist in art history and whether it makes a difference whether women are depicted by women* or by men*.

On Saturday, 2 March, the organisers and the Potsdam body therapist Nadine Neuner invited to a workshop in the theatre workshop of the FHP. With movement elements and exercises to reflect on their own role, the participants dealt with their own personal 'female' body perception.

The series of events concluded with a reading by the award-winning author Julia Korbik, who read from her book "Stand Up! Feminism for Beginners and Advanced" and discussed with the audience how the beauty industry influences our perception.

The aim of the project was to raise awareness regarding the evaluation of one's own body and the bodies of fellow human beings and to reflect on one's own behaviour.

The project "mein minsk" deals with the former terrace restaurant Minsk on Potsdam's Brauhausberg. The restaurant, built in GDR times, was considered a national flagship of the city until reunification. After reunification, it continued to operate for a few years, but now it is only a ruin. Since 2011, there has been a discussion about whether the ultra-modern building should be demolished or preserved. Not only citizens but also numerous initiatives took part in this discussion. For those of us who were born after the fall of communism, this debate is often difficult to understand. That's why we asked ourselves: What is so special about the Minsk? What makes this building unique? How did people work, eat and dance there in the past?

To investigate this question, we conducted interviews with people who worked in the Minsk Terrace Restaurant at the time, were guests there or have another connection to the building. We also asked various initiatives and other experts to explain their views on the topic of demolition or preservation. We will summarise the interviews in a radio report that will be broadcast on frrapó (Freies Radio Potsdam) on 20 May 2019.

On 24 May 2019, we will organise a public listening event at the Rechenzentrum Potsdam. Together with our interview partners and anyone else who is interested, we will listen to selected passages from the radio report and discuss them.

Members of the project group:
Julius Deckelmann, Charlotte Verleih, Judith Wildhagen, Ivana Wirtz

Contact for further information: ivana-elena.wirtz@fh-potsdam.de

The development of sensory perception plays a decisive role in the life of every human being. Early childhood experiences are particularly important. In order to actively support this process, we set up a perception workshop that consists of several stations, is linked to an age-appropriate story and deals with the senses. The concept was developed in cooperation with a children's book author and support pedagogue and is being implemented in a kindergarten.

MUSICIANS are represented throughout society - also at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam. With their project, Dirk Heinrich and Danylo Mironets would like to offer these instrumentalists and vocalists without professional ambitions a stage in June 2018 and thus also contribute to cultural diversity at University of Applied Sciences Potsdam. Their project is aimed at students as well as faculty and staff of our university.

Annabel Bursy, Henrike Heller and Elena Zimmer-Bashir will explore the themes of coming, going and staying in June 2018. The series of events with films, texts and pictures will take place in the Scheunenviertel (barn district) of the town of Kremmen in the district of Oberhavel. Over the course of three days, the project group will develop a programme that will bring the people of Kremmen - whether old or young, whether they have moved in or moved out - a little closer together.

Come. "With a film evening on the topic, we want to visualise possibly familiar experiences and then engage in a casual conversation. We are looking forward to hearing stories of the place or anecdotes from individuals about the town of Kremmen."

Walk. "We will work through the topic in a literary way. Some young people from Kremmen will present their self-written texts in a poetry slam. Before that, there will be a professional workshop on creative writing, followed by a reading."

Stay. "Together with the refugees who live in Kremmen and the "old-established" residents, we want to show the importance of staying and the commonalities of all residents in an exhibition with portraits and interviews. The evening will be accompanied by local musicians".

The aim is to create three-way encounters with the residents that will leave a lasting memory: "We want to encourage a dialogue between local people to broaden horizons and at the same time critically engage with the issues in an artistic way."

In a district that is growing at such an above-average rate as Bornstedt, the residents' demand for cultural offerings is also growing: The residents need an overview of all that the Bornstedt district has to offer. The project group of Karl Borowski, Inka Knäpper, Jan Koser, Katrin Ortlieb and Yves Zenz, in cooperation with the Bornstedt district initiative, set themselves the goal of creating a district shop for a lively district: A place where residents can realise themselves, where information and offers about the district come together and where their own cultural offers find their place inside and outside the shop. This could include readings, an international breakfast, making music together or a visit to the theatre, lectures on current cultural topics in/from Potsdam and the surrounding area - and all of this for and by Bornstedt residents.

In May 2018, the project was realised and the district work was given its first permanent location in the district in the form of the district shop in Georg-Hermann-Allee.

The Furora Film Festival is an international festival for up-and-coming female* filmmakers that took place for the first time in Berlin on 7 and 8 December 2018. For two days, the City Kino Wedding and the Centre Français were transformed into a place for getting to know each other, female* exchange and encounters with feminist issues. In the course of the supporting programme, about 50 women* from the film industry took part in a moderated speed-dating brunch, further educated themselves in workshops and a lecture, and presented their work in film screenings followed by Q&As, which were attended by about 300 visitors. Thus, the Furora Film Festival offered a framework in which new projects could be founded, experiences could be exchanged and networking could take place, which will be deepened in a second edition the following year.

For more information, visit www.furorafestival.de.

The exhibition POLITICS OF DESIGN took place from 11.01.-27.01.2018 in the Kunstraum Potsdam. Projects from the design course were shown, which thematically linked to the previous semester theme of the same name. In a seminar, design students dealt with the design and conception of the exhibition. Questions that inspired the projects included: "Is design political? How can designers influence our society through their work? At what point can design be political?" We made it our task to contribute our expertise as cultural workers to the planning and realisation of the exhibition. In particular, we developed an educational programme to accompany the exhibition. We wanted to address both groups of students and the general public. We wanted to invite them to take a closer look at the topic in the form of a workshop and give them an insight into the work of a designer. The guided tours were divided into an active, self-designing part and a guided tour through selected areas of the exhibition. As an additional supporting programme, workshops and public readings were offered, for example, which took place during the exhibition. An important part of our project was also the cooperation and networking with the Department of Design (the seminar with the supervising professor and staff of the university), as well as Mike Gessner (artistic director of the Kunstraum Potsdam). We also devoted ourselves to the acquisition of funding, the conception of press and public relations work and the organisation of the exhibition's opening ceremony.

The project group AG zur neuen Stunde is working on an exhibition on the topic of "Ver-rohung". The exhibition will be shown in Neukölln in September 2018. The starting point was the observation of how the term is used in the political context for different phenomena of a presumed brutalisation of society. Here, brutalisation is equated with becoming inhuman. Through this diagnosis - by parties such as the CDU and the AfD - the question has been raised as to what really constitutes "brutalisation" and what its actual origins are. The exhibition will focus on the question of the "raw" in the brutalised individual. Visitors will be confronted with the question of what they contribute to the brutalisation of society and whether their own rawness plays a role in this. At the centre of the mediation concept is a space designed by us, in which a thematic approach to the concepts as well as a disclosure and documentation of our working method takes place. In order to further exchange and engage with the theme, a framework programme will take place. A neighbourhood dinner in combination with an artist talk and a discussion round with a concert are planned. The exhibition and supporting programme will take place over nine days and are open to anyone interested.

As students, we know what it's like to arrive in a new city. But what is it like for people who come to Germany for the first time? How can they create a home for themselves here?

In the first half of 2016, as part of our independent project, we would like to offer workshops in music and visual arts for people from different backgrounds to experience and shape Potsdam together.

The Soziale Stadt e.V. association supports us as a strong partner for our socio-cultural mediation project "Chair it!-Your Place in Potsdam" with the Staudenhof housing association. In the Staudenhof, asylum seekers live together with Potsdam citizens in the middle of the city centre.

At the beginning, a Meet & Eat evening will take place, where international food will be cooked and personal contacts will be made. During three workshop days, residents will build and learn to play cajóns (percussion instruments). Afterwards, we would like to inspire the citizens of Potsdam to contribute to the project. Chairs will be collected during an appeal for donations, which will then be redesigned by the participants under the guidance of an artist in three further workshop days. The resulting artworks will then be exhibited in public places in Potsdam's city centre to arouse interest and generate conversations and ideas on the topic of asylum and home.

The process of the project will be documented in a short film and presented at the final summer festival in an inviting atmosphere in the garden of the Staudenhof. On this occasion, all chairs, cajóns, participants and Potsdammers will come together to celebrate.

Project group
Jana Kühn - Project Management
Paula Mechels - Press & Public Relations
Johanna Schlottke - workshop organisation
Rebekka Rinner - Workshop organisation
Lukas Marsoner - Web & Finances
Marie Böhm - Finances & Support

Contact
chair.it.potsdam@gmail.com
jana.kuehn@fh-potsdam.de

Last summer, four students from the degree programme evaluated the "Seven Arts" project of the artist duo Clegg & Gutmann, in which citizens turned the small town of Pritzwalk in northern Brandenburg into a showcase for self-determined artistic actions between June and September 2014.

With their empirical investigation, the students gave the two Israeli artists a new view of their own project - the view from the perspective of the actors themselves. The investigation also resulted in a contribution for the publication to be published in November.

Clegg & Gutmann are now reflecting on their intervention in a solo exhibition, which will open in Potsdam on Saturday, 24 October 2015, at 4 pm and, like the entire project, is entitled "The Seven Arts of Pritzwalk".
In the exhibition pavilion on the Freundschaftsinsel, the duo will show an expansive installation in which elements of Pritzwalk's city centre are suggested as if through the backdrops of a theatre stage. Performances, photographs, a film clip and various objects refer to actions of the people of Pritzwalk.

Further information can be found on the homepage: http://www.bkv-potsdam.de/sieben-kuenste-von-pritzwalk.

Project group of the course
Manuela Goschy
Vera Nau
Paulina von Kietzell
Michael Kreutzer

The Raumblühen project takes on the historic industrial town of Wittenberge, which was affected by major structural change after German reunification. We want to use the large open space in the town and realise cultural events together with the citizens and support the existing structures of civic engagement. The interim use should serve as an impulse for the citizens to take notice of their public spaces and to actively shape them.

In addition, creative people and artists from the growing cities of Berlin, Hamburg and Potsdam are invited to Wittenberge to stimulate a mutual exchange.

The project will take place over three weekends in May and June at different locations in Wittenberge. The first weekend 19-21 May has the theme of meeting and getting to know each other. Shared meals, discussions, readings and share projects will characterise the first days. It will be used to get to know the people of Wittenberg and to find out what potential exists in the city.

The second weekend, 26-28 May, is designed as a festival weekend. Many students, artists and performers from the regions around Berlin and Hamburg have been invited and will enrich the programme with workshops, events and performances. The aim is to create an exchange between residents and visitors.

The third weekend, 2 - 4 June, will be the last days in Wittenberge for the project and will offer initiatives, associations and committed people from the town and the region an opportunity to present themselves. This weekend is to be organised mainly with programme items from the town.

The project is being realised in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Hermann Voesgen and is supported by the network association Facets of Cultural Work e.V.

Contact
Martin Naundorf

Project group of the study programme
Martin
Dahna
Mara
Kim
Louis

Language connects
ref.connect connects refugees with language mediators
Do you speak a foreign language besides German?
Volunteer to support refugees in their everyday lives with your language skills.
Register now without obligation as a language mediator and become an active part of our welcoming culture.

ref.connect is a platform for the targeted networking of refugees and language mediators and was founded by four students of cultural work. The aim is to support refugees in their everyday lives, for example with important official and medical visits.

Due to the increasing number of refugees, we are always looking for new language mediators! Every language level is welcome.
Interested language mediators can find information and register on our website:
www.refconnect.de

ref.connect is run by the AWO and provides targeted language mediation in the Brandenburg/Berlin area. The voluntary work is certified by the AWO Potsdam. At the moment, people with knowledge of Arabic/Persian/German are particularly sought after. Offers and requests can be found on the website.

We are happy to answer further questions:
Contact: info@refconnect.de

Project members:
Viola Dix
Lene-Marie Leukefeld
Alice Bergander
Leila Matzke

In Germany, too, more and more people are seeking asylum and refuge from crises and civil wars, often after months of odyssey. They find accommodation in one of the numerous refugee shelters, most of which are located in rural areas and often far from good infrastructure. Although the state provides accommodation and also a small "pocket money" to cover the cost of living, this is usually very meagre and does not include a ticket for public transport. It is hardly possible for the refugees to participate in social life because their mobility is severely limited.

When was the last time you had to walk three kilometres to the supermarket? Or to the doctor when you were sick? Even when it comes to taking advantage of a few offers that are supposed to make it easier for refugees to get started here after months or years of flight, such as language courses, it often fails because of the distances, 15 kilometres that have to be covered. Not worth mentioning for us. On foot, a huge obstacle.

We think: Everyone should have the right to get around!

For this reason, four students of cultural work have come together to form the project group Re(f)cycling - Brandenburg.

Our plan is to set up a mobile bicycle workshop in a van or bus. In the summer of 2016, we will go on a two-week cycling tour through the rural regions of Brandenburg together with volunteer cycling experts.

We will stop at three refugee shelters for two to three days each. There, bicycles that we organise in advance through donation campaigns in the villages will be repaired with our experts as well as the refugees and local residents on site and then handed over to the shelters. On the one hand, we want to improve the everyday situation of the refugees a bit, but we also want to call for an exchange between refugees, helpers and residents. To this end, we are planning a concluding event in each village, to which all participants and interested parties are invited.

We want our project to live on after its implementation and will try to call on other people or institutions in other areas of Germany to imitate it.

We have finished the concept phase and are currently deciding on a route, dealing with the equipment for our bus, acquiring funding and looking for tips and suggestions within the Berlin cycling scene. In addition, we are urgently looking for reinforcements for our organising team.

We can use every helping hand. Do you have advice or contacts for us? Are you interested in cycling yourself and would like to join us on an exciting tour next year? Or would you like to actively support our organising team? Then we would be delighted to receive an email to refcycling-brandenburg@gmx.de !

The members of the project group
Franziska Handy
Emelie Schade
Mara Kirchberg
Clarissa Lütz
all 3rd semester cultural work

With the project "Viva el Campus" we, as students of cultural work, set out to make the university campus of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (FHP) more lively and to create an alternative location for the continued operation of the student café with the CasinOtopia for the time of the renovation of our student club Casino in 2016. In addition to this, the idea of a community garden on our campus was developed, which involves not only students and employees of the FHP, but also the neighbourhood.

House 17 - our student club Casino at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam - will be renovated from January 2016 and will be closed for at least a year. The Casino is a cultural and traditional place that makes our campus come alive. This is where students get to know each other across disciplines, exchange ideas, play the club and enliven the campus.

The temporary closure not only entails the risk that the casino - which has now been run by volunteer members for more than 20 years according to the motto "by students - for students" - will not be revived after the end of the renovation work. It is also known that there are many commuters at the FHP, so that the stay of most students is limited to attending lectures, which can be increasingly observed due to the current construction sites. As a result, only a few activities ultimately take place on campus, which leads to fewer opportunities for networking and a desire for more relaxed and appealing places to stay.

Casino gets new rooms temporarily
Since it is pretty much clear to everyone that without a casino on campus, no one would be able to study seriously any more, we are organising the provision of an interim solution with the aim of providing a space alongside the refectory and cafeteria on our campus where students can meet, get to know each other, network. Directly connected to this is the goal of keeping the Casino-AG alive or generating new blood, who will plan the weekly events after the casino moves back into the new rooms, assign services at the bar and counter and also provide staff for technology, music and band support. Our aim is to organise the temporary building project together with students from the departments of architecture and urban planning, civil engineering and design; from the first draft, through the planning and implementation of the building work, to serving the first coffee.

We receive support from Casino AG, the FHP and the General Student Committee (AStA) of the University of Applied Sciences. With the architect Alexander Römer and his international network of design-builders, Constructlab, we have gained a partner who is experienced in the planning and execution of participatory and temporary construction projects.

Under his leadership, a planning workshop took place at the beginning of October. In a few intensive days, proposals for the CasinOtopia were developed and presented in a first feedback meeting with the Potsdam building inspectorate and fire brigade in order to find out to what extent the proposals make sense and what is feasible in terms of approval and execution.

The new location for the temporary casino will be in the centre of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam campus in Potsdam-Nord; on the grounds in front of the Panzerhallen.

Using two recycled containers as a bar, a cantilevered wooden construction creates a small extended lounge with a floor area of around 31m2. The outer walls, consisting of French doors, open almost completely in summer; for the cold season, the space is insulated as well as possible, taking escape routes into account. Access to the roof garden is provided by two inviting seating staircases at either end of the structure. One also serves as a storage room. On the roof garden, transportable beds are laid out in Euroboxes both inside and outside the greenhouse. Crops such as hops, beans or tomatoes climb the façade.

Urban campus garden as a social interaction & experimentation space
The diverse possibilities for use offer perspectives for student projects, especially as a starting point for the emerging community garden on our campus, which will be conceived on the initiative and with the participation of our project group in the winter semester 2015/2016 as part of an InterFlex seminar and implemented in the summer semester 2016. This would additionally promote interactions both within and outside the university and awaken new synergies, increase the quality of stay at the location and give the University of Applied Sciences, as a central location surrounded by various neighbourhoods, an active role in the growing Bornstedter Feld district.

Support during the construction phase
Now, however, the first thing to do is to implement the construction plans for CasinOtopia. In order for the casino to be able to move into its new premises at the beginning of 2016, construction will start on 7 December 2015!

We are still looking for people who are keen on a creative building project and would like to join us during the construction phase (7.12. to 18.12 2015). It is desirable to involve students from all departments in this process. Who has the time and desire to help us with their ideas, previous craft knowledge and skills? Everyone can join in! There is enough to do.

Get in touch if you are interested!!!

Contact:
¡Viva el Campus! project group: vivaelcampus@lists.riseup.net

Yvo Bermann, yvo.bermann@fh-potsdam.de
Yvonne Dera, yvonne.dera@fh-potsdam.de
Sarah Johannsen, sarah.johannsen@fh-potsdam.de
Nicole Anders, nicole.anders@fh-potsdam.de

Further information at: www.casino-fhp.de; www.constructlab.net

The initial situation: Wittenberge in Prignitz

In Brandenburg, we can observe the simultaneity of the two, of growth and shrinkage processes. While the influx into the metropolitan region of Berlin continues, considerable structural change is taking place in villages and towns only a few dozen kilometres away, and the population is declining. The industrial town of Wittenberge in northwestern Brandenburg, which was shaped by the Gründerzeit, is an example of the development in many European cities. The outdated shells of commercial and residential buildings as well as public spaces are partially losing their functions. Can new uses and qualities of life be developed from the surplus spaces?

The project approach: International Summer Academy

The idea of an internationally oriented summer academy of the cultural work course at the FHP is based on the previous work on cultural development planning in the Regional Growth Core Prignitz from 2009.¹. The summer academy will deal with the regional conditions and challenges of the historic industrial town of Wittenberge, taking up current topics of urban development. Together with actors from the town, the participants will exchange project experiences and discuss proposals that are as practical as possible. We will work closely with representatives from politics, administration and civil society in Wittenberge. Schools are also important cooperation partners for us.

The focus: interim uses in the Jahn School District

In Wittenberge's Jahnschulviertel, nineteen houses - mainly from the Wilhelminian and Art Nouveau periods - have been partially renovated by the city administration in recent years to save them from decay. The buildings are scheduled for completion in 2018, but some of them could already be used for project work in 2016. Interim use concepts are to be submitted for these properties.
Our task: How can these buildings be made temporarily accessible and tested for future uses? The plan is to use an empty shop as a space for ideas and encounters. Within this framework, students from the various subjects of the FHP and other universities can get involved and relate to each other in an interdisciplinary way. Artistic interventions in relation to fragile socio-spatial constellations are planned on the part of cultural work.

Organisational details of the summer academy: The participants

Participants are colleagues and guests with a thematic interest, primarily students from the programme's foreign partner universities. The selection of candidates takes place in a "call for papers" procedure. The main selection criterion is the description of a transformation process from the respective own country. What has worked and what has not worked? What concepts and visions are available for other cities?

The project is supervised by Prof. Dr. Hermann Voesgen, Cultural Studies and Vice-President for International Affairs at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam and Ms. Stefanie Raab, coopolis.