Nicht mehr, noch nicht

The focus of the Werkleitz Festival is the current state of the city and the development of the urban community.

The title Nicht mehr, noch nicht [No more, not yet] serves to indicate the intermediary stage in which long-term urban development processes now find themselves, with a reference to the documentary film by Daniel Kunle and Holger Lauinger of the same name (Nicht-Mehr | Noch-Nicht, 2004). The film was made in the context of the debate on shrinking cities in the early 2000s, which was shaped by the extensive multi-disciplinary examination of the cultural renewal of city life going on at the time. Large cities have now begun growing again, fuelled by a new wave of rural flight and an exodus from smaller cities. Due to the ongoing European financial crisis, urban centers have become the object of real estate speculation and of the search for new capital assets as well.

In light of these factors, Werkleitz Festival 2017 attempts to find answers to such questions as: Which autonomous urban spaces can continue to thrive for the common good? What is the nature of the shifting relationship between rural areas and expanding cities? A moderated film programme and public lectures will examine the conditions of co-inhabitance in cities and the countryside, inviting audiences and guests to come together and discuss the nature of the urban fabric and urban society. One part of the film programme will be presented as an installation in the framework of the festival’s exhibition. Selected areas of the city of Halle (Saale) will be observed and profiled in three workshops directed by experts in the fields of urban planning and design. The processes and results of the workshops will be published in a digital magazine. The curated performance programme of the Werkleitz Festival pursues the idea of a “city symphony”. Nicht mehr, noch nicht speaks especially to residents, users, actors and participants, urging all to collectively consider the current state of the city and think up new possibilities for the future.