MUNICH I GERMANY
YOUTH I ART I CULTURE I CO-WORKING SPACES I STUDIOS I EDUCATION SPACE I DISCOURSE SPACE I EXHIBITION SPACE
THE PROJECT IN A FEW WORDS?
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GABRIELE SPACE is a space for young people as an interim use in a building in Munich in the Sendling-Westpark district. Around 80 – 100 young creatives can use temporary workspaces/studios and workshop rooms here. With the GABRIELE BANK and the GABRIELE SUPERMARKT, we have also opened two exhibition spaces that are used both by the users from the building and also by other local young artists. In addition to the daily artistic-creative work, regular meetings for exchange, presentations and workshops take place.
DURATION?
First GABRIELE SPACE: 6 Months (September 2020- February 2021)
Second GABRIELE SPACE: 6 Months (February 2022 – July 2022)
CONTEXT OF THE PROJECT WITH THE COVID PERIOD?
The project is based on the successfully implemented project GABRIELE in the former training center of the tinsmith guild in Munich Neuhausen (September 2020 to February 2021) which started shorty before the pandemic. Because the project is about workspaces, they could remain open during the lockdown, of course in compliance with the current corona rules. It was precisely because of Corona that the workspace in GABRIELE SPACE was essential.
WHO ARE THE PARTNERS?
Many partners in different disciplines: street art, music, film/video, music-video, Candle-making, Photography, Carpet-Objects, all fine art disciplines (Painting, Sculpture, Photography, Performance etc.), youth political initiatives, collectives
IMAL kontrapunkt gGmbH acts as project management with a team of two artists / project managers and a team of five people who are available on site daily. This includes the restoration of the house, the support and communication with the users, the organization of workshops and exhibitions as well as public relations. The real estate company bauwerk provides the building.
The project is financially supported by the Jugendkulturwerk of the city of Munich.
WHAT ORGANIZATION? WHAT ARE THE STEPS OF THE PROJECT?
This project was a self-organized success in every respect. The house community has taken all these intentions, ideas and influences and has been self-empowered, expressed with conviction and a desire for a constant place.
In addition, there are free rooms that were available for external use. For example, film projects of the Munich Film Academy or a project day of a feminist girls' workshop of a nearby youth center were realized.
The real estate company bauwerk approached us/IMAL. The current project is already the second joint interim use project. IMAL then turned to the city of Munich's youth culture department and very quickly and unbureaucratically received financial support for the implementation of the project.
Through in-house meetings, workshops, exhibitions and open studio days, extra opportunities were offered for networking among each other but also by external guests.
WHAT WORKED WELL IN THE PROJECT?
The project, respectively the workrooms and the workshops are low-threshold accessible. Exhibitions, workshops and meetings were realized together with the young people. There was a variety of joint exchange and the users helped to shape and take responsibility. As these are working spaces, we were still able to work in compliance with the Corona regulations.
Our experience has shown that our target group can be very well supported in participatory processes. The local situation in Munich shows that an own studio is neither affordable nor always necessary. Rather, the target group is looking for temporary work spaces, e.g. to implement an individual project, to prepare an exhibition collaboratively, or to support each other in direct discourse.
In many areas of life, "sharing" - the collaborative use of dwindling resources - is becoming increasingly important and is perceived as an attractive format by the target group.
WHAT WORKED LESS WELL IN THE PROJECT?
We would be happy to provide such non-commercial experimentation and work spaces for young creative people for longer periods of time. Projects like these need a certain amount of time to get off the ground and for users to arrive. Therefore, a longer project duration would make sense.
PROJECT DESCRIBED BY IMAL