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New Patrons of Mönchengladbach work in the garden

Obituary for Kobe Matthys

We mourn the passing of Kobe Matthys (1970-2023), who died at the age of only 52. 

As part of Ruth Buchanan's project A Garden with Bridges (Spine, Stomach, Throat, Ear) for the New Patrons of Mönchengladbach, Kobe Matthys was a guest advisor in Mönchengladbach in 2021 and 2022 to reflect on the development of a (community) garden with the commissioning groups. As a place that renews itself on many levels, this garden is a reflection of a city that is undergoing radical change due to the transformation of industrial processes, late capitalism and changing needs of its inhabitants. We reflected with Kobe Matthys on the process involved in creating a community garden. He generously shared his experience and immense knowledge. As an artist living in Brussels, he was a member of the Zenne Garden Collective and instrumental in developing a regenerative community garden project in a former industrial zone of Brussels.

In his artistic work, Kobe Matthys was known for the organization he founded, Agency (since 1992). His early reflections on the legal construct of all our things led him to create a variety of case studies that resisted the legal division between culture and nature, detailed our relationships to things, be they laws, objects, or practices, and invited a reconsideration of intellectual property. Through his nuanced way of working with the fullness of life, Ruth Buchanan had learned about his gardening. When they first talked to him about the garden workshops, he said that you didn't really need to have experience, all the knowledge was already there, it was just a matter of being committed and investing time.

Kobe studied at the Städelschule für Bildende Künste in Frankfurt with Thomas Bayrle from 1991-1995. Agency has been shown at CAC Vilnius (2019), Objectif-Exhibitions, Antwerp (2011), The Showroom, London (2011), Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis (2010), at the Goethe Institute, New York, in the exhibition Animism, Extra City, MUHKA, Antwerp, Kunsthalle, Bern, Generali Foundation, Vienna and Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (2009–12), Grand Domestic Revolution, Casco, Utrecht (2011–2012), Speech Matters, Venice Biennale, Venice (2011), white light, Düsseldorf (2007), Projekt Migration, Kölnischer Kunstverein (2005-06) and many more. Matthys was one of the driving forces of State of the Arts, which campaigned against the 2019 budget cuts in the field of culture in Belgium. In 2021, Agency received the Ultima Awards for visual arts in Flanders.

Our condolences go out to his family, partner and friends. He will be greatly missed.
Ruth Buchanan, Kathrin Jentjens, Susanne Titz and the New Patrons of Mönchengladbach

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Colorful illustration of a city with skyscrapers in the background and small houses and people in the foreground

The German Association of Cities and the German Association of Towns and Municipalities support Neue Auftraggeber's participation model for public artworks and recommend it as “a cultural, social and urban policy model that can complement and enrich cultural life in the city.”

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Aerial view onto urban district with large housing complexes in the centre

The State Capital Kiel is the first municipality in Germany to implement the New Patrons model in its own local structures. In the Mettenhof district, a three-year participatory process for a public artwork has now been launched, commissioned by local residents and accompanied by mediator Pascal Simm. In connection with the district and in the spirit of the community, the commission is intended to address site-specific local issues, wishes, pressing concerns or challenges.

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Square in a green area with people at bar tables. On the left and right are yellow and pink staircases and bridges leading into the green and in the background are old and news buildings.

In 2024, Künstlerhaus Stuttgart will become an anchor point of the New Patrons, meaning a local partner institution and regional contact point for activities of the New Patrons in Stuttgart and Baden-Württemberg. On this occasion, Kathrin Jentjens and Gerrit Gohlke will be guests at Künstlerhaus Stuttgart on April 13, 2024 and will report on their experiences from the pilot phase of the New Patrons in Germany.

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Group picture with 19 people in front of a beige curtain. There is a spotlight on a tripod in front of the group on the right.

Exchange and knowledge transfer are important foundations of our mediation practice. At a network meeting of all "Citizen-Commissioned Dance and Performance" program participants in Sophiensäle Berlin, the mediators talk about their work, share their experiences and take part in an artistic workshop by mediator and choreographer Zwoisy Mears Clarke.

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In Europe and beyond, citizen-commissioned art has become a broad movement since the 1990s that continues to grow, generating more and more voices, commissions, and formats. Seven national organizations representing close to 100 mediators of the New Patrons network in their respective countries now have joined forces and founded the Societé Internationale des Nouveaux Commanditaires – the International New Patrons Society.

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Dance group in a public place in Marl

Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation) again supports New Patrons

There is reason to celebrate at New Patrons! We are delighted that the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation) today announced its decision to fund a nationwide program for dance and performance commissioned by citizens.

Around 15 artistic projects can be initiated from 2023 to 2028 by civic groups and implemented together with international artists. The German Federal Cultural Foundation is providing five million euros for this purpose.

The funding is an important step toward expanding and establishing citizen-commissioned art in Germany – and a recognition of this innovative model, which was already successfully funded by the Federal Cultural Foundation in a pilot phase…

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On 22 October 2022 a mosaic picture has been inaugurated in the garden at the village house in Wietstock in Western Pomerania, which was developed by the renowned artist Antje Majewski in an exchange with a group of villagers. The picture, which measures just under six square metres, was produced in a Berlin workshop as a high-quality mosaic from Italian glass stones and shows animals and plants that are significant for the commissioning group from the village in Western Pomerania.

The New Patrons Initiative was funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation for the development of the commission and the design. The realisation of the mosaic by cosmomusivo mosaik was funded by Kunstverein Rügen e.V. through Stiftung Kunstfonds / #NeustartKultur as well as Fondation de France and the…

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Many members of The New Patrons of Schwarzheide/Lauchhammer are at Casa Isadora

The SeeCampus Niederlausitz was expanded to include a creative thinking space. Sol Calero's Casa Isadora was adapted to the needs and wishes of the students during a three-day workshop. The work now remains on campus as an open thinking and recreation space for the students. 

Many thanks to all involved - the students of the SeeCampus who contributed with creativity and passion and to Sol Calero!

Photos: Victoria Tomaschko

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Dance group in a public place in Marl

"This is the most unusual project of my entire career" - Sasha Waltz. 

On 10 & 11 September in Marl, one could experience how the action model of the New Patrons came to bear as a catalyst of a new communality.

The renowned choreographer Sasha Waltz made an entire city dance with "In C - Marler Partitur".

On the performance weekend, the actors moved in a spiral to the city centre, where the big performance with all participants and dancers of the company Sasha Waltz & Guests took place at the end of the second day.

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Group photo of the New Patrons of Friedland with Mariana Castillo Deball in the garden

Four years after the start of the project, the construction of three accessible steel sculptures has begun in the city of Mönchengladbach, providing access to the inner-city garden of the Mönchengladbach Unemployment Centre. Supplemented by a pavilion with an outdoor kitchen, a garden with bridges by Ruth Buchanan is being created here, which aims to create space for gardening, meeting and recreation. The sculptures are named after parts of the body and thus refer to the meaning of the garden as an organism.

Within the framework of a mediation process of the New Patrons Initiative, the team and visitors of the Mönchengladbach Unemployment Centre and pupils and teachers of the nearby Stiftisches Humanistisches Gymnasium Mönchengladbach took the initiative for a joint project that was to…

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