In the penultimate week of school, students from Class 9a of the International Gymnasium Meerane interviewed four artists who are living and working in Altenburger Land this summer as residency fellows of the Kunsthof Niederarnsdorf. Among other things, they will create a wall fresco with earth pigments, and another artistic research project deals with the extraction of colors for prints on paper and fabric from native plants. The young interviewers, who had prepared for these encounters in German lessons, were particularly interested in what would have motivated the move from the big city to the countryside.
Several times the overstimulation in the cities was emphasized, the lack of opportunity for quiet, concentration and reflection, for which the listed four-sided farm again offers ideal conditions. There was also hearty laughter: when the owner and initiator of the Kunsthof, Louise Walleneit, led the group through the grounds in the most beautiful summer weather and explained the mud-brick walls of the barn, which resembled Arabic construction methods, one of the experienced bus drivers accompanying the group interfered. He said that the barn could be used for camels in the future instead of as a studio, thus solving the public transportation problem in the countryside at the same time. Sustainability and dialogic forms of art and society are among the central themes of the Kunsthof, which aims to create encounters and promote regional development with its event formats.
A heartfelt thank you to all the students involved, whose commitment gave rise to lively conversations, to Louise Walleneit for the invitation to involve young people, to the artists Rahel Zaugg, Damiela Junghans, Mandy Gehrt and Martin Feistauer for their friendly willingness to talk, and to Matthias Trenkel from IGM for his reliable support in organizing the practice-based German lessons. The interviews can soon be listened to online as podcasts on the Kunsthof Niederarnsdorf website.
Link tip: https://kunsthof-niederarnsdorf.org
Sylvia Steinbach - German teacher AK26a
