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European Capital of Culture 2025 20 Force ofAttrac tion Magdeburg 25 Candidate CityA B Force of Attraction 2–3 Introduction 4–13 Contribution to the long-term strategy 14–61 Cultural and artistic content 62–69 European dimen- sion 70–81 Outreach 82–97 Management 98–99 Capacity to deliver 99 Additional information 1 Introduction Q1 our city. Others told us that we had really hit the mark. That From Out of Magdeburg needs the changes we are proposing. Both groups were massively passionate about their city and its potential. And it’s true. This is a city with a proper history. the Void to Force That history should inspire us and not weigh us down. Transformation, and not trauma, is our goal. of Attraction That’s why Force of Attraction. Force of Attraction causes objects, people and ideas to connect. We want Who doesn’t want to come out of the void? Given the im- Magdeburgians to connect to their own city again and pact of the C-word, it looks like our first-round concept from there connect to Europe. Recognise the attraction of was almost prophetic – not only for Magdeburg, but for historical values. The attraction of a city that developed the whole world. the Magdeburg Rights and defined very early on the idea What we have experienced in Magdeburg historically that citizens had rights bringing with them both empower- and socially is, of course, different from what the world has ment and responsibility. A city that was known as the Bunte experienced with the coronavirus shutdown. But there is Stadt – the Colourful City – which was ahead of its time in one thing common to both: after a period of standstill, you creating that golden combination of urban development need a revival strategy. and well-being for its people. A city that was known as a What we have understood since pre-selection is that place of ideas and experiments. A truly European city. coming out of the void means moving from a problem fo- Our Spheres of Home programme line examines new cus to a solution focus. Easy to say, but much harder to do. notions of European city togetherness in the context of a Coming out of the void needs a strong positive force. A modern twist on Magdeburg Rights. We call on Europeans force that picks us up and carries us. A Force of Attraction. to embrace their cities as places of freedom, connection This is what has changed in our concept: We have put a and contribution. Places of responsibility and reconnection. positive spin on what we want to do. To come out of the Our Nature of Space programme line seeks to recre- void we need Force of Attraction. Still inspired by Otto von ate the spirit of Magdeburg as the original Bunte Stadt Guericke – you remember, the guy with the horses, who (Colourful City). Encouraging the redevelopment of the did important research on the void and force of attraction. city and its special places through vivid urban life. Reviv- Force of Attraction causes objects to come together, ing urban spaces – neglected and unloved in GDR times even if those objects are not close or touching each other. – through creative diversity. Like communities in a city, or the countries of Europe. And And in our third programme line, New Frequencies, we releasing those forces of attraction – on all levels – is our return to the city where big ideas come from. Fusing Mag- vision, whether it is our attraction as people towards one deburg’s special connection between art and technology another in Europe, or falling in love with arts and culture, and its ‘Telemanic’ connection to the origins of world music with diversity or with our city. Force of Attraction is about as a genre, we experiment with new ideas and concepts. making Magdeburg attractive for creatives and artists, for Force of Attraction encourages Magdeburg to look its citizens, new citizens from everywhere and visitors. backwards with pride. Force of Attraction invites Germany Force of Attraction is the power that starts a new fire. and Europe to see Magdeburg at the heart of the continent. In the preliminary round, we concentrated on our chal- Force of Attraction makes us understand that our future lenges and needs. It was not an easy process. Some peo- lies in looking up and out, and not inwards and down. We ple in Magdeburg were really angry about Out of the Void, are coming out of the void and we have seen the light. May as if we were personally harassing them or disrespecting the Force of Attraction be with us. And with Europe, too. 2 3 Contribution to the long- term strategy Q2 partment to continue a broad participative approach to Cultural strategy: strategy building. This has led to a Cultural Strategy that is extremely open and participative in its vision of Kultur mit Allen (culture with everyone). It is quite a statement from a Key priorities shaped city that has now come to terms with itself and with the de- mocratisation of culture in the 21st century. It talks, we by preselection think, movingly of reconciling artistic quality with participa- tion and of the importance of investing in the process of The City of Magdeburg formally approved its new Cultural creation rather than just the final product. Dare we say it, Strategy in May 2020. It sets out a vision for Magdeburg’s that’s not sooooo very German. cultural development up to 2030. The strategy was finalised And Magdeburg really means it. Joined up thinking has in parallel with the development of this final application magically appeared across municipal departments. The document. They are separate but connected. Culture Department has been involved in a highly produc- It is worth reminding ourselves that both processes have tive dialogue with the Department of Urban Planning. This benefitted from a bottom-up analysis of Magdeburg carried has helped to develop the Urban Development Master Plan out by a series of working groups made up of experts and in a very participative way. These cross-cutting issues are engaged citizens between 2015 and 2017. In the beginning, spreading across other areas. It has led to our interdisci- their task was to start preparing the ground for our bid. plinary design thinking methodology – a new approach Ultimately, their analysis of Magdeburg’s challenges and that is an important feature of the Cultural Strategy. Differ- opportunities drove the development of Magdeburg’s strate- ent departments now talk to each other, breaking down the gic framework for the next ten years – the combination of functional silos of progress prevention. Cultural Strategy and Urban Development Master Plan, Already this has led to a revision of financial support interlinking cultural plans with plans for urban development. for independent cultural projects in Magdeburg. The new The fluid with the solid. A welcome reminder of the princi- guidelines build on the project funding method we success- ples that guided our Modernist past and made Magdeburg fully trialled in 2019 for our ECoC call for micro projects. the legendary Colourful City. Less bureaucracy, more transparency, more flexibility and As a consequence of this, the Cultural Strategy opens more financial security. They are now much better suited up to a European context. It reflects on European chal- to the needs of independent artists and one of the biggest lenges for cultural and educational policy, such as migra- issues to have come out of our dialogue with them. tion, digitalisation, the economisation of society and their The city has taken the first steps to a revised and interna- effects on arts and culture, also taking into account the tional Artist in Residence programme. There was an inspi- United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. One of rational public kick-off symposium with stakeholders and the main goals that the Cultural Strategy articulates best-practice experts in late 2019. Last but not least the bud- strongly is for Magdeburg to become an important player get for project funding and the budget for the independent on the European cultural stage (again). cultural institutions have been significantly increased (and The inspiration (and even the argumentation) from the will continue to be) due in part to the ECoC bid, but mainly as preliminary phase encouraged Magdeburg’s Culture De- a clear indication that Magdeburg is in this for the long haul. 4 The relationship between the Cultural Strategy and ECoC is Magdeburg’s dynamic change agent. Leading ECoC is symbiotic. The strategy sets out its long-term vi- the transformation through the power of Force of Attraction sion – Kultur mit Allen – and the interdisciplinary design and using the three programme lines to rekindle Magde- thinking methodology to forge what we are calling a Kreative burg’s sense of itself as a significant and colourful Euro- Allianz (creative alliance) between different stakeholders pean city of ideas, experiments and culture. And if the both in the city administration and on the cultural and com- strategy is about practical goals and the building blocks to munity scenes. It also includes a detailed action plan to support the vision, then ECoC is about emotion and energy achieve 12 key goals that will help Magdeburg realise the and reawakening the essential spirit of Magdeburg. Three vision. They are built around a group of cross-cutting key ECoC objectives drive our Force of Attraction: themes that include empowering cultural and creative Activate a new Magdeburg model for European citizenship actors, social inclusion and participation (linked to cultural Recreate Magdeburg as the Bunte Stadt (Colourful City) education), profiling and internationalisation of the cultural Reignite Magdeburg as a place of experiments and ideas landscape.

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