“Dresdner Nachbarschaften” create new offers for lively togetherness in Gorbitz, Löbtau and many other neighbourhoods

Dresden, 16. Mai 2022 Storytelling cafés, district tours and creative workshops combine the topics of neighbourhood and biography and invite people to meet and exchange ideas. 

What exactly happens between garden fences and in stairwells? And how has living together changed over time? New things are added, old things disappear, new neighbours live next door to old residents. Almost everyone has neighbours and can spontaneously tell one or two anecdotes. In the project „Dresdner Nachbarschaften – Damals, Heute, Morgen“, the Dresden association Kultur Aktiv e.V., together with long-standing partners from various parts of the city, invites you to get to know the local people better and to rediscover initiatives and small oases just around the corner.

Project manager Yvonn Spauschus knows her way around the various districts, is committed and very well connected. At the same time, she always remains curious. She reports: “We want to make people aware of the hidden things in the neighbourhood. Memories, experiences and wishes regarding our neighbourhood are the focus. We want to listen and let people tell stories: What did it look like in Gorbitz 30 years ago? What reminds a newcomer in Gruna of his home in the Allgäu or the Middle East? Those who want to have something ‘in their hands’ can let off steam creatively and design their own memory book. Everyone can get involved and get to know various neighbourhood initiatives and meetings: from the community garden to the neighbourhood shop. We offer all this and more during joint district walks, storytelling cafés in the green and creative biography workshops.”

The series of events starts at the beginning of June in Gorbitz in cooperation with the local neighbourhood management and the Dresden Youth Art School: on Friday, 3 June 2022, a neighbourhood walk begins at 4:30 pm at Club Passage (Leutewitzer Ring) and ends after a visit to the Puzzle family meeting place in the Gorbitz Community Garden in Espenstraße. A storytelling café will be held there from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Participants can exchange views on the topic of neighbourhood over a snack and refreshing drinks. On the following Saturdays (04 June and 18 June 2022), creative biography workshops will take place (also at Club Passage). From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, people can design personal memory books on the theme of neighbourhood under the guidance of Dresden artists Anne Ibelings and Nadine Wölk. The resulting works will be presented in an exhibition at the end of the project.

Participation in all events is free of charge. For more information on the following events in Löbtau, Prohlis, Gruna and Johannstadt, visit kulturaktiv.org/en/dresdner-nachbarschaften