the mobile studio is a project of the BBK Landesverband Bayern. ( More information at: https://www.bbk-bayern.de/programme/das-mobileatelier) in cooperation with the Städtische Galerie Cordonhaus Cham.

From September 17, 2024  by 31st of October, I was invited as  a guest artist in Cham in the Upper Palatinate in Bavaria, curating the mobile studio with participatory projects on the subject of places and spaces. My central question to the citizens of Cham was: What makes a place a space?

How can we anchor our academic knowledge in the public space, or in non-academic environments? In universities, the concept of the Third Mission is becoming more and more important. At the same time, the question of how such a transfer of knowledge can succeed can be a challenge. The mobile studio of the BBK Bayern is a good example of how to communicate artistic-scientific research on the topic of places and spaces to a larger audience in a low-threshold way. For two months, the studio was located at Kirchplatz in Cham. Visitors were able to record their thoughts on the subject of space on index cards on the wall in the studio.  

Using the brainstorming method, a wall of drawings and words was created. The insight that could be generated from the mind maps is that the participants of the project currently in a world of crisis mainly seem to long for security and safety.

On the other wall, a photo collage of the city's residents  was created through the artistic method of the silent post in a hands-on activity on the topic of “Where do I always pass by?”  In the collage, people who would never have met communicate visually. The method serves originally to draw attention to  other perspectives and to build a team. In viewing the collage, the citizens wander through their own urban space and thus experience a change of perspective on their own urban space through the different point of views on their city  from which the photographs were taken by the different people.

Finally, the participants were able to write, draw and paint their thoughts on the subject of dreams in spaces, on the pavement between the mobile studio and  the St. Jakob church, using chalk.

More information about  the project at: https://www.cham.de/kultur-freizeit/galerien-museen/staedt-galerie-cordonhaus/das-mobile-atelier
Here is a photo diary documenting the process of the projects during   the 6 weeks the mobile studio was located in Cham.