At a multi-day symposium at PARKS – a place that has itself been jointly contested and developed over the years – questions about the curation of urban space will be negotiated together with the local Hallo: e.V., HFBK HH/Social Design, PACT Zollverein and other experts and local actors.

PARKS, an artistically developed public (green) space on a former recycling yard in the east of Hamburg, is a case study and venue in one. 

Hamburg is one of the few cities in which there are two official city curatorial programs entrusted with contemporary installations and performances in public space. The two programs are unsecured in their existence for a variety of reasons and rely heavily on the performing arts to activate public space in the city. In addition, the urban curatorial landscape also includes cooperation with local actors who are committed to a fairer distribution and use of public space and who fight for, produce and maintain places of community creation. 

“Alles ist schon da (everything is already there)” brings these areas together and, during the multi-day symposium, examines how and where performing arts, urban planning and self-organized structures influence and strengthen each other. The aim of ‘Alles ist schon da’ is to initiate a process of collective and open reimagination of a program of urban curation: Involving academics and practitioners from the fields of performance, urban curating and urban planning as well as many actors who activate public space in projects and networks – thus planning the city collectively “from below” and questioning existing power relations and their spatial representation. The self-organized character of urban curating is emphasized by the fact that the symposium itself is collaboratively self-organized. 

The sponsor of this project is Hallo: e.V., members of UVM are significantly involved.