Hortensia Völckers, Artistic Director and Executive Board of the Federal Cultural Foundation

Alexander Koch, Director Society of New Clients

Gerrit Gohlke, Director Regional Development New Clients

and

Susanne Burmester, Chairwoman of the Society for Art and Mediation in Civic Commissioning

will present a review of the six-year pilot phase of the New Patrons in Germany. They will report on exemplary projects from the model regions of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, the Rhineland and the Ruhr. Specifically, projects in Wietstock, Greifswald, Marl and - via live link - Mönchengladbach will be presented. These four examples are representative of 17 projects on which more than 500 citizens have been working together with artists and the moderators of Neue Auftraggeber since 2017. The artists involved include Sasha Waltz, Simon Denny, Antje Majewski, Daniel Knorr and Rimini Protokoll.

Within the framework of the pilot phase supported by the Federal Cultural Foundation, projects have emerged that show how relevant contemporary art is that addresses civic concerns. Such art negotiates issues from all areas of society and thus becomes a medium for new forms of civic cooperation. More than 20,000 people have participated directly in these processes and accompanied them indirectly or directly. In this sense, the method and projects of the New Patrons are catalysts of a new communality.