The art festival 48 STUNDEN NEUKÖLLN announces its annual theme for 2019. Artists can submit their applications until February 3rd 2019.
The 2019 festival theme is “Future III”. Thus the 2019 edition of 48 STUNDEN NEUKÖLLN will look far ahead into a future that at that time will already have been the past. The annual theme “Futur III” describes the paradox of a future which is foreseen retrospectively and to which one looks back in anticipation. At the same time, it expresses the hopes, expectations and demands of the present.
The festival directors Dr. Martin Steffens and Thorsten Schlenger explain:
“In the present we are entangled in complex relationships and are working on a status quo that seems to have no alternatives. We recognize developments and changes only in retrospect: The successfully constructed causal chains of progress have a calming effect. A look into the future, on the other hand, is often marked by forecasts that tell of threats and decline. With the help of the awkward grammatical structure—in German called “Futur III”, in English expressed among linguists as Future Perfect Continuous Passive—the 48 STUNDEN NEUKÖLLN become a laboratory for the future that seeks to overcome this paralysis by artistic means. We can look forward to a festival that anticipates the consequences of future artistic and social actions and makes them accessible to all.”
The annual theme was chosen by a jury consisting of artists and representatives of the festival management and the management of Kulturnetzwerk Neukölln e.V. Around 90 proposed topics were discussed, which were sent in as a reaction to an open call by various people from the festival community. The theme “Future III” originates from the Neukölln artist Claudia Simon, who considered many aspects of the proposals submitted.
Registration and application for the festival is possible online: www.48-stunden-neukoelln.de.
The closing date for applications is February 3rd 2019.
48 STUNDEN NEUKÖLLN is a forum for artistic projects of all sections of the Berlin art scene. The festival presents and promotes art that contributes to and reflects on current social issues. Since its foundation in 1999, 48 STUNDEN NEUKÖLLN has established itself as Berlin’s largest free art festival with its exemplary character. The artistic works created here act as impulses far beyond Berlin-Neukölln, take a standpoint on questions of society as a whole, and promote a lasting exchange with the international art scene.
In the 20th year of its existence, the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe has included the festival in its list of events relevant to urban politics and will support it as part of the Festival Fund from 2018. For the second time in 2017, 48 STUNDEN NEUKÖLLN has been awarded the EFFE label (Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe) as one of “Europe’s finest festivals”.
Further information: 48-stunden-neukoelln.de
48 STUNDEN NEUKÖLLN is organized and coordinated by Kulturnetzwerk Neukölln e. V. (Karl-Marx-Str. 131,12043 Berlin, www.kulturnetzwerk.de)
Festival directors: Dr Martin Steffens, Thorsten Schlenger
Supported by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe, the District Office of Neukölln, the [Action! Karl-Marx-Straße] and Wall AG
Main sponsor: STADT UND LAND Wohnbauten-Gesellschaft mbH
48 STUNDEN NEUKÖLLN is part of the BIWAQ project Unternehmen Neukölln. Further foundations, partners and sponsors contribute to the fact that Neukölln is able to present itself at its best every year with this art festival.