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Protesting Hamburg Artists Begin to See Results
A scene from the Gängeviertel. Photo by Mark Max Henckel, courtesy Flickr
ARTINFO
October 31, 2009
Hamburg, Germany—This past August, a group of 200 artists led by Daniel Richter took over a dozen disused buildings slated for sale and demolition in Hamburg’s historic Gängeviertel district, moved in, and set up studios and galleries, declaring that with so much empty space available in the harbor city, the government should provide affordable space to artists living there — and that the historic buildings should be saved, to boot.
Months later, the artists are still there, reports the Northern German news network Norddeutscher Rundfunk, and have welcomed more than 10,000 guests to their impromptu art spaces and garnered more than 20,000 signatures to a petition asking for the preservation of the buildings, which have been sold to a Dutch firm, Hanzevast, which plans to demolish them to make way for new buildings housing offices, shops, cafes, and luxury apartments.
modartist
22 days ago
158 comments
Art districts can start this way if their is some common ground and support of the government. It is an often made statement that people and governments just dont support the arts like they used to. We as artist have to survive somehow, right ?
PatsyC
23 days ago
1824 comments
From what I understand this has been going on for years where squatters take over the old buildings and they never do anything to improve them. This buildings are not government owned. If I were them I would take the offered space.
Wicklow
23 days ago
6514 comments
Take the offered space!