Making the city more colourful
Josefine Klinkhardt & Daniel Dost
"Making the city more colourful." A cause with which the Buntmacher*innen will be attracting a lot of attention in Chemnitz from tomorrow. The reason: last week, they painted the largest staircase in the city centre on Augustusburger Straße right next to the New Technical Town Hall in bright colours. Josefine Klinkhardt and Daniel Dost from the Buntmacher*innen explain the reasons for this action directly at the scene.
What are you doing here?
Josefine Klinkhardt: We are painting the stairs between the utility company eins energie and the new Technical Town Hall in bright colours. After I took part in the city project "Take a seat" last year and won, my project was funded with 2025 euros. My idea was to design colourful staircases in Chemnitz. Now the idea is being realised.
How did you come up with the idea?
Josefine Klinkhardt: During a family outing in Eisenach, I saw a small colourful staircase. I thought we needed something like that in Chemnitz too. In light of the events in late summer 2018, it was important to me to show that Chemnitz is not just brown.
The staircase is a kind of symbol of the diversity in our city. The people who live here have very different living conditions. Men, women and diverse people live together here. There are young and old, different religions, countries of origin, languages, ways of loving. The colourful staircase is intended to represent all of this.
People were able to vote online for one of five proposals. And now you have to realise the most time-consuming variant.
Josefine Klinkhardt: (laughs) That's right. The financial support for the idea as part of the Capital of Culture application was linked to the condition that all winning projects would be realised independently. So I approached the Buntmacher*innen and told them about my project and asked for their support. They were totally enthusiastic straight away and we quickly found each other. Together, the idea continued to grow: for example, we wanted to let the people of Chemnitz have a say - in other words, we wanted to turn it into a small citizen participation project. We presented five proposals and put them to the vote. The design that was the most difficult for us then won. But I think it's great that so many people took part. Over 2,800 people took part and 42 percent voted for this very colourful design.
How long does it take you to realise it?
Josefine Klinkhardt: With the help of friends and acquaintances, we need about two weeks. First we prime the steps and then we colour them.
The opening is on 4 July.
What is planned for this?
Josefine Klinkhardt: In compliance with the regulations in force at the time, we will celebrate the opening of the steps from 1 pm to 8 pm. We have invited a number of acts to join us for the day. There will be a wide variety of musical entertainment. In between, we will be conducting short interviews on our colourful sofa. These will include people who are active in the Capital of Culture bid and the cultural scene in general.
You said that you approached the Buntmacher*innen with your idea. In other words, you weren't a member of the initiative?
Josefine Klinkhardt: I joined through the colourful staircases and have been a permanent member since November 2019.
Why did the Buntmacher*innen get enthusiastic about the idea?
Daniel Dost: Because it could or should have been our idea. For us Buntmacher*innen, it's important to leave colourful traces in the city.
The Buntmacher*innen came together after the events in August 2018. "People came together here who hadn't really been active before, but who realised from their experiences in late summer that we had to do something," explains Daniel Dost, a member of the civil society initiative. Beyond demonstrations and confrontations, the aim is to offer the people of Chemnitz opportunities to engage in dialogue with one another. Among other things, the "Lichterwege" ("Paths of Light") were created to commemorate the pogroms of 1938, discussion rounds, film evenings and a "party-neutral election campaign for democracy" were organised. "We didn't want to demonstrate against anything, but to show what we stand for. For diversity in society, tolerance and respect."
The Buntmacher*innen were founded in August/September 2018. Is it difficult to give the city a new image or to polish up the existing one?
Daniel Dost: I don't know whether we are now polishing up Chemnitz's image. It's certainly perceived as an impulse to set the record straight. We were created as a reaction to something, but we don't want to react, we want to act. Regardless of what other people do. We don't want to run behind and just add our commentary, but rather lead the way with the idea we have and invite people to join in.
Josefine Klinkhardt: We have the right in the city. We have to name them clearly and make sure that their networks don't spread any further. And we have to stand up to them and show that this is not Chemnitz. It's about countering this with something of our own, something positive.
Was there a decisive point in the late summer of 2018 when you said, I have to do something?
Daniel Dost: Yes, there was. Or rather two. Firstly, the experience of the enormous and seemingly irreconcilable division in the city in those days. Secondly, relatively soon afterwards, the lack of any willingness to engage in dialogue. I quickly got the impression that it was the wrong time to demonstrate "against" something. The idea was to focus more on the "for" and to look for common ground and solutions in a positive and constructive way.
Daniel Dost then joined the Buntmacher*innen in November 2018. An initiative that quickly attracted attention far beyond the city limits. In 2019, they were honoured with four awards. They have currently been nominated for the German Civic Engagement Award and the Saxon Civic Award.
How does it feel to receive such public recognition for your commitment so quickly?
Daniel Dost: We are quite surprised at how quickly it all happens. You're somehow always doing, planning and implementing, and then it's also nice to have your commitment recognised in between. And the awards also serve as an incentive.
Many ideas/activities take place in Bernsdorf. Do you have a special relationship with the neighbourhood?
Daniel Dost: Last year, there was a party-neutral door-to-door campaign in Bernsdorf. Here, teams from the Buntmacher* went from door to door and encouraged people to vote in the state elections. The neighbourhood was chosen because it is a good reflection of the city.
Will you be doing it again this year before the mayoral election?
Daniel Dost: There are no plans to do it again in this way. The colourful staircases run under the motto "Painting after elections". With the Chemnitz residents' vote in favour of the design that is now being created, we have already worked towards the basic democratic principle of voter participation. However, there will still be one or two campaigns on this topic.
What are your plans for the future?
Daniel Dost: We're running a kind of cultural campaign for 2025 on the streets until the autumn. We have networked with many people, projects and initiatives for this. The aim is to get the people of Chemnitz even more enthusiastic about the Capital of Culture bid - to explain to them why Chemnitz has what it takes. The application can't just be about high culture. People should realise that their everyday culture is just as important. We want to create points of contact where people say that the topic of Capital of Culture concerns them. If I can find a point of contact, then I can also get involved.
Josefine Klinkhardt: We will also continue the sofa chat. This was created as a digital format during the coronavirus period. We have the sofa and can conduct interviews with people from Chemnitz, which are then shown on Instagram. In the meantime, however, we are also conducting analogue interviews again. The aim is to give an impression of who is active in Chemnitz and what moves these people.
Daniel Dost: We are also planning a project in autumn. It's called Buntmacher*außen. A lot of people come to us who don't understand the *innen in our name. We want to address the gender star in dialogue with people. We are not militant gender star advocates. But we say we need to talk about it. For us, the gender star is there to raise awareness and sensitise people to this important topic.
Josefine Klinkhardt: And finally, we can make a small creative contribution to this year's inspections. So there are already lots of new plans on the agenda.
How optimistic are you that we will become Capital of Culture?
Josefine Klinkhardt: Well, 100 per cent. We are the best and most interesting option. We are the likeable underdog from the East.