St. Pölten 2 0 2 4
Europe at Home – Rescaling Distances 05 Introduction 08 Contribution to the long-term strategy 18 Cultural and artistic content 56 European dimension 63 Outreach 71 Management 91 Capacity to deliver 98 Additional information 2 3
Chapter 0 Chapter
Radius Mid-sized cities are an encouraging blueprint 330km for how Europeans will live together in future
In Europe 80 per cent of the population live in an urban context – roughly in equal parts in Prague mid-sized cities and in major cities. Plzeň
Brno Mid-sized cities ... * Český Krumlov Lower ▶ usually have between 20,000 and 250,000 inhabitants. Austria ▶ usually fi nd it di cult to defi ne their own identity, Linz Vienna overshadowed as they are by a nearby metropolis Munich Bratislava St. Pölten ▶ are often closely linked to smaller or larger towns in their vicinity ▶ are found to have a good mixture of social milieux within their Salzburg neighbourhoods – there is no such thing as “immigrant ghettoes” Budapest ▶ encourage social networks to mingle more freely than Veszprém is the case in metropolises Graz ▶ display a self-image that is signifi cantly better than the image projected on them from outside Maribor ▶ boast a surprisingly diversifi ed cultural o er ▶ are especially child-friendly Ljubljana ▶ have a great deal of vacant spaces and underused sites Zagreb Trieste Rijeka
Czech Republic
Lower Austria
Krems Grafenegg
Melk St. Pölten Vienna Slovakia Neulengbach Culture Region St. Pölten Lilienfeld Radius 30km
Hungary
Radius 100km
Mid-sized city (20,000 to 250,000 inhabitants) * Mittelstadt – Urbanes Leben jenseits der Metropole, Small city (less than 20,000 inhabitants) Brigitta Schmidt-Lauber, Campus Verlag, 2010 City (more than 250,000 inhabitants) 5
Chapter 0
Introduction – General considerations Has the concept of the programme described for the ECoC year changed between the pre-selection and the selection stage? If yes, please describe the new concept and explain the reasons for the change.
There are many St. Pöltens in Europe. Mid-sized cities like us are home to almost half of Europe’s population. We hold the keys for how Europeans will live together with their diversity of cultures in the future. We only need to change direction. Now.
This is the result of our process, which has brought peo- We are convinced that tackling these problems and de- ple together in our city and deepened cooperation with veloping approaches is likely to be especially promising the Culture Region St. Pölten. Europe faces a multitude when undertaken by a mid-sized city. Here the physi- of challenges and no one can solve them alone. cal distances are short, many people know each other The continent’s mid-sized cities with a population and developments are slower but more comprehen- between 20,000 and 250,000 are signifi cant living en- sible. The limited self-confi dence compared to a me- vironments. They are big enough to experience the ur- tropolis and the resulting high degree of self-criticism ban challenges of the time at fi rst hand, and small and increase the desire and the possibility for change. This agile enough to develop and test surprising and unusual is precisely what we have seen happening in our city solutions together. Our bid Europe at Home – Rescaling over the last year. Distances is therefore a signifi cant impulse to fi nd sus- Like so many of Europe’s mid-sized cities, St. Pölten tainable solutions for the challenges that are waiting is usually beaten far below its value. We can and will to overwhelm us: go on the o ensive and show that fresh and innova- tive ideas, as well as art of high quality, can also come ▶ The issue of social inclusion, the need to fi nd a con- from a supposed provincial city. Indeed, they may even structive approach to migration and to adopt a sus- be more likely to come from such a place. ECoC year is tainable attitude towards our environment all demand an ideal challenge to bring together the necessary en- the reduction of social distances. ergies and e orts. ▶ The gap between urban and rural environments, the mobility issue and the interchangeability of places ▶ Our city is located at the heart of Europe, midway be- and mid-sized cities call for a redefi nition and a re- tween East and West and midway between North and assessment of spatial distances. South. That said, we still have a lot to do in the way ▶ Coming to terms with the past – for example with of including Europe in our everyday lives, of learn- National Socialism – and our responsibility for the ing from intra-European exchanges and of registering future in light of climate crises demand a rescaling and returning all the inspiration that Europe can give. of temporal distances. ▶ The people in the Culture Region St. Pölten do not feel connected to St. Pölten by heart. Our city has been the All these questions and issues urgently require capital of Lower Austria for more than 30 years but it solutions everywhere in Europe. is yet to succeed in becoming an emotional heart for the region and the province as its living cultural centre. 6 7 Stimulation and activation Chapter 0 Chapter 0 of European (cultural) tourism Our Compass The network we have established in Europe has made Our vision for rescaling distances counts on the force of Linking Europe one thing quite clear to us: we are not alone. There are movement and the power of transformation. The artis- Diversity, migration, to St. Pölten 2024 many mid-sized cities in Europe that are living in the tic programme brings us closer to the European ques- EU-neighbourhood and citizenship, shadow of a nearby metropolis. We have invited cities tions during the journey along three tracks: nature and science, sense of place, and vice versa Digitisation of roughly the same size as us to join us in forming a nature and climate movement dedicated to: ▶ COME CLOSER – Social Distances At a time when our societies are drifting apart and when Challenging Europe (discussions, research, evaluation, Rescaling Distances there is a real danger of disintegration of Europe and Visibility of the new approaches, experiments) a withdrawal behind national borders, St. Pölten 2024 European Union In a time of societies drifting apart, the danger of the wants to advance the rescaling of social distances as Ar tist disintegration of Europe and the retreat behind nation- a counter strategy. ic a al borders, St. Pölten 2024 consciously wants to focus nd C on the supposedly foreign and distant by means of ar- ▶ CHANGING ROOMS – Spatial Distances ul tistic and cultural formats. This hopefully will open the It is time to create a new connectivity in the city, the tu Eco r nomy a eyes, ears and hearts of local residents and of visitors region and in Europe and to assign new functions to on & l ati Cre P nic at alike to new and better perspectives. spatial resources. u ive r m I o To translate our preoccupation with social, spatial om nd g C us r t a and temporal distances into an innovative programme ▶ THE LONG NOW – Temporal Distances ri 1. P e m artici s likely to attract Europe’s attention we have taken the Distances between the past and the future need to be pat ing ion m ld ge & propag a ui wled atin n following steps: shortened as do those between remembrance and our B no s for re g d e y f k nce sid an a t o rie en d ct ci n e ts e i responsibility for the future – if we are to reach the a io xp in na v it e s b e p is g h li e a u in a n ▶ r p g n Together with our artistic team we have recast our promised land of sustainability. C q a in . c a g a h g n a 5 s s c g u & u a narrative as an artistic vision and a high-quality cul- l c e o ls t t u l u i m E e i v n r v i k a e e tural and artistic programme of European relevance What attitudes, what methods are most likely to help c t s l a r n n n l i o t l f o l u a e e c and have concretised this programme in collabora- us meet the challenges all of Europe is faced with? How a
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Austria by an addendum adopted recently by the Gov- and proximity between people in Europe.
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o u m s r ernment. (▶ www.st-poelten2024.eu/en/news/addendum) And give change a chance. i ▶ We have started a process involving the City of St. Pölten and the Province of Lower Austria to de- velop the Culture Region St.Pölten and its identity. ▶ We have taken a holistic approach to our cultural in- frastructure projects: They were all selected in accor- dance with the programme and developed together Challenges that move as with long term operational concepts. European exchanges many Europeans as possible ▶ In addition to that, we created a compass (▶ p 7) that (artists, residents, students, children, (work, mobility, housing, navigates us through complex tasks. ideas, experiences, productions, food, education) content, know-how) Our Compass outside and inside circle (blue): European Dimension 2nd circle from inside: Vision 3rd circle from inside: Strategic guidelines European co-productions 4th circle from inside: Strategies and co-realisations 5th circle from inside: Artistic and Cultural Programme 8 9
Chapter 1 Chapter 1
Contribution to the long-term-strategy St. Pölten to be a venue of interpersonal ex- . Participation and active engagement: ▶ Describe any changes to the cultural strategy since the preselection stage, and the role of the change predicated on the respect for di er- propagating and enabling an active role in ECoC pre-selection in these changes, if relevant. Indicate specifi cally which priorities of this ences (in social status, ethnic origin, religion, shaping cultural life strategy the ECoC action intends to contribute to, and how. age, sexual orientation, gender, ...). Diversity Cultural workers in Europe’s mid-sized cities depend for ▶ Have your intentions in terms of long-term impact of the ECoC action on the city changed since pre-selection? If yes, please describe the changes or further impact foreseen. fi res us up to become truly rooted in our spe- the way they think and act on the engagement and en- cifi c location. Agility and movement, mobility thusiasm of residents. This is why we are determined to and connectivity are essential requirements encourage and facilitate in St. Pölten all forms of partic- to keep this process alive – and we need to ipation so that as many residents as possible can take ac- Amazing how many St. Pöltens there are in Europe fi nd ways to make it sustainable. tively part in cultural life. We want the livable mid-sized city St. Pölten Mid-sized cities in Europe tend to be seen as faceless, as places where buildings and shops are to mirror life itself and to be full of unexpect- . Spatial resources: dedicating vacant the same as each other, where we all put the same foodstu s into our shopping trolleys, drink the ed encounters, creative outburst and disorder. sites to cultural purposes same brew of beer and watch the same series on the internet or on TV. We live in what are inter- Small is beautiful – but mid-size is even more so. All over Europe cities are looking for ways to make better Slowness can be a great asset in its own right. use of vacant or little used buildings and plots – against changeable surroundings, toxic for local identity and diversity. The European Capital of Culture the backdrop of steadily increasing land usage. We breathe 2024 in St. Pölten focuses on such mid-sized cities overshadowed by a near-by metropolis. Towns Linking Europe to St. Pölten and new life into abandoned buildings and into monofunc- that struggle to develop or maintain an unmistakable identity. Loss of identity is a threat hanging Culture Region St. Pölten and vice versa: tional, unsustainably used land. By transforming these over many of Europe’s St. Pöltens. our strategic guidelines spaces into a testing ground we create place for culture, experimentation and communication. That said, we are nevertheless realistic enough Our own town is still saddled with an image it in fact Instead, we start a movement stimulating Europe’s mid- to see that, in addition to their strengths and . Audience development: communicating and shed long ago: that of a grey, smelly, boring industrial sized cities. Together with them we want to become potentials, many St. Pöltens, including our mediating arts and culture and making it more city. This image simply does not do justice to the city’s more sustainable, more livable, more European. This own, have a specifi c defi ciency: they lack a accessible for a broader audience and especially lived reality any longer. St. Pölten, like so many of its is a standing invitation to all of Europe’s St. Pöltens: clear profi le. This lack casts a shadow on our for children siblings, does not get anywhere near the appreciation let’s pool our e orts, we're in this together. image. St. Pölten is unfi nished in many re- Our audiences seek to grow and diversify and to bond from outside it would be entitled to. However, mid-sized spects. Yet even this status does not have only with us. We encourage individuals and groups to take an cities have their own upsides and what they need to do The free movement of ideas and experiences, of people, downsides. The city’s perception of its own active part and are aiming to remove barriers of all kinds fi rst and foremost is to become more clearly aware of of works of art and artistic content will energise this identity swings back and forth between am- as quickly as possible. Our special attention goes to the themselves. In the case of St. Pölten these upsides include movement. What we are aiming for is to become a liv- bition and stagnation. Doubts concerning its next generation. We are convinced that artistic experi- the combination of peaceful diversity of its population, able European mid-size city in a widespread network of self-perception open up design possibilities, ences are helping children to develop social and cultural ease of transport, especially by train, and quite a range of cities where distances are reset on a human scale. While to a degree where they become imperative. competences. It is our aim to encourage our next gener- cultural o erings within the city and its sourroundings. St. Pölten 2024 is proactively promoting this movement, We want to clarify St. Pölten’s cultural profi le ations to contribute to our shared future and especially Mid-sized cities usually have between 20,000 and a newly conceived cultural strategy, entitled “St. Pölten and to contribute to the city’s sense of identity. to the environment and take their contribution radical- 250,000 inhabitants. We have now reached a point where 2030”, stakes out the strategic scope and defi nes goals The strategic guidelines outlined in the cul- ly serious. 80% of the population in Europe live in an urban con- and the steps towards their realisation. This cultural tural strategy “St. Pölten 2030” and in St. Pölten text – roughly in equal parts in mid-sized cities and in strategy was unanimously voted for by St. Pölten’s City 2024 are identical. They refl ect our strengths . A network for the region: developing St. Pölten major cities. Europe’s St. Pöltens, where people live in Council on 30 September 2019. and the challenges we are called upon to meet, as the centre of the Culture Region St. Pölten and close social, spatial and temporal distance to each oth- issues we have named as our European themes: strengthening its ties with Europe er, are therefore important catalysts for the solution of United in Diversity diversity, migration, places, citizenship, na- St. Pölten is located in the middle of a region richly en- many social and other structural issues. ture and history. (▶ p 58/59) Together these is- dowed with art and culture. To release synergies between These St. Pöltens are often both more compact and There is no doubt that Austria needs another city of sues form a framework for communication, St. Pölten and the region surrounding it, we have set up more diversifi ed than any given quarter of a metropo- culture located between Linz and Vienna. We believe making it easier for us to enter into a dialogue networking activities on di erent levels. We aim to cre- lis. They are more family friendly, too. They have va- that St. Pölten has got the potential to become a typi- with other European mid-sized cities. ate a region with many internal connections featuring cant sites and plots that can be put at the disposal of cal mid-sized city at the vibrant centre of regional and We have already started to establish resil- artistic and sociocultural content and programmes. The cultural and civic initiatives. They are in close contact Europe-wide activities. We believe that St. Pölten, se- ient and durable relationships with other mid- idea is for this unit to radiate to Europe and consolidate with their environs, have better access to the resources riously focusing on its identity as a European city of sized cities in Europe to facilitate the exchange the connection. o ered by those neighbouring regions and are linked culture, can enter into an amicable competition with of information, ideas and people. Together we to them by better networks. Individual communication Vienna and Linz – following that archetypally Austri- develop new approaches. We discuss vital is- . Capacity Building – the continuous acquisition routes are shorter. Greater transparency makes it easier an motto of “both … and“ rather than “either … or“, to sues on a European or global level and seek of knowledge and skills and the sharing of to initiate development processes. What we have come the lasting benefi t of all parties concerned. to integrate new insights into the cultural de- insights and experiences to understand since the preselection stage is that we do Wherever they are located in Europe, the St. Pöltens velopment of St. Pölten. We steadily acquire new knowledge and new skills not only not any longer want to press the claim that we are the conceive and strengthen their sense of identity by con- for our own use but also with a view to sharing them. In- role model for mid-sized cities. We have no desire to stantly interacting with the other. What is true of cities We link Europe to St. Pölten and St. Pölten tense networking in Europe and the involvement of “un- present ourselves as “a cut above the rest”. applies in equal measure to human beings. We want to Europe within our strategic guidelines: usual” partners will give us the opportunity to test new methods that will generate innovative and unexpected results and new, long-term structures – in the mindset of people and of institutions and enterprises involved. 10 11
Chapter 1 Chapter 1
LONG TERM EFFECTS WHAT WE HAVE DONE ALREADY WHAT STP2024 3 Audience Development: communicate and mediate arts and culture and & LEGACY – A SELECTION IS GOING TO DO make it more acessible for a broader audience especially to children
▶ Art and culture are being ▶ Together with the St. Pölten-based Institute for Jewish ○ Hub Children.Art.Lab 0 European Dimension: Linking Europe to St. Pölten and vice versa made more accessible to History in Austria we organised three historical city ○ Hub Castle Viehofen people from all walks of life walks in search of traces of the times when Jewish life ▶ Creating a great community ▶ We organised the conference of the “Cooperation MAIN STATION had fl ourished here. ● Stop Club 3 Kids through the movement for Network European Mid-Size Cities” and an exhibition. Europe at Home ▶ There is a steady increase European mid-sized cities Topic: “Cultural Diversity and Exchange as a wake-up in high-quality cultural ▶ We have developed a detailed concept for the Children. ● Stop Reframing Heimat GLANZSTOFF outreach and education Art.Lab in a large, highly diversifi ed working group and call to European mid-sized cities”. ● Stop Food Connection ▶ Re-engaging with Rescaling Distances programmes – especially have established two in-depth focus groups in primary European issues and values ▶ At St. Pölten’s Former Synagoue we discussed “ Europe ○ Hub Castle Viehofen for children schools. We visited European institutions to conduct ● Stop Queerschnitt at Home – How can we deal with Europe’s great in-depth talks with several of them: “Children’s Art Film Festival ▶ Being aware of ▶ The acquisition of social challenges closer to home?” with the President and ○ Hub Former Synagogue House” (Rijeka/CRO), Bibiana–International House of European history and cultural competences ● Stop The Perfect Feast the Vice-President of the European Forum Alpbach Art for Children (Bratislava/SK), ZOOM Kindermuseum ● Stop Sankt Pölten Museum through the means of art ▶ Discovering wider Europe and other experts of the EU. for European Integration (Vienna/AT), Kindermuseum München (Munich/GER) ● Stop Community Dance Days close to one’s own home is promoted ▶ Together with the artist collective Rimini Protokoll, ● Stop A Great European Story ▶ There is a focus on the re- ▶ Contributing to a Landes theater NÖ paid visits to people at home. The sustainable future idea: a hostess/ host is joined by fourteen guests in ● Stop KunstnetzWERK_Europa moval of structural barriers her/his livingroom. Together they play a game featuring ▶ Strengthening the European Europe as a topic. Surprises are part of the game. identity of citizens 4 A network for the region: developing St. Pölten as the hub of the Culture Region St. Pölten and strengthening the city’s ties with Europe.
1 Participation and active engagement: propagating and enabling an active role in shaping cultural life ▶ European networking in the ▶ We have initiated a development process of the Culture ○ Hub Mirage 24 fi elds of the arts and culture Region St. Pölten in the fi elds of culture, business and ○ Hub Nuclear Power Plant ▶ Cultural life involves the ac- ▶ The cultural strategy and the “Guidelines for Public ○ Hub SONNENPARK/LAMES is given top priority tourism together with the province of Lower Austria and Zwentendorf tive participations of people Space” were developed in terms of content in the province’s tourism board. The region will also play ○ Hub Route 24 ▶ St. Pölten is closely linked from all walks of life such participatory formats as public dialogue forums a key role in Lower Austria’s existing cultural strategy ○ Hub Cathedral Square to the region surrounding or focus groups. ○ Hub Mirage 24 and the province’s tourism strategy, which is currently Visionale ▶ All conceivable possibilities the city taking shape. to improve participation ▶ In collaboration with the platform KulturhauptSTART ● Stop Statt-Orchester ● Stop AIR-Train ▶ The cultural and artistic in cultural life are used we have raised awareness of our agenda among ▶ We organised several meetings with the artistic and ● Stop Transformation Festival o erings of St. Pölten and ● Stop Direct connections people from all walks of life through the preparatory executive directors of those of the region’s cultural ▶ Participatory formats project “Grätzellabor”. Formats used included ● Stop Grätzellabor the surrounding region are are given a greater role institutions that have annual programmes. ● Stop Musical Impulse “Take-Overs” at the platform’s headquarters, promoted Europe-wide in cultural development ● Stop The Wheel of Delight ▶ We are in touch with the mayors of the district capitals ● Stop Trash Diaries weekly surgeries for residents and the “Salon24”, ▶ The quality of transport processes of the Culture Region St. Pölten concerning their active a publicly accessible livingroom. ● Stop Futurama Lab within St. Pölten and the ● Stop River kilometre 2024 participation and co-funding. ▶ Civil society initiatives reju- Culture Region St. Pölten ▶ For the St. Pölten 2024 programme we have issued ● Stop Let's Draw! venate the cultural scene four specifi c project calls for diff erent target-groups. has model character ● Stop Critical Chance ▶ There is to be a signifi cant ▶ Strengthening creative increase in the number industries of co-productions and co-realisations 5 Capacity Building – the continuous acquisition of knowledge and skills and sharing insights and experiences
2 Spatial Resources: dedicating vacant sites to cultural purposes ▶ Specifi c further training ▶ In collaboration with local associations we organised
Chapter 1 Chapter 1
Traditional creative makers and We have laid solid young pragmatic brains together foundations by St. Pölten su ers from not being visible and recognized as a creative hotspot to say the developing comple- lightest. However, situated in between the creative powerhouses of Vienna and Linz, the mentary strategies creative brains in our city and cultural region are to be found in di erent environments.
On the one side, there are product designers, craftswom- Some illustrations how this en and craftsmen, marketers, code writers or cooks who integrated strategy works: Mindful of our “legacy”, we have built on the traditionally work in o stage and backstage roles inside capital’s cultural strategy paper “St. Pölten companies. The key industries where these creatives ▶ Inspired by our visit to Plovdiv 2019 and their pilot 2030” and other strategies such as the Inte- work are production and automation technology, food project in the city’s Kapana district, St. Pölten 2024 grated Urban Development Concept 2016 or and metal processing, papermaking, mechanical-en- will be renting appx. eight vacant premises (such as the Whitebook on Education to develop com- Krems, Culture Region St. Pölten gineering as well as wood and furniture. In their spe- former artisanal production facilities or workshops) plementary strategies. However, during the se- cialist roles they require practical, technical skills and in inner-city neighbourhoods a ected by structural lection phase we learned that in order to make Kids are the world’s R&D department – experience that stimulate soft innovations that keep the change and issuing a “Call for Creative Industries”. the long-term e ects more concrete, we “had Children.Art.Lab companies competitive and stimulate a focus on quali- An interdisciplinary jury will help us to fi nd eight in- to change direction” in many of our projects. One of the results of the participatory process in 2018 was the ty, excellence, craftsmanship, or creativity. All of which novative enterprises and start-ups, for all of which This is where in the last year, besides the cul- decision to increase the number of cultural, outreach and edu- are values in the core of our application. we will pay a year’s rent of up to EUR 500 a month. tural and artistic programme, a great deal of cation programmes for children. The new Children.Art.Lab is On the other side, there is an emerging scene of This is designed to introduce a new dynamic to these our energy went. designed to facilitate children’s contact with the arts and cul- creative young people in St. Pölten, to a great extent neighbourhoods, and thereby give them a new sense ture. We developed the operating concept, functions and goals originated and supported by St. Pölten’s growing uni- of purpose and a new lease of life. Our four principles to change direction of the Children.Art.Lab together with an interdisciplinary wor- versities: for example the University of Applied Scienc- ▶ Since in Austria 25% of agricultural production is in order to infl uence the long-term e ects king group, taking care from restart to integrate a broad range es o ering courses in media management, IT security already organic, we set up a partnership with the positively of expert knowledge into the process. We did so by massively in- and social inclusion, and the New Design University Chamber of Agriculture, the Association of Austrian ▶ Instead of a singular, volving local actors from the fi elds of social a airs, culture, art, which o ers courses like “Design, Handicraft and Ma- organic farmers (BIO AUSTRIA) and the Centre for choose an overall approach. education, the local scene and focus groups in primary schools. terial culture” or “Graphic Design”. However, for a large Global Change and Sustainability (BOKU Vienna) to ▶ Participation and the involvement We conducted interviews with Austrian and international ex- part these students do not end up working in our city release lessons learned from the history of agricul- of experts increases sustainability. perts and future partners. and Culture Region St. Pölten yet. ture. We look forward to combining these insights ▶ Choose a new approach to projects that Our strategy is to connect St. Pölten’s creative peo- with ongoing developments of innovative technol- have been in the pipeline for a long time. In a Europe of the regions – ple, make Creative Industries more visible and create ogies inside companies that improve environmental ▶ Develop a content based concept the Culture Region St. Pölten spill-over e ects to other sectors. This strategy to gen- protection and resource e ciency as part of the Stop and anchor it in existing strategies. We are going to exploit to the full the potential of the unique cul- erate new stimuli has three approaches: “Where Does Your Food Come From?” tural region surrounding St. Pölten and to boost regional networ- ▶ We connect the “traditional” and the “new” Creative In- ▶ Our cultural programme makes complex ideas easy Public space belongs to everyone – king in the fi elds of arts and culture in order to create a miniature dustries’ people by using our
Chapter 1 Chapter 1 .. Workshop Broad participation Visionary Advisors Describe your plans for monitoring and evaluating the impact of the title on your city and for disseminating Every dot marks the results of the evaluation. In particular, the following questions could be considered: ▶ Who will carry an activity. out the evaluation? ▶ What objectives and milestones will be included in your evaluation plan, between the designation and the year of the title? ▶ What baseline studies or surveys do you intend to use? ▶ What sort of information will you track and monitor? ▶ How will you defi ne “success”? ▶ Over what time frame and how ◀ 2nd quarter 2018 regularly will the evaluation be carried out? ▶ How will the results be disseminated?
4th quarter 2018 ▶ .. Cultural Forum #2 – Participatory, process oriented and evidence based Cultural strategy “St. Pölten 2030” Continuous monitoring serves as our early-warning system. To be able to react fl exibly to evalua- tion results, we leave space for refl ection and revision – what we call “blank spaces” – in our pro- ◀ 1st quarter 2019 gramme. In addition to the classic evaluation methods we will enlist the services of residents and visitors – as Kultur-Checker, citizen scouts and story tellers. Their respective strengths, ideas and .. City Forum #1 – potentials will help us to learn and to take corrective action. In collaboration with local universi- “Guidelines for Public Space” ties und European experts an independent board will be in charge of monitoring and evaluation.
3rd quarter 2018 ▶ We involve citizens as the fi rst step. In their role of Evaluation is in the hands of an independent panel “civic scientists”, residents themselves play a “front- On the basis of a call for tender, evaluation will be put line” role. They observe, make notes, document and in the hands of independent research institutions like analyse from their perspective cultural events in the universities and/or commercial market research insti- city and the surrounding region. We will present their tutes, some supra-regional, others regional. We will be fi ndings together in a way that is both interesting and cooperating closely with local universities. Our depart- European Dimension relevant to the city’s residents. We allow course correc- ment of outreach, education and evaluation will serve Capacity Building tions. Since cultural work is seen as a learning system, as an interface. Networking .. we leave manoeuvring room for refl ection and revi- Event Final presentation – Concept Children.Art.Lab sion. We use state-of-the-art methods. Our methods We make distance and closeness visible will lead to evidence-based decisions concerning the with performative research methods readjustment and continued development of our cul- In addition to the regular reports to the steering group tural strategy. We set up a steering group. This group, and the Advisory Board we will experiment with new .. comprised of the O ce St. Pölten 2024 and stakeholders forms of making research results accessible, visible and Network event – Culture Region .-/.. drawn from the city and the province provide strategic understandable. In cooperation with artists we give vi- ◀ 2nd quarter 2019 St. Pölten with its mayors Symposium and operational monitoring. In addition, an Adviso- sual expression to evaluation results. In this way we “REALRAUM – 3rd quarter 2019 ▶ Knowledge transfer ry Board, comprised of experts drawn from the fi elds hope to be able to present complex facts both online and networking for of science, culture and of residents, will convene once and on infoscreens in an aesthetically convincing man- cultural workers” a year to discuss and analyse monitoring and evalua- ner. Furthermore, we want to present results performa- tion results. This screening will be partly publicly ac- tively. Participants in public events and in public space, cessible. We are in a continuous process of exchange who have been selected on the basis of specifi c criteria with the evaluation team, other ECoCs and all relevant (age, occupation, origins, cultural interests) will be di- stakeholders. rected to position themselves in the audience. They will be joined by “invisible actors”, who represent marginal- ised population groups (migrants, people from under- privileged educational backgrounds). In these unusual constellations, social, cultural or ethnic distances and confl icts are made visible and perceptible at a stroke. .. StadtLandFluss – A ten-year plan stakes out the path to 2030 Festival in the Cultural District 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026–2030 From the beginning we have involved local residents as “ex- perts of their own city” both in the application process and in Collect & track Statistical data, “Kinder-Kultur-Checker”, citizen scouts, storytellers, ... .. the development of content for the cultural strategy. We have Monitor Emphasis on inputs, outputs and readily discernible eff ects (outcomes) In Discourse – Artistic profi ted from the expertise of these residents and from the com- Programming #3 petence of a great number of professional experts. Workshops, Navigate Regular meetings with the steering group and the Advisory Board focus groups, public forums, presentations and individual in- Evaluate Emphasis on eff ects (outcomes and impact) terviews provided the settings for intense exchanges of ideas. Negotiate Negotiating results in visual and performative terms, Legacy We feel that our application has gained a great deal in terms of quality and authenticity in this way. 16 17
Chapter 1 Chapter 1
The residents themselves take evaluation matters into their hands The goals of St. Pölten 2024 are closely linked to those of the Cultural Strategy “St. Pölten 2030”
Evaluation comprises an array of qualitative and quantitative survey instruments: opinion polls, qualitative St. Pölten 2024 pursues medium- and long-term goals which are closely linked to the city’s cultural interviews concerning analyses of the programme and of media content, network analyses and statistical se- strategy “St. Pölten 2030” and the European Union’s ECoC criteria. It is the realisation of these goals condary analyses. All these instruments allow painstaking refl ection on the measures to be taken and an evi- that we take responsibility for and measure our success. dence-based development of the cultural strategy. The brief outlines of three groundbreaking studies below are intended to exemplify the participatory research that is our model.
“Kinder-Kultur-Checker” for the development TARGET DIMENSIONS INDICATORS of artistic and cultural programmes for children EU STRATEGIC OUR OBJECTIVES (SO) COMPASS
Recruit 20 to 30 “Kinder-Kultur-Checker” Refl ecting on experiences Formulation of conclusions SO1 0 ▶ Intensity/quality of cooperations with supraregional, European and from among the Children’s Advisory Board of and insights gained in and recommendations Broadening the scope, Linking extra-European partners (artists, organisers, former and current ECoCs) the Children.Art.Lab this way and evaluating them for future cultural diversity and European Europe to ▶ Proportion of the population with an adequate awareness of the European Union in Wisdom Councils programmes for children dimension of the cultur- St. Pölten and its institutions Put them into three groups al off er and strengthen- 2024 and ▶ Proportion of topics of European and global relevance in offi cial documents ing it through transna- vice versa and in regional and social media tional collaboration. Training in evaluation methods: The “Kinder-Kultur-Checker” Establishing this method ▶ No. and quality of European and international town twinnings ▶ Ethnographic observation; wing it: participatory in the Children’s Advisory ▶ Voter turnout in St. Pölten and the surrounding region for the 2024 elections appreciative inquiry; interviews observation, inquiries, Board for the Children.Art. to the EU parliament ▶ Creating observation sheets interviews Lab as part of the repertoire ▶ No. of European artists, visitors and students, especially from CEE ▶ Personal and emotional attach to their home in Europe and Europe at home
SO2 1 ▶ Pride and social cohesion due to local initiatives Citizen Scouts for the design of public space Facilitating and im- Participa- ▶ No. of key workers, volunteers and actively involved people proving participation in tion and ▶ Percentage of projects of the local scene in the cultural programme INQUIRY and access to cultural active en- ▶ Share of the budget and of the city’s and the province’s cultural budget ▶ Recruit roughly a dozen residents interested events gagement allotted to the local scene in becoming Citizen Scouts and Innovators. ▶ Percentage of the cultural programme co-created by direct involvement of citizens ▶ The Scouts conduct brief interviews in IMAGINE ▶ Interventions in public space as a brainstorming public space. SO3 2 ▶ Extent and mode of use of public space by diff erent groups of the population ▶ They ask questions about “highlights” and session: What are the users’ wishes and visions? Strengthening and con- Spatial ▶ No. of abandoned spaces that are given a new lease of life through culture the users’ potential contributions. ▶ What would be ideal? What would they like to solidating capacities in resources ▶ No. of public spaces newly used as experimental playgrounds thanks to the ▶ What is there? What was there? Highlights? see done? How can things be made to improve? the fi eld of culture and cultural programme Success factors! Specifi c strengths! establishing links to ▶ No. and capacity volume of newly developed infrastructure Conclusions! other sectors Combining evaluation ▶ No. of abandoned places used by creative industries IMPLEMENT and capacity building ▶ Together with project partners drawn SO2 3 ▶ No. and quality of cultural outreach programmes from the fi elds of politics and civil Facilitating and im- Audience ▶ No. and social profi le of visitors society, concrete plans for measures to INNOVATE proving participation in Develop- ▶ No. of collaborative projects with schools be taken in public space are developed. ▶ Guided evaluation of the data gathered in this and access to cultural ment ▶ Increase in the participation of children in cultural projects ▶ Planning and implementing measures way (interviews and interventions) and drawing events ▶ No. of homegrown productions, large- scale events and transdisciplinary ▶ Drawing conclusions conclusions about necessary innovations. and cross -sectoral discussions ▶ Ensuring continuation Focus on ▶ This might do it! THIS promises to be a good ▶ ▶ Refl ecting on the results existing resources strategy! This is how we might succeed. No. of measures taken to ensure all-out accessibility ▶ No. of international collaborations with and collaboration of universities and ed
Storytellers for European culture SO4 4 ▶ No. and quality of experiences with regional cooperations In collaboration with the "Lab Democracy and Society in Transition", which concerns itself with Honing and highlight- A network ▶ Frequency and quality of reporting about St. Pölten in national & international social and sociopolitical issues, especially with regard to democracy research and participiation. ing the city’s interna- for the media and on social media tional profi le through region ▶ Changes in the image and the narrative of the city culture Video and audio interviews ▶ Increase in the numbers of visitors from outside the region ▶ With a) visitors and b) members of the ▶ Increase in value creation in tourism St. Pölten 2024 staff the interviews are ▶ No. of people in Europe that are aware of St. Pölten 2024 Quantitative survey and focus groups analysed and compared from a scientifi c ▶ What is specifi cally "European" perspective and are cut so that they SO3 5 ▶ No. of collaborative projects involving educational and social institutions about European culture? morph into video clips Strengthening and con- Capacity ▶ No. of collaborative projects involving “unusual” partners ▶ What does a personal and emotional solidating capacities in Building ▶ No. of student that stay and no. of students that come back after studying abroad the fi eld of culture and attachment to Europe typically look like? ▶ No. of children (and their families) receiving training in cultural intelligence establishing links to ▶ What topics are the key to sustainable Publication and the acquisition of competencies in the arts and culture development? other sectors ▶ A written long version is produced for the ▶ Creative industry job created commissioners, sponsors and the EU ▶ A shortened version and the interview clips Research and analysis of the results are made digitally accessible to the public 19
Chapter 2
Artistic and cultural content Describe in detail the artistic vision and the strategy for the cultural programme of the year outlined at pre-selection stage, explaining any changes brought in since pre-selection. Describe the structure of the cultural programme, including the range and diversity of the activities and the main events that will mark the year. Europe at home – Rescaling distances
What fi res us up – Art and culture for children and Art and culture as game changers the world of tomorrow The overall theme and leitmotif of St. Pölten In our local here and now we bank on engaged, occa- 2024 – Rescaling Distances – conveys the sionally risk-fraught art and culture as“game chang- ideas of change and mobility. For our artis- ers”, taking care that the public is always involved. As tic strategy we have therefore – with a nod we see it, “You only need to change your direction” – to one of Franz Ka a’s parables – adopted demands from us that we devote special attention to a methodological approach that fi ts both the potentials and perspectives of children and young these ideas: You only need to change your di- people: after all, they are the real tomorrow’s people. rection. Our artistic vision draws its strength We take great pride in the key construction project that from the energy of mobility and the power will give this purpose life: the visionary Children.Art. of transformation. What we want to change Lab, an institution unique of its kind in Europe. The is not only the direction things are moving Lab will be joined by a multitude of innovative proj- in, here and now, but also where we see ects devised by, for and with children so that each day them going in the future. What are the cru- in 2024 will have its own specifi c programme: children cial elements that make up the prospect of design cultural formats realised as texts, installations a livable and sustainable future, which the and music; they create content on YouTube™; and they nervous continent of Europe needs so des- take part in WhatsApp™ groups, in ecology games and perately? As a European model city St. Pölten in street performances. We will set up substantive out- has a wealth of inspired and inspiring an- reach programmes for children in the fi elds of the arts swers, which will be tested and developed and culture and, on another level, children’s exchange in a laboratory the manageable size of a me- programmes with European partner cities. By putting dium-sized city. In close collaboration with the emphasis squarely on children we want to lay the cultural workers from all over Europe, this foundations for long-term cultural work with young lab will test alternatives to what is already people which involves international exchanges and being referred to as “the twilight of Europe” will bear rich fruit in the future. in academic discourse. With European part- ner institutions and the art community on From a European city in transformation our side, we issue a rallying cry for intel- to a transformed city lectual mobility and progressive solutions. Our artistic vision will unleash a dynamic that trans- forms the very essence of St Pölten in entirely unex- Local projects with European relevance pected ways: the city will feel di erent, sound di erent, We will set out to provide answers to the ur- smell di erent. The vision will be completely free from gent questions of our time – the future of work, didactic grandstanding, relying instead on gestures of the ecological crisis, technological change, invitation, the energizing of local citizens and the con- the social question, the opportunities, risks tagious dynamism of the communication between old and tensions created by digital capitalism, and young, between what is familiar and what is not, the challenges of identity politics – in a way between tradition and innovation. In this context “You that both meets the highest artistic standards only need to change your direction” – is relevant. Much and is site specifi c. We are looking to span in the way of movement and mobility has always been the gulf between the limitations of our local there – precisely in places where the regional mingles roots and general European excellence. We with the cosmopolitan and the traditions of a work- will be developing complex projects that take ers’ city come face to face with that pluralism that has marginalised groups into account and are made – and will continue to make – St. Pölten open to relevant to European networking. We have exchange on every level. a way of becoming active in places and situ- ations where we are least expected. Our leit- motif of Rescaling Distances aims to marshal artistic processes to get rid of stifl ing routines and social demarcation lines. 20 21
Chapter 2 Chapter 2
Track 1: Come Closer Programme
Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Opening
From New Year’s Eve 2023/24 on we will the Klangturm, the Cathedral Square with immerse the city in a new light, starting its new signature architecture and the axis with a pre-opening event at the Cathedral linking the inner city to the Cultural District. Square. European Capital of Culture year is The choirs’ repertoire will contain musical Austrian and inter- launched, and in the days until the European references to the year’s key motto for the national (alternative) formal opening event on 13 January 2024, the Klangturm, Voices & Votes, which encapsu- choirs, Beat Box Ensembles, A-capella city is gradually transforming into a stage: lates the celebration of the human voice and bands like Dom- the MAIN STATION Europe at Home will be of political intervention by voting. kantorei, Konzert- opened and a creative countdown of specif- After this truly polyphonic warm-up chor NÖ, BORG Chor, ic artistic interventions and openings will the choirs will congregate at the Cathedral A Wödchor, Chor 50 plus, Landes- increase the tension. Square for a joint performance overseen jugendchor NÖ, At the Opening, a time-honoured utopi- by a leading international musician such OSGS Chor, Mühl- an dream of St. Pölten’s Klangturm (tower of as Holly Herndo, FKA Twigs Brian Eno or viertler Grenzlandchor sounds) will be realised: the inner city’s air- Björk. A videowall link will allow us to trans- Arnoldstein, Gesangs- kapelle Hermann, space will resonate with music. Dozens of mit greetings to our ECoC partner cities in Wiener Jüdischer Chor, choirs from Culture Region St. Pölten plus Estonia and Norway. This will lead into a Schmusechor, Wiener choirs from EU’s member states will be rais- ball likely to go on until daybreak. The Eu- Beschwerdechor, lalá, ing their voices in squares and streets to cele- ropean Opening is the perfect opportunity die massive beats crew, Bauchklang brate diversity and the idea of people coming to get an experience of what will be on of- vocal groove project, closer to each other – the message St. Pölten fer during the next months. mouth-o-matic, 2024 has for Europe. The focal points will be Mieskuoro Huutajat (FIN), The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices (BGR), Barbara Budgetary Furtuna (FRA), Latvian Budget plan Programme funds not Radio Choir (LVA), Expenditure ECoC 2024* 2020 2022 2023 2024 2025 yet asigned Sum Vocal Art Ensemble Sweden (SWE), Berywam (FRA),
MAIN STATION Europe at Home, MAIN STATION Europe at Home GLANZSTOFF Rescaling Distances € 200,000 € 500,000 € 1,400,000 € 400,000 € 1,200,000 € 3,700,000 Rather than to St. Pölten’s actual main rail- all, the MAIN STATION is the central hub way station, MAIN STATION Europe at Home for ideas that evolve around the ECoC’s key Purchase of necessary refers to a car dealership, Autohaus Wesely, motto Rescaling Distances and commute be- technical and general which moved out of the building decades tween St. Pölten and the world. equipment € 200,000 € 800,000 € 1,200,000 € — € — € 2,200,000 ago. Only about 100 metres away from the Our vision of culture is a process that nev- town hall, the building will serve in 2024 er stops involving its audiences. What we Event- and programme- as the ECoC homebase: as an information want to do is to make the borderline between related personnel € 1,761,500 € 1,007,500 € 2,415,500 € 555,000 € — € 5,739,500 point and a central box o ce, as a meeting active performance and passive reception point, a round-the-year venue for interdis- disappear. This presupposes institutional Total € 3,851,500 € 4,477,500 € 15,551,850 € 2,020,400 € 7,400,000 € 33,301,250 ciplinary artistic interventions, a digital o ers, experimental forms of participation platform in virtual space and, of course, as and an innovative design for public and vir- *Unlike the periodized budget in the chapter on fi nancing where cash fl ow a point of departure for journeys across the tual spaces. It is our goal to make each res- is shown, this is about cost allocation to those years when projects happen programme of St. Pölten 2024. On top of it ident of St. Pölten and the Culture Region 24 25
Chapter 2 Chapter 2
GLANZSTOFF Rescaling Distances
Imposing and most defi nitely something At its heart, the track dubbed The Long Now to write home about: the Glanzsto facto- is the remeasurement of temporal distanc- ry premises, where all the threads from the es: if the modern era is our antiquity, what three dimensions of the St. Pölten 2024 leit- is our now? Is it a now where it is beyond Programme motif Rescaling Distances are pulled together. our power to plan for the future because Main Exhibition This now disused factory, whose beginnings that future seems chaotic and hopeless- Rescaling Distances, The Sankt Pölten date to 1904 (Imperial-Royal Monarchy pro- ly beyond our reach? This future is equally Museum of European duction center, war-related industry, forced likely to be determined by retrogressive or Integration, laborers during World War II, guest work- by progressive forces. To exemplify this it Who needs Europe? ers). When it was closed down in 2008, a is enough to recall recent references to na- Artists preservation order was put on almost the tional founding myths focused on a distant Thomas Bellinck (BEL), MAIN STATION with digital platform entire complex. Today it may be read as a past and the many applications and devel- Ingri Fiksdal (NOR), testament to European industrial architec- opments of artifi cial intelligence. Both phe- Merle Kröger (GER), and each visitor become actively involved in demand a selection process, a process of spa- ture and as a ruinous legacy of the bygone nomena have decisive implications for our metroZones & Jochen Becker (GER) at least one European project, which would tial orientation and guidance. Visitors will modern era. notion of “future”. put the focus on the wider context of how reach the digital platform by a step into the The former powerhouse – the turbine hall Rescaling Distances has an additional each project resonates with Europe as a goods lift, which then takes them – or so it Function plus the boiler house – will be the venue for focus on the spatial transformation e ects whole. Europe at Home is the name we have seems – on a round trip through a tall build- Homebase, meeting the main and interdisciplinary exhibition en- placed centre stage in the track Changing given to this type of approach. ing with its own curated exhibitions, virtual point, digital platform, titled Rescaling Distances, which aims to re- Rooms. What e ects do the desire and/or the round-the-year- venue, In this space full of opportunities, which hackathons and digital symposia on di er- central box offi ce negotiate foundational social, temporal and need for mobility have on the ground? In a will expand continuously over the next few ent storeys. This virtual space is not just a spatial distances from scratch. In keeping mid-size European city such as St. Pölten, years, question marks will be put to inequal- mirror image or table of contents of the Eu- Local Partners with the track Come Closer, it raises crucial what e ect does the constant toing and fro- ities and power structures and alternatives ropean Capital of Culture’s real programme. St. Pölten University questions concerning togetherness: Who ing between urban and rural life, between of Applied Sciences/ will be highlighted. This will assume the It is a venue in its own right and a project media and digital are we, who are the others? What makes us work place, leisure activities and home ac- form of work in and for another, better Eu- that will exercise a large number of creative technology, Martin what we are, what constitutes the otherness tually have? From a specifically Europe- rope, which draws strength from its capac- minds before it can be realised. Bosch (owner) of others? What does it mean to be a resident an perspective, where should the emphasis ity for self-refl ection, rejects self-approval An online team of editors will take care of of St. Pölten and at the same time a citizen of be on the city, where on the countryside? National Partner and gets ready to change its course in cru- questions concerning individual subprojects Ars Electronica Europe and of the world in 2024? Where are What can be done with virtual spaces in a cial areas, from the fi ght against climate cri- and will continue to develop them in discus- “all of us” closer to each other than we might mid-sized city? sis to the fi ght for more European solidarity. sion forums, moderated online discussions International Partners realise? How much manoeuvring space for and presentations, adding works selected from Esch 2022, Time negotiations is there in Europe between a Machine CSA, ICARus The virtual European the input of the network community. We will – International Centre liberal interpretation of democracy and the Capital of Culture be experimenting with a new dimension of for Archival Research illiberal goal of an authoritarian, what-the- the data-based accumulation of knowledge majority-wants-goes type of democracy? Anyone who cannot make it to St. Pölten in about the European Capital of Culture 2024 “State” by Ingri Fiksdal person must be given the chance to join the and develop Artifi cial Intelligence (AI) tools programme online. This works both ways: to enhance St. Pölten’s power of innovation. it will be possible to communicate with Eu- The programming of St. Pölten 2024 AI is de- rope in real time from St. Pölten. This will signed to provide information whose retriev- go much further than digital communication al would be beyond human intelligence, such as we know it. Not only do we o er digital as suggesting an ideal programme for seven- access to our project, we also want to invite year-olds on the morning of 21 September projects to come to St. Pölten in a virtual 2024 or a day tour with the highest quota of form: we maximise cultural impact while South European projects at the Easter week- at the same time minimising the ecological end. In keeping with the demands of NGOs footprint for both humans and equipment. such as Algorithm Watch, AI is also expect- Visitors will be given the opportunity, ed to fulfi l the function of an ethical ideal: courtesy of the virtual twin of the decom- it is to provide algorithms that can be held missioned goods lift in the MAIN STATION, to account and that will in any case be less to explore digital worlds once they have put guilty of discrimination than human deci- on VR headsets and data suits. The challenge sion makers, who are thus replaced by algo- here is that almost unlimited information rithms capable of learning. and countless works of art in virtual space 26
Chapter 2
GLANZSTOFF
Belgian theatremaker Thomas Bellinck will In the warm season a camp under the open realise a core project focused on the contra- sky, provocatively entitled Who needs Eu- dictions between the values Europe professes rope?, will add another dimension to Europe’s and its more or less complete lack of appetite self-questioning in the sense of Bellinck. It for self-criticism. The Sankt Pölten Museum raises the question of how Europe’s self-per- for European Integration is a fi ctitious muse- ception is at the mercy of infl uences from um co-curated by residents of St. Pölten who outside. Under headings such as Afrotopia either sought refuge in the city or were ex- and Chinafrica global shifts in geopoliti- pelled from it. Often their lot has to do with cal power and discourse will be dealt with. events of world-historical dimensions: the High technology only too often camoufl ag- Holocaust as well as the Hungarian Upris- es political change. What would happen if ing in 1956, the waves of “Gastarbeiter” and the Chinese system of social credit were to the wars in former Yugoslavia, in Afghan- be exported to Europe? This would sure- istan, Iraq and Syria. The museum may fo- ly have profound e ects on the continent’s cus on “St. Pölten’s last Jews”. Or on refugees core values. Who needs Europe? wants to put from Afghanistan and Iraq, who are wait- a fi nger onto a number of sore points while ing for a decision on their asylum applica- showing at the same time that the waning of tion while still being denied a work permit. Europe’s cultural infl uence need not mean As “historians by experience”, these co-cu- the end of the world as we know it. rators have an intimate, embodied knowl- edge of the violent dynamic of “othering”. They uncover processes of exclusion and in- clusion and engage in research on whether and to what extent Europe actually stands Track 1: Come Closer by its core values of human dignity and hu- man rights, liberty, equality and democracy. Rescaling the Social 28 29
Come Closer Come Closer
HUB HUB
SONNENPARK / LAMES Children.Art.Lab
50,000 square metres of green space sur- present the results of the sociopolitical, sci- The Children.Art.Lab, which is due to open Concrete artistic programming will take rounding two charming houses, carefully entifi c and artistic processes incubated in in 2023, is a place conceived and realised shape in a discursive process and, as far as developed with input from all sides: this is the think tank to the public at large. This consistently on the basis of how children content goes, in close cooperation with the St. Pölten’s Sonnenpark, a 20-year-old lo- presentation will make use of new formats National Partners see things. An institution probably unique in Artistic Director of St. Pölten 2024. This pro- Local Partners cation with a fl air all of its own. It is home and of installations, performances, social Breath Earth, Climate Europe and certainly never before attempt- cess will be overseen by the Children.Art. Kindergartens, schools, both to “La Musique et Sun” (LAMES), an sculptures and the like. and energy funds, ed by any of the previous European Capitals Lab’s Artistic Director and the Children’s Bildungsdirektion Green4Cities, Land NÖ, Pädago- association focused on art and subculture, The Sonnenpark and its associated com- Kunstwolke Vienna, of Culture, it is a place where children up to Advisory Board, which will be involved in gische Hochschule, and “SONNENPARK - Park der Vielfalt”, munity will make a signifi cant contribution Offi ce for sustainable 12 years of age will walk hand in hand with all of the institution’s decisions concerning Familienland NÖ, cul- whose members go in for natural scienc- to European Capital of Culture year and the competence, art and artists from all over Europe. In its content, programming and design. Artists tural institution with es and work together to cultivate the green very diversity of the visitors it appeals to is Pioneers of change, content the Lab is unique: everything comes like Kateřina Šedá, who is based in our part- children programmes, Setzkasten Vienna, Musik- und Kunst- space. In around 2024 we will make the park, likely to shrink sociocultural distances. As Smart Pölten citizen from contemporary art – in direct collabo- ner city Brno (CZ), Jakub Nepraš from Pra- schule St. Pölten the clubhouses and their communities the St. Pölten’s green oasis, preserved by civ- participation, Studio ration with European artists. The Children. ha (CZ), Peter Land from Aarhus (DK) and International Partners life and the soul of a utopian project of in- il-society resistance against construction Praxistest ( Vienna Art.Lab puts high-quality contemporary art- Rebecca Horn (DE) are already under con- Bibiana International ternational dimensions. Located at the in- projects, the park is an ideal venue for ad- University of Applied works specially curated for and by children sideration for artistic projects. We will co- House of Art for Arts), Subotron terface of art, science and eco-activism, this dressing essential issues: how to cope with at the centre of outreach programmes explic- operate closely throughout with institutions Children in Bratislava (digital games), (SVK), Children’s project will draw on cultural traditions, sci- the global ecological crisis, how to strength- Urbanize Vienna, itly designed for children. The whole range all over Europe. The Artistic Director work- House in Rijeka entifi c insights and alternative strategies of en our resilience, and so on. The two clubs AIL Angewandte of current artistic production will be there, ing in concert with co-opted artists and art including Museum thinking and acting to unleash art’s revolu- have a great deal of experience in the fi eld Innovation Laboratory from video art, photography and painting educationists will develop comprehensive of Modern and (planned) tionary power to e ect change. of knowledge transfer, as is evidenced by to soundart, installation and performance. outreach and education programmes for the Contemporary Art International Partners Rijeka (CRO), Even now, the Sonnenpark is a place their Free-University lecture programme Ambasada Timișoara Interdisciplinarity and media diversity are lab. These will be closely linked to the spe- MSU Zagreb (CRO), where utopias and visions are made visible, and their climate research lab for children (RUM), Bastl Instru- our keywords. cifi c exhibition on show – be it in terms of Nida Art Colony (LTU), perceptible, legible and comprehensible – and young adults. ments Brno (CZE), The Children.Art.Lab minimises the dis- content, artists, special materials or tech- Statens Museum in by 2024 and thereafter things will keep on On top of all of this, their work rests on Hidden Institute tance between children, art and artists from niques. Every exhibition is accompanied Kopenhagen (DNK) Berlin (GER), Institute getting better and better. In 2020 to 2022 we interdisciplinarity, inclusion and partici- di erent cultural and artistic backgrounds. by its own further-training programme and Planned Partner for environmental EUnetART will establish the prototype of a think-and- pation, admirable values they will demon- Solutions Cesis (LVA), It creates a non-hierarchical, non-judge- educational material is available for teach- art tank linked to a Europe- and worldwide strate against a backdrop of autonomy and Meetfactory mental space where all children across all ers and carers. network; in 2021 to 2023 this construct will authenticity. Prague (CZE), Non barriers are free to develop social and cul- We are currently looking at three to four riservato Milan (ITA), gradually open up to embrace civic society. Trans Europe Halles, tural competences through their experi- exhibitions a year. On at least six days a week In 2024 we will expand the Sonnenpark bio- Urban Upcycling ence of art. The art labs and workshops lay these exhibitions and additional events – sphere into the wider region and beyond to Hamburg (GER) down the foundations of what this institu- talks with artists, small-scale musical for- Advisors tion is all about. mats, performances, workshops and open Lilli Lička , Contemporary art frequently provides studio events – will welcome children, their Tomas Zierhofer-Kin the key to current societal, social and po- families and school and kindergarten groups. litical developments, to subjective perspec- A small, but exquisite children’s book library tives and aesthetic statements.Vaulting over will add the dimensions of illustration and language barriers, contemporary art o ers literature and host illustration workshops ideal opportunities where communication and readings. can transcend borders and negotiate its way around obstacles of any kind. Most children are open-minded about new experiences and this is precisely where we want to start: we want to foster their curiosity and self-deter- mination, their creativity of thought and their actions.
Installation by Wolfgang Pilat in Sonnenpark 30 31
Come Closer Come Closer
HUB STOPS COME CLOSER
Castle Viehofen Transformation Festival This new festival format sets itself two main goals: it wants to grow organically Process and integrate the local and regional communities. Opening up new possibil- Starting 2021, yearly festival for two What associations are “castle” or “people This is one realisation of our leitmotif of “Res- ities for the arts, the annual Transformation Festival will be one huge “get-to- weekends in June, continuation after 2025 living in a castle” likely to evoke? Chances caling Distances” in Castle Viehofen. There gether” for the residents of the city and the Culture Region St. Pölten. For that Local Partners are one might think of “privilege”, “nobil- is more. We invite visitors to take part in a extra touch, St. Pölten will invite people from all over Europe to make them- Program BORG St. Pölten (secondary school), ity”, “emperor”, “kings and queens”. This highly individual artistic experience. In the Luxury for the selves seen and heard at the festival. All that is needed to make this happen Festspielhaus St. Pölten, Food- is certainly no accident. It is in the nature ten rooms that make up one of the castle’s others, One-on-one will be provided: international collaborations, talk forums, exchange activi- sharing St.Pölten, jumpers [re] of a castle to underscore the privileged so- storeys we put on intimate one-on-one per- Performances, ties, artists-in-residence programmes and artistic formats that invite partici- loaded , LAMES, Landestheater Nieder österreich, New Design cial status of its inhabitants by its architec- formances. This programme, conceived to Salon Europa, pation in both design and execution. Social Sculpture, University, OMAi, St. Pölten tural splendour and to help the ruling class go on for several months for several hours The Perfect Feast The motto that sums it all up is transformation. St. Pölten encourages its res- University of Applied Sciences , Theater Perpetuum distance itself from their social inferiors. every day, will bring audiences face to face National Partners idents to understand public space as something to experiment with, something Its very splendour makes a castle an exclu- with performers from all over Europe. A place EOOS to reshape, something to change in a playful communal e ort: something to National Partners sive place. Viehofen will disprove this cli- of aristocratic ostentation has suddenly lost give a whole new quality. As residents do this, they will rediscover the poten- Calle Libre, Happy Lab, La Strada International Partners Graz – co-founder of IN SITU, ché. European Capital of Culture year will its taste for social distance. Meeting Brno tial of their city – and of themselves. There will be specially equipped Trans- Proberaum Scheibbs, Spielraum für make it an inclusive place and open it up to formation Stations, where visitors are invited to experiment with their own Alle Innsbruck, Urbanize Vienna the public for the fi rst time. appearance, a metamorphosis that will be helped along by actors and perform- International Partners Demarcation lines between above and ers. Live bands, dance karaoke and poetry slams all make it that much easier A Festival of Creative Urban Living below, inside and outside will be utterly ex- for everyone to join the fun. And at night there are all those pop-up clubbing (GBR), ATÖLYE – Creative Hub punged in 2024. Castle Viehofen is located in locations where DJs, live acts and performance theatre o er their own irre- (TUR), Gallerie Sariev Plovdiv (BGR), Gallerie Crone (AUT / GER), the northern part of St. Pölten which bears sistible attractions. Hidden Institute Berlin (GER), the same name and was falling into decay Even the preparations for the festival are remarkable for inviting a high de- Kultura Nova Novisad (SRB), for a long time until the antique dealer Jo- gree of participation. Artists-in-residence give workshops in music, design, Non Riservato Milan (ITA), sef Figl, set out to breathe new life into what performance and the fi ne arts. Together with representatives of the local art Parallel Polis Prague (CZE) was already a near ruin. With its two 500m2 scene, of schools, universities, the social services and companies, they take storeys, subdivided into fl ights of rectangular to programme work like ducks to water. Vacant business premises are given a rooms, with innumerable secondary rooms new lease of life. Students of design and architecture, apprentices and crafts- and a courtyard ideal for theatrical or mu- men (and -women!) create the infrastructure needed for a weekend where sical performances, Castle Viehofen today residents can present the ideas they would like to see coming to life in their is a unique venue for artistic interventions city. Street art, visuals and light art all contribute to a changed environment. of all kinds. An additional feature is the Audience participation and the regular programme are like identical twins: breathtaking views it o ers of the city and really hard to tell apart. the Culture Region St. Pölten surrounding it. The festival will again be part of the St Pöltners’ sense of identity as a mani- In the fl ights of empty, generously di- festation of change, joie de vivre and the many-layered exchanges taking place mensioned rooms we will stage an experi- within the city, the region and in cooperation with the city’s European partners. ment of social alchemy entitled “Luxury for the others”, to pull o the transformation of Reframing Heimat – Future of Folk Art in Europe exclusion into inclusion. Should any count- In view of the increasing plurality of residents’ sense of belonging both to Teresa Distelberger, Simon Mayer esses or princes turn up at the feasts we will St. Pölten and/or its environs and, in many cases, to their countries of origin, International Partners celebrate at Castle Viehofen, they will have this interdisciplinary participative project seeks to expand the defi nition of Centrale Fies (ITA), DansIT to rub shoulders with people from margin- “Heimat”. All too often the term is used to convey an agenda of exclusivity. The Workshop Studio Trondheim (NOR), EN-Knap company (SLO), alised and minority groups and the repre- project team and people who have come from other countries to live among us Fira Mediterrània de Manresa sentatives of the Culture Region St. Pölten, here will travel to the latter’s native countries. There they will work with local (ESP), Rosendael Theater (NOR), who in their turn make use of this oppor- dance groups and organise miniature feasts on the ground. All this is head- Schauspiel Leipzig (GER) tunity to get to know each other better. In ed for a “universal folkdance” which is going to be part of the real thing, the the courtyard, a social sculpture commands Refraiming Heimat event, choreographed by the renowned performance artist admiring attention; elsewhere, culinary de- Simon Mayer. The culmination of this project will see several hundred danc- lights and cultural souvenirs reminiscent of ers getting together, in St. Pölten’s public space in 2024. migrants’ countries of origin will be on of- fer, and in the Salon Europa our guests will engage in leisurely conversations. 32 33
Come Closer Come Closer
The Food Connection Freedom of speech – The rights of others Taking their cue from our concept of radically lived hospitality, art- Trip the Light Fantastic Political cartoons and cartoons critical of religion have provoked Karikaturmuseum Krems ists Melika Ramic and Johanna Figl fuse an international cuisine violent reactions in Europe and the wider world, raising the issue of Local Partners delivery service with a performance involving people who have taboos and the limits on what can legitimately be said. The Carica- AIR – Artist in Residence Lower Austria escaped from oppression and persecution, often in dramatic cir- ture Museum Krems o ers its own take on the topic by convening cumstances. Anyone ordering food typical of Syria, Iraq, Bosnia cartoonists in the run-up to ECoC year and in 2024 at its location or Chechnia will get precisely that – plus stories told by the deliv- in Krems to discuss the controversial topic of freedom of speech. ery people, presented in scenic form in the customers’ own home. This will include refl ections on media history set against a chang- ing political background. Where Does Your Food Come From? This project traces supply chains and networks from production National Partners Community Dance Days 2024 to consumers and educates children on how to follow the jour- Lower Austrian Chamber of Agriculture (with Statt-Orchester ney of food from local fi elds and gardens to their table and what countrywomen qualifi ed to conduct workshops), At home/In the garden/On the beach Center for Global Change and Sustainability “regional”, “seasonal”, “organic” and “carbon-neutral” means. BOKU Vienna, BIO AUSTRIA The Festspielhaus St. Pölten is serving up several projects. The Festspielhaus St. Pölten This will happen by shopping together at the market, cooking International Partners Statt-Orchestra gives free rein to productive dilettantism. It unites National Partners and eating together Bodø 2024, Tartu 2024 people who have always wanted to make music but cannot play an radio fm4, Tanz die Toleranz Wien, Tanzhafen- instrument and musicians playing an instrument they have never festival and Red Sapata Tanzfabrik Linz The European Living Room played before. The underlying point is active social inclusion and International Partners KoresponDance (Prague, CZE) The Tischlerei Melk addresses the topic of home making in an eth- Tischlerei Melk Kulturwerkstatt a joint refl ection on Europe’s (musical) values, spiced of course by nically diverse Europe, with its tension between migration and the sheer fun of it and the pure joie de jouer. Planned Partners CIRCUITDEBRIS Mostar (BIH), Community Dance the simultaneous desire for cultural belonging. People who have A project entitled At home/In the garden/On the beach sees the Academy South Tirol (ITA), People Dancing moved from third countries to St. Pölten and its environs will act Festspielhaus putting its frequented environs of the Cultural Dis- Leicester (GBR), Tänzer ohne Grenzen (GER) as co-curators and invite ensembles from their countries of origin trict to social use: book stations pitch their tent in the green areas, into the Tischlerei, which will then have been transformed into a the feeling of being on a beach is conjured up by a stage in or near living room. As warm-up acts, the fi rst living room concerts will the river and cultural events, such as a musical lunch, are laid on take place in 2021. in the Festspielhaus cafeteria and the dining hall of the Lower Aus- trian Government District. Tonkünstler Orchestra Lower Austria For the Community Dance Days 2024 the Festspielhaus joins forc- The Tonkünstler Orchestra Lower Austria comprises musicians es with European partners for dance projects to create new chore- from 26 di erent countries – the European idea and the idea of in- ographies relevant to European issues, which will be performed in tegration on a transnational level are visibly part of the orchestra’s the partners’ countries of origin and in 2024 in St. Pölten. Danc- DNA. A programme of 12 concerts in 2024 is designed to pay hom- ing has a way of establishing emotional closeness, in keeping with age to the ECoC year: the orchestra’s choice of compositions, so- our motto of “rescaling distances“. The project, as you would ex- loists and conductors is based on the twelve countries which have pect from its title, is ready to welcome all those who are interest- hosted European Capitals of Culture in the past, paying tribute to ed in dance. Europe’s cultural diversity. At each concert, musicians from EU countries other than Austria will be specially featured. Glanzgänger*in 2024 Furthermore, the internationally well-known Austrian compos- Another participative project with broad appeal: students, farmers, Annemarie Mitterbäck, Romy Kolb er HK Gruber has been commissioned by the orchestra to honour workers, refugees and commuters pool their e orts with those of the ECoC year with a half-hour composition on the theme of the artists from around the world in creating music and dance minia- workers’ movement. tures, which will be presented to the public in three locations (fac- In September 2023 the Tonkünstler Orchestra make the newly tory, barn, refugee home). The threads spun in this way will fi nally revamped Cathedral Square the venue for a participative format in be pulled together in 2024 in a spectacular hybrid event fusing con- the form of Orchestral Karaoke (the Cathedral Square as the ulti- cert, performance and party in the former GLANZSTOFF factory. mate karaoke bar!), 2024 will see an event entitled Symphonic Mob, featuring an invitation to all to join a musical fl ash mob. Sparring Partners Specialising in contemporary art and performance art, Kunstraum Kunstraum Niederösterreich Queerschnitt Film Festival Niederösterreich is our ECoC satellite in the heart of Vienna. It Several venues in St. Pölten and the Culture Region St. Pölten will Queeriosity will launch a format which combines aspects of an international- be earmarked for projects to sensitise people to queer lifestyles. Top Artists expert-studded talk show and performances. Sparring Partners directors from all over Europe have addressed themselves to the Alice Moe / Eric big Clit, Beatrice Behn, will explore the productivity of the contrast between political at- topic of queerness, revealing its complexity and the challenges it Katrina Daschner, Rosa Wiesauer titudes and artistic positions. The series will focus on such contro- entails. Panel discussions with experts complement the scheduled Local Partners versial issues as Europe and “Heimat”, felt by some to be divisive Cinema Paradiso, St. Pölten University of Applied events and fi lm screenings. Sciences, frei.raum, LAMES but seen as a source of identity by others. 34 35
Come Closer Come Closer
Becoming Europe / gestures 4 europe fashion photography presented in a poster campaign in St. Pölten This dance performance by choreographer Brigitte Wilfi ng address- Brigitte Wilfi ng for an intervention in the market-oriented consumption mecha- es the plurality of gestures indicative of attitudes towards Europe. National Partners nism and provides information on topical societal issues. It does In the setting of a polling booth residents are given the opportu- mediaOpera, SeeLab, St. Pölten University so by providing poster and object art with new possibilities for in- nity to mime how Europe appears to them and what in their view for Applied Sciences tervening in public space. it should actually be. The results will be recapitulated in the form of holograms projected onto suitable surfaces in the city. Di erent work, di erent class The history of the working-class city St. Pölten is closely associ- Local Partner There will always be holes in the wall ated with major employers such as Glanzsto , Voith or Harland’s Chamber of Labour for Lower Austria An artist, a cameraman and an anthropologist document in vid- Christine Moderbacher, Paul Reade Coats. What residual meaning have such terms as Proletkult, work- eoform places for encounters such as community centres in the and Annika Lems ing class culture or even working class itself? What is the future of marginalised districts Molenbeek (BE) and Torpignattara (IT) International Partners manual labour and, indeed, of work in any form? From 2020, this and neighbourhood projects in small Austrian and South Tyrole- Associazione Casa Familiglia Lodovico Pavoni annual festival combines refl ections and workshops on the status (ITA), Max Planck Institut für Sozialanthropologie an villages. The videos will be shown in St. Pölten in tandem with (GER), Sireas Bruxelles (BEL) of manual labour and a cultural programme focused on topical a participative project allowing visitors to get in touch with peo- variations on the industrial folk song. ple on the ground. Platform for Young Art and Young Artists Reel Play The gallery is creating a fi ve-year platform for young artists work- Galerie Maringer Having searched through their attics for 16mm fi lm reels, the par- Kino im Kesselhaus ing in painting, graphic arts and sculpture. 2020 will see the fi rst Process ticipants in this project, assisted by the artist Stefanie Weberhofe, National Partners annual, jury-adjudicated competition on the topic of “Europe at Starting 2020 cut and process the found material, matching it with a statement on Municipalities in the Culture Region St. Pölten Home” for young artists studying at Austria’s art universities and Europe. In the end, this collectively produced found-footage fi lm is International Partners schools. The fi ve winning works will be presented in May each digitised together with its sound track and made available to cine- Europa Cinemas year and in both May and October in 2024. mas, schools and municipal councils in the Culture Region St. Pölten. Music O ce STP Visionale Music O ce St. Pölten will be fi ring up up young people about mu- Martin Rotheneder, Assisted by artists, adolescents and young adults engage with mo- ART EMBASSY / ÖiN / LAMES sic to make sure that the regional music scene keeps on going. It Michael Willer (Idea Workshop) mentous European issues such as the sustainable supply of energy Process makes the potential of the St. Pölten music scene visible and, more and mobility, the eco-friendly use of the environment and peace- Starting 2020 importantly, audible and pursues the long term goal of transform- ful co-existence. Art, street-art, music, video art, poetry, rap, DIY – Planned Artists ing St. Pölten into a city of music. The Playground Orchestra uses Zines and performance all conspire to recharge the concept of Emmerich Weissenberger, Nora Ruzsics, Kashink playgrounds and their attractions as (percussion) instruments; (FRA), Magdalena Chowaniec (POL), Millo (ITA) sustainability with emotion and passion and to make it real. Art “From seeming so to being so” casts a glance behind the scenes of manifests itself in public space in such forms as sculptures, dance National Partners the music business. All this is complemented by precisely targeted BORG St. Pölten, eNu Energy and Environment performances, fl ashmobs and social murals. Social murals, as their Agency Lower Austria, Jugendklub Festspielhaus capacity building workshops for making sound tracks, overseen name implies, are murals with a social message. They pop up in St. Pölten, Pionieers of Change, by musicians and producers both from the region (Michael Willer, unexpected places throughout the city, conveying a positive mes- International Partners to name but one example) and neighbouring European countries. sage, a credo, an attitude. Local and international artists will col- Freiburger Gruppe OGR (GER), SAC Street Art Young people from all walks of life, including marginal groups, get laborate with institutions, civil-society platforms and schools to Communication (SVK), YesYesWhyNot (IND) to know the entire process of making music, from songwriting to stake out an artistic sustainability trail across the city focusing on Planned Partners sessions in the recording studio. AIL Angewandte Innovation Laboratory the “good life” and on the “city of the future”. Grätzellabor Futurama Lab Grätzellabor, which is planned to be operational at least until 2024, KulturhauptSTART A future-oriented society presupposes a sustainable, eco- friendly Rainer Prohaska addresses issues of social coexistence by focusing on the two “Grät- Process Started 2019 lifestyle embraced by all its members. Futurama Lab will create Process zels” [neighbourhoods] of Mühlweg/Kulturheim Nord and Linzer- Formats research-based art works drawing on scientifi c studies to address Starting 2020 straße/Löwenhof. Mobile structures, workshops and exhibitions Stadtlandfl uss, Salon24, Coming Closer, writing social and ecological problems such as the climate crisis – prob- International Partners of works by residents will be used to encourage local communi- workshop, Takeover, OpenMic as guest, architec- ture days as guest, Home Visit Europe as guest; lems that a ect all of us, regardless of where we live or work. In Hidden Institute (GER), ties to engage with each other and to explore the history and the Institute of Cultural Studies (POL) Europe-Pubquiz terms of content, Futurama Lab takes the UNESCO’s Sustainable present-day potential of these areas. The results of this search for Local Partners Development Goals as a guideline. Aimed at social inclusion, this Contacted Partners cultural identity will be brought vividly before visitors in 2024 in zURBS (CHE), WRO Art Center (POL) Connected with many local Institutions, multilevel project culminates in an exhibition and a conference. an interaction in public space between neighbours and local and associations, universities international artists. Trash Diaries Trash Diaries addresses the topics recycling and redesign in an at- austrian fashion.net KunstnetzWERK_Europa Process tempt to encourage the public to avoid, reduce or reuse waste. An International Partner In conjunction with artists from six European mid-sized cities the Started 2019 international open call invites people working in the creative indus- NEONYT (GER) Künstlerbund is looking to establish long-term connections to wid- International Partners tries to develop (fashion) articles made from waste or superfl uous er Europe. The project will culminate in 2024 in the residency of Cooperation Network of European medium-sized cities, tranzit.sk, kair Košice Aritist in Residence materials. A jury will select 15 items. The project uses conceptual six visiting artists from other European countries in St. Pölten and, 36
Come Closer conversely, the visit of six artists from St. Pölten to these European partner cities. The schedule includes participative formats,travel- ling exhibitions and a joint presentation in the St. Pölten City Mu- seum as its fi tting climax.
Hippolyt and Daughters The artists see topics featured in the ECoC year from a female per- Edith Haiderer, Ingrid Loibl spective and speak up without fear or favour. Synergies realised Process through cooperation with musicians and writers, daughters all of Started 2019 them, will add great growth potential to this women’s network. Artists The women’s project Hippolyt and Daughters has been testing its Christine Moderbacher, Claudia Zawadil, Evi Benesch, Ingrid Reichel, Maria Budweiser wings since January 2019: artists from St. Pölten and environs have been showing their works in the windows of vacant shops, light- National Partners Offi ce for diversity St. Pölten ing up grey facades. In 2024 the start-up will move up a notch or two or three.
Hogwarts is part of St. Pölten – European circus school & magicians’ conference Convened under the patronage of the world famous magicians NXP Entertainment Group Thommy Ten and Amélie von Tass, both born in St. Pölten, the European Magic Conference will see the continent’s best magi- cians gather in European Capital of Culture St. Pölten. Care will be taken that alongside the stars of the scene representatives of the dark arts from each of the member states of the European Union will be invited. This, too, refl ects the diversity of Europe’s cultures.
The Perfect Feast This dance-and-music performance takes its cue from annually Trip the Light Fantastic recurring feasts celebrated by di erent cultures and from the fact that many elements of these feasts seem to be universal. The per- fect feast arranged by and for children from the age of 8 could be a symbol of coexistence in a pluralistic European society or a mul- ticultural city such as St. Pölten. It is concerned with diverse ritu- als but no less so with the individual ideas of children on the spot.
Club 3 Kids Every child from toddler to ten year old will be welcome at the Cinema Paradiso & Elisabeth Pöcksteiner round-the-year Club 3 Kids at the Cinema Paradiso, where an artis- National Partner tic activity to suit each and every one of them will always be avail- Jeunesse – Musikalische Jugend Österreichs able. Forget everything that has ever made you feel uncomfortable about entering a strange place. There are no barriers. It’s just chil- dren and artists getting along like a house on fi re. Track 2: The Long Now
Interreligious Dialogue In 2024, the St. Poeltner Dommusikverein transforms religious and St. Pöltner Dommusikverein Rescaling Time cultural centres in St. Pölten and the Culture Region into venues for great sacred music. The project involves representatives of dif- ferent faiths, thus contributing to their getting to know each oth- er better and to engaging in creative exchanges. There will be one cluster of events in spring and another in the autumn. The time in betwen will be fi lled with commissioning and premiering new compositions, stage appearances of artists from all over Europe and the world and events featuring collaboration with other ECoCs. 38 39
The Long Now The Long Now
HUB HUB
Cathedral Square Former Synagogue
Thank heaven for the Cathedral Square! It is a the European Capital of Culture to the re- Local Partners Built in 1913 from plans by architects Theo- tremendous gift for all those who are involved gions and to other European cities. Having Cinema Paradiso, dor Schreier (1873 Vienna – 1943 Theresien- in planning ECoC year – and a tremendous been detached from the honeycomb as a St. Pölten City stadt) and Viktor Postelberg (1869–1920), the Museum, BRG/BORG challenge. It is a gift because Europe’s sto- whole, individual cells, complete with artis- St. Pölten, the school Former Synagogue is the most important ries and its history, Europe’s past, present tic content specially curated for this purpose, of music and arts architectural symbol of St. Pölten’s Jewish and its future intentions are manifest here will go on the road. Transcending the city’s St. Pölten community, which fl ourished until the Nazis more than anywhere else in the microcosm boundaries, this strategy makes the Cathe- Programme decreed its members’ expulsion and murder. that is St. Pölten. Archaeological excavations, dral Square the focal point of the ECoC’s Opening, Orchestral Jewish communal life was completely eradi- Karaoke (2023), which were begun in 2010, have unearthed key agenda: Rescaling Distances – leaving Symphonic Mob, cated and only a handful of survivors chose substrata that go back to Roman times. With one’s own comfort zone and renegotiating Art Sculpture, Movies to return to St. Pölten.The Synagogue build- fi nds that point to a pristine church and a the whole concept of belonging. at the Cathedral, ing was returned to Vienna’s Israelitische burial ground with more than 20,000 skel- School Musical, Kultusgemeinde (IKG) in 1952. artistic light design etons, in use until well into the 18th centu- The Former Synagogue is one of the few ry, they are a testament to Europe’s millenia buildings of its kind in the German speak- old Christian legacy. The invitation is out: ing countries to have been restored in all Come and see the people who have passed its former splendour. Once a decision had through this region in the course of its age- been taken after lengthy discussions, res- old history, and be astonished alike at their toration took place between 1980 and 1984. di erences and their similarities to us and However, no provisions were made regard- to each other. ing the building’s future use and no funds Today the Cathedral Square morphs into a were made available to cover operating costs market place twice a week, o ering food- and personnel. In 1988, the Institut für jü- stu s and other produce from the region en- dische Geschichte Österreichs (Institute of circling the city. This makes it an emblem the Jewish History of Austria, Injoest) moved of a deep rooted regional and ecological into the cantor’s house of the Former Syna- By 2024 the Former Synagogue will have Programme awareness – it is no coincidence that this is gogue, which guaranteed a certain degree been adapted to house permanent installa- Installations: Spotlight where Austria’s fi rst shops for organic food of accessibility for visitors. tions such as a media station that picks out On, Jahrzeit, Stand- punkte; Festival “Euro- set up in business. St. Pölten’s ambition to be nominated Eu- architectural details inside the synagogue pa Jehudit”, European The Cathedral Square is also at the cen- ropean Capital of Culture provides a unique and links them to photos, documents and re- Debates tre of a highly controversial debate about its opportunity to fi nd a long-term use for this ports by contemporary witnesses to bring a National Partners future form and use, which show no signs building in and beyond 2024 which does jus- historical perspective into play. The installa- Jewish Museum Vi- of abating. tice to its history and beauty. What we are tion Jahrzeit, part of the media station Memo- enna, Austrian Jewish Museum Eisenstadt, The extraordinarily many-layered Cathe- looking for is a centre of academic research rbuch St. Pölten, which documents all the Jewish Museum Ho- dral Square is ready to welcome an equally and a venue not only for the commemora- Shoa victims among the members of the IKG henems extraordinary, spectacular and versatile art tion of the Holocaust but for the celebration St. Pölten, commemorates one of them every International Partners sculpture capable of accommodating what- of Jewish culture and history, a platform for month, using all the biographical details that Former Synagogue ever demands are placed upon it. What we artistic and cultural events and for the public have survived. The installation Standpunkte Kriegshaber, Jewish Museum Amsterdam, have in mind is a honeycomb-like installa- to engage with those phenomena that have is designed to prompt discussions on topi- Jewish Museum tion that, taken as a whole, will function turned this synagogue into a Former Syna- cal subjects among young people. Augsburg Schwaben, as a stage. Its shape, reminiscent of the gogue: discrimination, racism, nationalism From 2024, a major festival of Jewish art Jewish Museum honeycomb facade of our nearby, impossi- and political violence. and culture will see the Former Synagogue Basel, Jewish Museum Bratislava, Old ble-to-overlook “MAIN STATION Europe host a raft of artistic events. The festival Eu- Synagogue Erfurt, at Home”, is an embodiment of the sustain- ropa Jehudit ( Jewish Europe) focuses on Jew- Jewish Museum Essen, ability discourse and invokes that archetypal ish culture from di erent regions in Europe Jewish Museum emblem of industry and camaraderie, bees. and presents it against its social background. Munich, Jewish Museum Prague, The individual segments of this honeycomb The emphasis is on the work of Jewish com- Samuel- Steinherz- architecture, which provide so many stag- posers and musicians. Biographies, talks, Stiftung Brno es for all kinds of projects, will also serve readings, exhibitions and workshops will as go-betweens to deliver the messages of add depth to the festival. 40 41
The Long Now The Long Now
HUB STOPS THE LONG NOW
Nuclear Power Station Zwentendorf Where is time going? Unlike those of the postwar era, social and political processes today Haus der Geschichte – Museum Niederösterreich evolve in a much more complex and less comprehensible manner. Local Partners This is a one-o , a historical singularity which are either close to Kraftwerk in aes- It is therefore all the more important to grant profi le and identi- ELit Literaturhaus Europa, only to be found in Austria: a nuclear pow- thetic and conceptual terms or have already ty to time by spinning the tale of its fascinating history. In 2024 Tonkünstler Orchestra Lower Austria er station completed more than 40 years explicitly covered Kraftwerk tracks or have Haus der Geschichte will be asking pertinent questions: How did International Partners Estonian National Museum Tartu (EST), ago which never went onstream. It would, a thematic agenda reminiscent of the way Programme that time regime evolve? What are its e ects? Since the eighteenth House of European History (BEL) however, be getting hold of the wrong end Kraftwerk’s original track courts the tingle of After us / Après century that regime has made itself felt in a decoupling of the past of the stick if one were to dismiss Zwenten- fear will take to the stage here. An open call nous, Meltdown at from the present, in the singularisation of stories to creat abstract Zwentendorf, dorf as a sick joke. This Austrian singular- for a Radioaktivität remix competition will Radioactivity “history”, the establishment of a culture of musealisation and re- ity points both to the past and the future be issued and the fi ve best entries selected Artists membrance and of the idea of a future utopia to which all roads of problems that are now more serious and by a jury will be featured in live performanc- Krištof Kintera, lead. Can this type of temporal regime be allowed to go on and, if more urgent than ever before: the price we es. A fi tting climax to all this would be an Ira Melkonyan, that is the case, how is this to be done? In close contact with the pay for progress, the relevance of civil dis- open-air concert by Kraftwerk themselves Milan Cais exhibition the Tonkünstler Orchestra Lower Austria will develop obedience against the backdrop of political against the backdrop of the never commis- a synaesthetic concert format which embraces the fi ne arts, liter- hubris, the possible dawn of a post-apoca- sioned nuclear power station. ature and performance art. lyptic world. In its historical cinemascope The venue will be put to multiple use. The format the Zwentendorf saga is a perfect fi rst half of 2024 will see a documentary ex- River kilometre 2024 match for the European Capital of Culture hibition entitled Meltdown at Zwentendorf, A boat ride along the largely forgotten remains of the Limes, the Festival Glatt&Verkehrt track “The Long Now”. which is all about using artistic means to border fortifi cations of the Roman Empire, with the Danube’s river In 1978 the citizens of Austria decided throw light on international confl icts and kilometre 2024 – believe it or not – bang in the middle. A festival of that the risks inherent in nuclear technology civil-society activities. At the centre will European music, Flusskilometer 2024 will celebrate the pleasures of outweighed the economic advantages that be nuclear power stations such as Temelín, give and take as enacted by the styles of European music on their technology promised to bring. The reactor Jaslovské Bohunice, Dukovany and Mo- cross-border journeys from north to south, East to West and vice lost its raison d’être in one stroke. Today it chovce, which all went into operation after versa. That universally understood idiom – the sound of bagpipes, allows visitors to its control centre to form Zwentendorf was rejected. brass music and percussion – will delight audiences both on board an impression, at least in radiation-free the- The second half of 2024 will be given over river craft and at landing stages. ory, of how a nuclear power station works, to a project entitled After us/Après nous. In an opportunity that is on o er nowhere else performances, discussions and exhibitions Renaissance now in the world. Another upside of the concrete we will be focusing on a posthuman era, The renaissance castle Schallaburg had its heyday as a vibrant cen- Renaissance castle Schallaburg colossus: located in a setting of exquisite nat- which transcends any half-life period and tre of cultural and political life in the sixteenth century. In 2024, in ural beauty, it serves as a year-round venue indeed any human horizon of expectation. collaboration with a European partner, the castle, by then in its for extravagant events. French theatre maker Philippe Quesne, who 50th year as an exhibition venue, will demonstrate that utopian The power station will be playing a key has turned himself into an expert of sorts thought and action are still relevant today and must be treated ac- role in a two-day open-air music festival, on a future when humanity will be conspic- cordingly. The Renaissance is understood in this historic location which will revolve around the seminal song uous in its absence, is planned for a com- as the catalyst of a European movement of comprehensive rejuve- Radioaktivität by the trailblazing German missioned work. Milan Cais, Temelín nation – or indeed, as the name implies, of a rebirth, which took band Kraftwerk. Several European acts place both on a local and a transnational level. Of crucial impor- tance in all this was the establishment of an autonomous life space, which sought to shake o the dominance of cities in the search for solutions to urban crises.
The Region’s monasteries The environs of St. Pölten alone boast a unique cluster of four mon- Abbeys Melk, Göttweig, asteries, run by three christian religious orders, which had – and Herzogenburg, Lilienfeld still have – a hand in shaping Europe: the Benedictines in Melk and in Göttweig, the Cistercians in Lilienfeld and the Augustin- ian Canons in Herzogenburg. To showcase the role they played in the development of Europe, these monasteries will establish a networked platform that allows visitors to experience the diver- sity of monastic life in great detail. As spiritual havens and high- ly di erentiated cultural centres they are adept at transnational 42 43
The Long Now The Long Now communication and at making themselves available to people on courtesy of the City of Krems, the spire will become a place for di- the ground – including those who have no close ties to the church. alogue, where the past is made accessible under di erent perspec- The Lilienfeld monastery sets o in search of its own roots in an tives for students and young adults exhibition with the theme “Europa daheim – Rescaling Distances”. It delves into its own history to show how Cistercians travelled Migration – Nature takes to the road from monastery to monastery to exchange knowledge and exper- People migrate and so do animals. The result of stress caused by climate Museum Lower Austria with Haus für Natur tise. The exhibition is accompanied by a programme of classical change, shifts in animals’ habitats have been on a rapid increase in Eu- music which will unfold throughout 2024. rope and all over the world. The consequences are often unexpected. A special exhibition in St. Pölten’s Haus für Natur in 2024 will focus The secret worlds of the cathedral and the monastery on nature on the move, casting light on this subject in all its diversity. Behind the walls of St. Pölten’s cathedral and and the bishop’s Anita Lackenberger seat lies a world fi lled with stories of human destinies. Pilgrimage European Revolutions in Contemporary Art routes, small devotional and/or memorial shrines known in Austria Revisiting the history of political acivism in art from the 1960s, the Kunsthalle Krems as “Marterl” and wayside chapels are testament to religious life in exhibition Riot Revolutions puts relevant artists and their work cen- the country. The project, which will comprise fi lm and video in- tre stage – from Vienna’s “Aktionisten” and their anarchist perfor- stallations, sets out in 2024 to throw light on this highly ramifi ed, mance Kunst und Revolution in 1968 to Central and East European transnationally relevant aspect of ecclesiastic history. artistic positions of the 1970s such as Mladen Stilinovic, Sanja Ive- kovic and Russia’s Pussy Riot. Lab Europe – Together we are Europe Who are St. Pölten’s new residents? Where did they come from? Renate Kienzl, Peace, Sustainability and the Dictatorship of Love. Why did they decide to up and leave? Together with the Center for Zentrum für Migrationsforschung Rebelling for a new lifestyle. From Egon Schiele to migration research the two-tiered “Together we are Europe” project Joseph Beuys and Jonathan Meese focuses on the years 2020 to 2023 to fi nd answers to these questions. The exhibition focuses on an imaginative network of dissident ar- Landesgalerie Niederösterreich In addition to providing practical help to migrants and access to tistic positions including painters such as Egon Schiele. In an as- various networking programmes, it will devote itself through dis- tonishingly prescient way, these artists anticipated much that is cussions and workshops to the analysis of the cultural and ethical familiar to us from today’s debates seeking to reform our lifestyles – challenges resulting from regional and global migration. sexual emancipation, spiritual special paths and alternative forms of social life such as the utopian artists’ colony Monte Verità in Swit- St. Pölten and its Environs in the National Socialist Era zerland. The exhibition project traces the tangled routes and inter- In an attempt to make comprehensible what now seems to defy un- St. Pölten City Museum relatedness of modern European artistic life designs, looking for derstanding, St. Pölten City Museum will put on an exhibition in scholary appraisal through DÖW, insights that might be applied to our present situation. 2024 on the city and its environs during the Nazi era. The regime’s International Research Institutes, all of St. Pölten’s academic institutes perpetrators and victims will be presented in model case studies Artifi cial Schiele (Schiele 4.0) – Local Partners and their motives for collaboration or resistance will be analysed City Archive St. Pölten, Department of Contem- Egon Schiele and Digital Reality and outlined. We start at the local level (prehistory, protagonists on porary History of the Landesarchiv Lower Austria, What would Egon Schiele, who, as we know, was imprisoned on Karl Hintermeier the ground), move on to the region (Arbeitsdienst, relations with Diocesan Archive St. Pölten, Documentation trumped-up charges for three weeks in Neulengbach in 1912, do if International Partner the “Gauhauptstadt” Krems, concentration camp Melk) and end Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW) he were to return today and immerse himself in the digitised world Egon Schiele Art Centrum Český Krumlov with the transnational dimension (Where did the forced labourers of the twenty-fi rst century? The painter is reimagined as a cyborg come from? Where did St. Pölten’s men die as soldiers in the Weh- in this station drama set in and around Neulengbach Castle. He can- rmacht? Where were St. Pölten’s Jews murdered?). not but run foul of political and artistic norms, and fi nd himself in prison all over again. Contemporary Centre “Melk Memorial” The Melk Centre for Contemporary History, which is in charge of Verein MERKwürdig Will even machines dream one day? the Concentration Camp Memorial in Melk, will, starting in 2020, Process The (virtual) Literaturhaus Europa sets out to explore the infl uence ELiT Literaturhaus Europa be organising international youth conferences focused on contem- Workshops starting 2020 with participants from of Artifi cial Intelligence on our lives. Young people from ten di er- Local Partners porary and democracy political issues. Works created o ensively as Italy, Croatia, Germany and Austria ent countries, working as roving reporters in the setting provided Festival Glatt&Verkehrt, Haus der Geschichte - Planned expansion to include Baltic States, Israel, Lower Austria Museum, AIR-Train a mirror of current socio-political challenges by the young people South Eastern Europe and Ukraine by eljub (European Youth Movements), provide copy on this sub- in the context of the conferences will tour their native countries ject. Dialect poets and international spoken-word performers put International Partners Beletrina Ljubljana (SLO), eljub european before they are presented in an exhibition at the memorial sites at AI (Artifi cial Intelligence) centre stage in their joint acts. A mobile movement, Jewish librari Timișoara / LITFest Melk and Erlauf. The exhibition will be part of a great youth ex- “Speakers’ Corner” tours the Culture Region St. Pölten, inviting au- Festival (RUM), Lettres d’Europe et d’ailleurs change event in 2024. diences to engage in a debate with speakers. Video clips featuring Paris (FRA), Literaturhaus Drei Raben (HUN), interviews with writers in ELit partner cities are aired and upload- Literaturhaus Hamburg (GER), Sounds Right London (GBR) Tower of Memory ed to a website conceived as a virtual room together with a selec- The spire of the imposing, 14th-century Frauenbergkirche in Krems/ Department of Culture of the City of Krems tion of project texts. Every year participants review what they have Stein will be converted by 2024 into a state-of-the-art competence achieved at the Europäische Literaturtage. The climax is scheduled centre for history and political education. Augmented Reality will for 2024, when all the elements mentioned above will be pulled to- be only one of a number of tools for knowledge sharing. Restored gether in St. Pölten. 45
Changing Rooms Track 3: Changing Rooms HUB Rescaling Space Cultural District
Despite its closeness in the government dis- trict to St. Pölten’s city centre, the Cultur- al District conveys the impression of being out of the loop, of leading an extraterritori- al existence, a symbol of the disconnect be- tween the City of St. Pölten and the Province of Lower Austria. Festspielhaus St. Pölten, Lower Austria Museum (including Haus der Geschichte and Haus für Natur), Low- er Austria Provincial Library, Lower Austri- an Provincial Archives and the Klangturm (tower of sounds), all of them institutions Model of Mirage 24 installed in the 1990s during the transfor- mation of St. Pölten into the capital of Low- er Austria, are now surrounded on all sides by largely lifeless terrain. HUB In light of 2024, this awkward state of a airs calls for a radical implementation of “You only need to change direction”. What is completely inadmissible is to insist on see- Mirage 24 ing the Cultural District in isolation. The spatial context of the entire city needs to be A nomadic experiment. A festival, always on the move from St. Pölten taken into consideration: exploiting the vi- to Europe beyond the city’s boundaries, to places as far away as cinity of the Traisen river, re-routing cycle our European neighbours in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia. A paths and footpaths so that they cross the means of transport to connect people and places. A stage on wheels, Cultural District, connecting it on an emo- designed for public space, that allows residents to exchange their tional, artistic and content-driven level to role as spectators for that of contributors. And those are only some the inner city, the Former Synagogue and of the uses of the mobile mirror stage Mirage 24. the Children.Art.Lab. The mirrors of the open stage structure refl ect the surroundings; We also want to redefi ne the function the people’s own mirror images become overlaid by those of others, of Cultural District o ers for the city and its places and landscapes. This interactive set-up animates observers residents: its large open spaces are ideal for to – literally – refl ect on themselves and their surroundings and public art and for surprising artistic takes to adopt new perspectives. The mirror stage features two lateral on the themes of water, wind and light. We openings, providing a frame for people, places and landscapes and are looking to present a new interactive in- opening up a vista on and across the central main stage. Mirage 24 stallation every summer. has a curated programme in store: concerts, readings, fi lm screen- ings. It has collateral uses as a “research lab” in that we take stock of talents and traditions in workshops and talk shows, contribut- Cultural Distric Mirage 24 ing in this way to the transfer of culture, knowledge and skills be- tween the habitants. Programme Concept Opening, At home/ Peter Fattinger, Alternatively, pageants and the stage head from St. Pölten into In the garden/On the Veronika Orso, the region or progress from village to village. “Delegations” of the beach, Community Lorenz Seidler current venues accompany Mirage 24 and celebrate the handover Dance Days 2024, Programme as travelling players. Musical lunch, ECoC Challenge, The event format “ECoC Challenge” takes its cue from the “Saal- Radical Radio Europe, Research Lab Radio Networks, wette”, the auditorium wager which gave the German TV show “You Speakers’ Corner, bet!” its name and its cachet. We invite residents to join in enacting Statt- Orchester, Trans- specifi c competences and issues of their communities on the stage formation Festival, Voice and Vote, Where improvised. The winning team is chosen by public voting and will is time going? feature it in a performance in St. Pölten. 46 47
Changing Rooms Changing Rooms
STOPS CHANGING ROOMS
Klangturm (tower of sounds) Raise your voices, make yourselves heard! There is no better place to do this in Programme than the Tower of Sounds, which was built in 1996 but has since 2013 fallen silent. Voice and Vote, Radical Radio In 2024 we will transform this spectacular sight into a symbol of the voice Europe, Radio Networks of every single human being. Under the motto of “Voice and Vote”, voices will be heard in the Tower of Sounds that are often kept silent even in our democ- racy and are only too often phased out in everyday life: the voices of the very old, of the young, of marginalised groups. This is all about solo voices, the power of polyphony, the power of the voice as as harmonious sound and as a scream, the voices of animals. A curated programme for 2024 will feature musical and sociopolitical high- lights. We invite everyone to make themselves available. It is above all their HUB voices we are after. Visitors will enjoy a curated musical and sound art pro- gramme comprising many di erent genres; they can say whatever they feel needs to be said at a Speakers’ Corner; and other ECoC projects are free to use the Klangturm for their presentations. With support from the local indie radio Route 24 R.A.M.B.O. at Linzer Straße stations Campus City Radio, Radical Radio Europe and from regional artistic initiatives, we will transform the Tower of Sounds into a radio station, trans- mitting its programmes in conjunction with other European stations with no Nat King Cole, Chuck Berry and the Roll- St. Pölten’s Linzer Straße is another inner-city regard for national borders. ing Stones once hymned Route 66. How- invalid with lots of vacant properties. Ar- The Tower of Sounds is the most prominent symbol of St. Pölten’s ubiqui- ever, that is a thing of the distant past. In gentinian author and director Mariano Pen- tous underused spaces. This is just one of the many exciting projects we will the ECoC year we will proclaim the open- sotti will be coming to the street’s aid in Programme be devising to call it back to life. ing of Route 24. In keeping with our device real-documentary manner by creating an im- Bühne im Hof - Renais- of “You only need to change direction”, we mersive spectacle with the allure of a block- sance et Resistance / Radio networks Pop up Performances, form fi ve streets into an innovative ensem- buster, featuring a cast of professional actors Walk by Art, Street- Campus & City Radio 94.4 are the media face of St. Pölten 2024 and will make Campus & City Radio ble, where art will be giving a new lease of and residents. Another key role is planned painting Festival, Art in sure that all of Europe can tune in to our city. In keeping with our leitmotif Local Partners life to empty, underused, abandoned or “oc- for the Bühne im Hof, one of Austria’s most public space, Pop-up “Europe at home – Rescaling distances” we will set up a radio network to pro- St. Pölten University of applied cupied” spaces. This will include a certain successful small theatres, which will be tak- theatre, Workshops, vide journalistic coverage of the activities of St. Pölten 2024 and lend media studies, LAMES, IMA Institut Street exchange, für Medienarchäologie – productive, it is hoped – turmoil in pub- ing its particular brand of stage art into the presence to the city’s artistic productions. Faithful to the principles of commu- Transformation Festi- National Partner lic space during the one and a half months open in Linzerstrasse and other underused val, Grätzellabor nity radio stations we invite residents to make themselves heard. In October Ö1 Kunstradio over which the project will play out in street spaces in the vicinity. 2024 we will put on a three-day festival/symposium at the Klangturm entitled International Artists International partners after street. In a street in what estate agents like to Kateřina Šedá (CZE), Klangstadt, which promises to mark the climax of a year of intensive radio work. Kaunas 2022, Esch 2022 St. Pölten’s most frequented shopping call an “exclusive residential area”, an art- Mariano Pensotti (ARG) street, the Kremsergasse, will house a long- ist group and residents set to work on proj- Radical Radio Europe (RRE) National Partner term project which will see the street’s ects which call traditional demarcation lines La Strada Graz, St. Pölten has a globally unique landmark: its Klangturm (Tower of Sounds), IMA Institut für Medienarchäologie cobbled stones develop an uncanny and between inside and out and boundaries in co-founder of IN SITU which can be seen from a great distance and is a distinctive feature of the National Partners mysterious life of their own, shaking up public space into question. Art will provide city’s skyline. It is in the nature of things that this tower needs to make it- Ö1 Kunstradio the perceptions of passers-by. Pavement de- the tools to discover and open up as yet un- self heard. RRE’s activities will transform the tower as a radio transmitter International Partners sign, fl ying objects, unexpected noises and known walkways in this street and make and receiver into a European radio hotspot, establishing St. Pölten as a pow- radia, EBU Ars Acustica Group stretches of lawn – this is art signalling to several of those wonderful gardens, where erful voice in Europe. shoppers that it is time to take a breath and trespassers are normally not welcome, ac- Conversely, RRE will also bring Europe to St. Pölten, turning the Klangturm give social empathy a chance. cessible to the public. into a place for encounters through performative radio – “radio for ears and The Marktgasse, a centrally located al- The Wiener Straße, too, has many unused eyes” – radio workshops for children and teenagers, lecture performances, and leyway, is made the object of a most unusu- or underused spatial resources, vacant busi- talk formats in the spirit of good news. Twelve di erent international artists al barter: the short alleyway is revamped by ness premises and romantically overgrown and art groups will be invited to create RRE’s 2024 program. Czech artist Kateřina Šedá in such a way that backyards. Open Stage St. Pölten invites lo- our guests in 2024 will to their surprise and cal and international groups to make use Direct connections in the middle of St. Pölten fi nd themselves in of public space and of these vacancies – for We all know that huge data streams course continuously through our ultra what deceptively looks like an alleyway in projects ranging from art in public space, connected world. What we are much less aware of is the physicality of those Brno. Conversely, the residents of Brno will pop-up theatre and street art to workshops. streams, a defi cit the Fineart Galerie Traismauer seeks to address by making be able to call a piece of St. Pölten their own… communication visible in an attractive and productive way. Light signals in 48 49
Changing Rooms Changing Rooms
Morse code connect the Traisen river valley with Krems. Messages Fine Art Galerie Traismauer AIR-Train formulated by residents are transmitted between Krems-Stein, Hol- Local Partners The train has been an archetypal symbol of transport since the AIR – ARTIST in RESIDENCE Niederösterreich lenburg, Traismauer, Herzogenburg, Unterradelberg and St. Pölten Cities: St. Pölten, Krems, Traismauer, days of J M W Turner’s Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Planned National Partners and even as far as Moravský Krumlov. Artists develop and devise Herzogenburg, regional wine growers, Railway. The Artists in Residence (AIR) Train commutes between Galerie Stadtpark Krems, Kunstmeile Krems, educational Institutions objects, sounds and haptic experiences at the“transmitter stations” St. Pölten and Krems. O ering a limited time window and a de- NÖ Festival und Kino GmbH, Austrian Federal International Partner Railways (ÖBB), ORTE Architekturnetzwerk and in select locations in the region between Krems and the Traisen Moravský Krumlov (CZE) celerated experience of space, it provides ample opportunity for Nieder österreich, Unabhängiges Literaturhaus valley. The project will be on stream throughout 2024 and will raise refl ection and contemplation – a welcome alternative to everyday Niederösterreich, Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region awareness about the importance of collaboration. routine and the hubbub created by the wealth of cultural o erings. (VOR) The ECoC year and the fact that trains are an eco-friendly means A Great European Story of transport will combine to increase the use and signifi cance of The 2024 programme of the Landestheater Niederösterreich will fea- Landestheater Niederösterreich the St. Pölten–Krems rail link. Artists will be invited to create a ture a great and specifi cally European story, realised as a co-produc- International Partner succession of works for the AIR train. Some actions, performanc- tion with theatres and theatre groups from other European Capital Tartu 2024, Bodø 2024 es, readings and interventions will be intermittent, others are fi x- of Culture Cities in Estonia and Norway, hopefully with Bosnia as tures throughout 2024. well. Dramatists from the three countries will jointly write scripts for the stage that work both as stand-alone plays and as three parts Cinema Paradiso of a Netfl ix-like series. The three plays will be performed as a the- St. Pölten’s arthouse institution Cinema Paradiso takes to the road Programme atre marathon in the three cities. The premiere will take place in in 2024. A tractor with a suitably adapted trailer transports Euro- Club 3 Kids, Crossing Europe Filmfestival St. Pölten in 2024 with an at least trilingual cast. pean fi lm culture from the capital to the country. Screenings will goes St. Pölten, Movies at the Cathedral materialise out of nowhere, guerilla-action style on some occa- Invisible Cities Lab sions, on others they will be integrated into village festivals and The international performance collective The Doing Group uses The Doing Group on yet others they will be part of an event featuring young fi lm interventions, workshops and interactive performances to get to National Partners makers. We will see movies at the cathedral and special programs the roots of St. Pölten’s hidden realities. Inspired by Italo Calvino’s Stadtpotentiale Innsbruck, in the regular venue Invisible Cities, they focus on residents and on views of the city that diemonopol have previously been largely ignored. The project is designed to Critical Chance empower those residents to use their imagination and their mem- Experimental theatre maker and performance artist Stefan Kaegi Stefan Kaegi (GER) ories to upgrade their own agency in the city. has made a name for himself by, among other things, being part of the renowned Rimini Protokoll. In 2024 he will stage mass bi- The Wheel of Delight cycle tours, where participants will experience St. Pölten and its Rather than concentrating on St. Pölten’s inner city, the project Kunst im öff entlichen Raum Niederösterreich environs in an altogether new light. Providing a musical setting embraces the city’s ten other, more rural districts, whose residents International Partners for the city and the Culture Region, a sound track and loudspeak- have tended to develop an identity defi ned by their immediate sur- AIIR – Association for interdisciplinary and inter- ers play out alongside the individual cyclists, who will each con- roundings. Artists from all over Europe will be invited to provide cultural research Zagreb (CRO), Køs – Museum tribute their own voice and their own social role. The overarching of Art in Public, Spaces (DNK), Light in Fine Arts central locations in these districts with interactive fun-fair attrac- (GER), Platform Kunst in Opdracht (BEL) theme is the demarcation lines separating city and country and tions of the merry-go-round type. Propelled by muscle power, it is their consequences for people and the environment currently be- hoped they will prove genuine magnets. ing renegotiated almost everywhere in Europe. The resulting travel experience will feel like a collectively produced documentary with I’ve got something to tell you great political relevance. Murals, large-format wall paintings and their messages are a domi- ORTE Architekturnetzwerk Niederösterreich nant feature in many metropolises. By now this cross between street Artists: Mural artists from diff erent European European Union Youth Orchestra Countrys Local Partners: Cinema Paradiso, art and art in architecture has found international favour not only From 2021, the only avowedly pan-European youth orchestra and Local Partners Lower Austrian Creative Academy, St. Pölten Grafenegg / Campus Grafenegg with the sprayer scene but also with planners and property devel- City Museum National Partners: AIR – Artist the chamber-music ensembles formed from it wil be using its res- opers. In 2024 this urban art form will be presented in all its aes- in Residence Lower Austria, Calle Libre idency in Grafenegg to play a succession of concerts in unusual International Partner thetic and political diversity. venues with partly new audiences scattered across the entire Cul- Ferrara Musica (IT) ture Region St. Pölten. In 2024 these concerts will be streamed live Let’s draw! OMAi – Offi ce for Media and Arts, Inter- to the other European Capitals of Culture. Drawing is a language as simple as it is universal. An installation national und Tagtool Community Artists: Alean in St. Pölten’s public space presents drawings by artists from eight Ovramenko (UKR), Benjamin Rabe, Ilan Katin Musical Impulse – (GER), Carlos Perez (ESP), Frances Sanders Dima Danube University Krems – European countries as well as contributions from closer to home Berzon (CZE),Dieter Puntigam, Tom Stockinger Musical Region Dunkelsteinerwald Center for Applied Music Research by projecting them onto an attractively styled facade. The public (AUT), Jon Burgerman, Fabric Lenny (GBR), Lora Music is a strong means to foster new regional identities. Twelve Involved Municipalities joins the fun by drawing on iPads and having their drawings ani- Shopova, Ivan Shopov (BGR), Sofi a Cordoba, municipalities in and around the Dunkelsteinerwald forest and Bergern im Dunkelsteinerwald, Dunkelsteiner- mated by Tagtool technology. OMAi is supported by the Tagtool Matthew Watkins (ITA) National Partners: Göttweig Monastery unite to bring together cultural initiatives, wald, Furth bei Göttweig, Hafnerbach, CYW Ars Electronica, Soundframe Festival Mautern an der Donau, Nussdorf ob der Traisen, community’s international network. International Partners: Lunchmeat Studio and associations and locals in a collaborative project based on exist- Obritzberg-Rust, Paudorf, Rossatz-Arnsdorf, Label (CZE), Monstra Festival (PRT), Southampton ing resources to bring them on a higher level. Local communities Schönbühel-Aggsbach, Statzendorf, Wölbling University (GBR), Theatre of Animation and Art are the cornerstone of engaging cultural events; the locals not only Local Partner (UKR), Urbans Projections (GBR) attend events but actively develop and host them. Göttweig Abbey 50 51
Changing Rooms Chapter 2
In a sound installation city and countryside exchange places: sounds The thermometer calls the tune – does it really? from the city are heard in the middle of the forest; sounds associat- ed with nature fi nd their way to central St. Pölten. In 2024 an inter- national Audience Development symposium at Danube University - to °C Krems will also examine how the experience of the Dunkelstein- The calendar of St. Pölten 2024 is fi lling up erwald musical experiment can benefi t other European regions. day by day. We start on New Year’s Eve 2023 by bathing the entire city in an altogether new Eurotour light, starting with the Cathedral Square. Once Initiated in 2017, the Europaballett’s Eurotour is based on an in- Europaballett St. Pölten European Capital of Culture year has been ternational network that has already established partnerships International Partners formally opened on 13 January 2024, a suc- to °C with Rijeka, Sopron, San Remo, Novi Sad and Osijek. The proj- Theatres in Rijeka, San Remo, Sopron, Osijek cession of brilliant indoor projects will make As spring approaches and we don’t need to ect, which is designed to be expanded to digitised outreach activ- and Novisad light of wintry temperatures at the Former heat up indoor rooms so much, projects that ities, will be continued until 2027. 2024 will mark a climax with a Synagogue, the newly built Children.Art.Lab, will take to the stage include outdoor events: European dance festival characterised by a maximum of social in- the Cultural District, St. Pölten City Museum, they will range from the fi ctitious Route 24 to clusivity. An open air event and projects specifi cally designed for Castle Viehofen and, outsourced to the Culture the ever-green oasis of alternative culture in children are in the pipeline. Region St. Pölten, at the Tischlerei Melk and the Sonnenpark. Spring will also see the open- the Kunstmeile Krems. ing of the main exhibition Rescaling Distances Chamber Music Festival 20:24 in the former Glanzsto factory premises. Strict etiquette had better be left at home: The ChamberFest 20:24 Lukas Kargl ° ° ° presents chamber music and lieder in public locations so that bar- ° ° riers to entry that have deterred many people – perhaps particu- ° larly the young – are practically non-existent. Several artists from ° di erent European countries will take part in this dusting-o op- ° ° eration, which will include cooperation with social institutions - ° A M such as the Emmausgemeinschaft. M J F ° ° J J
PNYX ▶ °
- °
In keeping with the reference to the original Pnyx, the place in Ath- Robert Jelinek A
D
ens where the Ekklesiai or meetings of the people were held, artist International Partners Temperature in degrees Celsius S
N
Institutions, festivals or associations Climate data of Austria, ZAMG, O
Robert Jelinek’s version is a meeting place in the public space. His °
°
from all 27 EU member states branch offi ce St. Pölten - ° PNYX is a 36-square-metre, closed letterbox system complete with °
its own PO boxes. A competition will be held in collaboration with
°
27 institutions, festivals and associations to select tenants for these °
°
°
boxes from all 27 EU member states. The new tenants will be giv- ° en keys to these PO boxes and postal addresses. This creates in St. ° Pölten a virtual, but thoroughly analogue postal European Union. The installation and the organised events deal thematically with - to °C reunion, Heimat, identity, migration and other provocative sub- In the autumn, our activities once again re- to °C jects such as tax havens and the registration law. turn to the more comfortable indoor venues. The warm temperatures of summer will tempt proj- - On the menu now is a rich series of exhibi- ects right out into the open and to venues and en- A M A SHIP WILL COME M tions, literary events, concerts, discussions, counters with a powerful surprise ° factor. The mobile
J F ° °
This project, jointly organised with donaufestival, begins and ends donaufestival European exchanges and social programmes, mirror stage Mirage ° 24 descends on a number of loca- ° in St. Pölten. Between these two end points, the craft mentioned in Planned Ship Stops J projects in virtual space and a whole raft of tions and the summer ° camp of the Rescaling Distances J -
the title is away on a voyage on the Danube, from which it will return Bratislava, Budapest and Novi Sad or Belgrade works for the stage. These are partly conceived exhibition pitches its tents outside the former factory. A
D
with a cargo that is surprisingly di erent from the one it departed as work in progress or as additional or fi nal Wherever you turn, you will come upon artistic inter- ° S °
N °
with, when that cargo was ceremoniously bade farewell in St. Pölten. O modules of formats that had been evolving over ventions that- ° interweave the local woof with an in-
M
A -
The shipload of artistic “contraband” is destined for four Europe- the course of the year or even longer. The de- ternational warp: in the streetsM of the cities, in nearby
an cities – Bratislava, Budapest, Novi Sad and Belgrade –, where it commissioned Nuclear Power Station Zwen- castles, abbeys and monasteries,F on craftsJ sailing the
J is unloaded with all due pomp and circumstance. The boat returns tendorf will host a second project focused on Danube and in artisticJ cycling tours from the city to
° - ° ° °
loaded with artistic cargo, which will be presented at the Domplatz speculation about the future relationship be- the Culture Region St. Pölten and back.
D A at the climax of the closing event. The Danish performance group tween humanity, technology and nature. This
N SIGNA, which specialises in the creation of haunting parallel worlds, exhibition revisits an earlier one staged in the O S
- ° ° will be onboard. Its approach makes the audience part of the per- spring that recalled the historical dimension °
formance by involving them in one-to-one talks in a styled setting. of the power station, which was mothballed ° What we get here is a sort of ghost ship with a cargo of contraband. after its completion in 1978. The title of the °
°
° Having dropped anchor in the four European cities, it mutates for exhibition invokes the uncertain future after °
° a few days into a speculative space for SIGNA’s fi ctive reality. 2025: After us / Après nous. ° 52 53
Chapter 2 Chapter 2
How will the events and activities that will constitute How will the cultural programme combine local cultural heritage and traditional the cultural programme for the year be chosen? art forms with new, innovative and experimental cultural expressions? Step by Step New routes of access
The programme of St. Pölten 2024 is anchored in a broad participative process and will contin- Using an innovative combination of venues, genres, artists and audiences, ue to be developed under the aegis of an artistic directorship, which has yet to be nominated. St. Pölten 2024 will open up new routes of access to our material and imma- Starting in 2020, this development will be oriented towards the strategic themes outlined in Bid Partners terial cultural heritage and investigate a series of possible future scenarios. Cultural Association Book II. Cultural institutions, associations and players have pooled their creative energy and Eu- of Austrian Railway ropean ambitions with the conceptual and curatorial competence of the team (Andreas Fränzl, Workers, Lower By emphasising our local heritage we focus Several projects oscillating between Austrian Brass Band Thomas Edlinger, Romana Maliti, Elisabeth Schack) we have put in charge of artistic project on the cultural mosaic that refl ects Europe’s past, present and future will take place Association, Kultur. development for the selection phase. essential diversity and highlight it both for in a more academic setting: Region.Nieder- österreich, Volkskultur our audience as a whole and for our various Niederösterreich/ The matrix that serves as the basis for the selection of programme ideas European partners. Giving hospitality a rad- ARCHAEOLOGY aufhOHRchen/ . the strategic guidelines for the application and the cultural strategy ically new interpretation, we will present a St. Pölten has a great number of important Haus der Regionen, ▶ European dimension – European themes, partners and artists wide range of realisations of popular cul- archaeological fi nds, such as the leftover of Chor Szene Nieder- österreich, Musik- ▶ Spatial resources – public space, cultural institutions, abandoned places ture, such as brass band music, traditional a Roman palace underneath the Cathedral schulmanagement ▶ Participation and engagement – co-creation, co-realisation, outreach music and dance. Blue collar and railway Square and a one-thousand-year old cem- Niederösterreich, ▶ Audience development – a new interpretation of the relationship workers’ culture with all their cultural as- etery with more than 20,000 burials. Dig- Museumsmanagement between artists, audience and organisers sociations and institutions will be given a ital projection will transport this evidence Niederösterreich, BhW Niederösterreich ▶ Regions and networks – setting up networks to facilitate exchanges platform alongside the truly polyphonic cho- of the city’s past into the present. (Bildung hat Wert), between the city, the Culture Region St. Pölten and Europe ral, architectural and gastronomic scenes. Zentrum für Museale ▶ Capacity building – expanding and sharing competences, testing All these groups will engage in a dialogue Living archives Sammlungswissen- innovative ideas, laying foundations for the legacy about the past, the present and the future In collaboration with the abbeys of Melk, schaften . the artistic vision “Europe at Home – Rescaling Distances” with artists and groups from other Europe- Herzogenburg and Lilienfeld Stift Göttweig Enlightened facades . balancing the di erent genres between art and (socio-)cultural projects an countries. This will be at the forefront in will showcase the sacred and secular musi- OMAi baroXmedia Reframing Heimat ( ▶ p 31), which is looking cal legacy of the region between the Dan- Ars Electronica Future- Open call for ideas to put together a universal folkdance. ube and the valley of theTraisen. Historical lab, Internationale We sent out an invitation to St. Pölten’s and the Culture Region’s institutions networks extend far into Europe, notably Barocktage Stif Melk, and associations, to cultural workers, artists and interested residents as well Enlightened facades to South Moravia, the Danube countries Landesgalerie Nieder- as to universities, schools and the business community, encouraging them to Baroque portals will become the canvas for and Italy. Located at a crossroads between österreich / Kunstmeile Krems submit projects. The present programme is made up of a selection of repre- digital works of art. Tagtool allows artists art and academia this participative exhibi- Organ meets sentative Stops drawn from more than 300 submitted projects. to give stately facades in St. Pölten’s inner tion project links a time-hallowed cultural electronic music city a new lease of life. legacy to a state-of-the-art hi-tech present. orgelplus, Bodø 2024, An excerpt from the call: Further development of the progamme from 2020 Tartu 2024 The age we live in faces a number of grave challenges, baroXmedia European Design Lab Archaeology such as the polarisation of society, the potential disinte- Bid Book II and the programme set out in it, Europe at This is the title of a series of experimental Recourse to craftwork as a model of sus- Medical University of gration of Europe and the wish to withdraw behind bor- Home – Rescaling Distances, will be used as the basis and media projects conceived by students of St. tainable production is becoming more and Vienna – Center for Forensic Medicine, der walls. St. Pölten 2024 therefore wants to focus fi rmly will supply guidelines for advertising the vacant posi- Pölten’s University of Applied Sciences for more common in our digital age. Linked to Institute for Forensic on all that seems alien and distant. Eyes, ears and hearts, tions of the artistic director and in the team of curators. the Internationale Barocktage Stift Melk. design, craftwork has become a key point Medicine of the Uni- both of the city’s residents and of visitors, are to be opened In addition to the realisation of the programme as set The media centred transformation of phys- of reference in the investigation and foster- versity of Bern, EURAC to new perspectives. out in Bid Book II, roughly 30% of the programme bud- ical reality into a virtual data matrix proves ing of social developments. Interdisciplinary Research – Institute for Mummy Research Setting out to renegotiate distances in such problem- get (▶ p 22) is dedicated for further development and con- to be a methodology that is distinctly rem- teams of students from St. Pölten and part- Living archives atic fi elds as history and the future, urban and rural en- solidation through new projects, using vehicles such as iniscent in several respects of the baroque. ner universities in the region develop new Abbeys Göttweig, virons, private and public, individuals and society, we theme specifi c calls or collaborations. concepts and concrete solutions for coexis- Herzogenburg, want to promote awareness, curiosity, understanding and The
Chapter 2 Chapter 2
How has the city involved local artists and cultural organisations Please give some concrete examples and name some local artists and cultural organisations in the conception and implementation of the cultural programme? with which cooperation is envisaged and specify the type of exchanges in question.
So far we have worked intensively with members of the local scene not only Listening – Debating – Disagreeing – because they are a big part of getting this bid o the ground but also because we see them as part of our team and agree with them wholeheartedly on the Agreeing – Developing – Concretising size and scope of an ECoC. This is the result of an intensive exchange in the In addition to the past years and the strong commitment in the cultural sector for the project 2024. partners whose projects were select- St. Pölten 2024 has involved local artists and cultural organisations from its beginnings. ed via our calls, we are striving for coopera- The European Capital of Culture Year is a huge opportunity and huge challenge for the What we have seen so far is that the whole well as from associations such as the Platt- tion with the follow- local and regional cultural scene. It took a year to realise just how huge. Within the process needs a well structured and contin- form KulturhauptSTART, SONNENPARK/ ing partners: uous debate so that we can work together. LAMES, the Künstlerbund artist’s associ- FM4 Frequency framework of the platform KulturhauptSTART, artists, associations and cultural insti- Festival in St. Pölten tutions have been actively involved in all our events and ideas as far back as 2016. That Basic elements of that conversation are the ation, the Institute for Media Archaeolo- (150,000 visitors), attitudes needed to make an ECoC grow gy and the Centre for Migration Research. NÖ Dokumentations- is when our special ambition started to grow: a desire to set o together o the beaten into a civic initiative on a European scale. zentrum für moderne track, to think in new directions, to start experiments, to develop new international It is vital that there should be a mutual un- Central projects of the programme serve as Kunst, Choreografi e- zentrum der Musik- networks and grow capacities that will change the city forever. derstanding both of the ambition to grow an interface for other local and regional cul- und Kunstschule and the need to take risks. Some have a lot tural organisations and local and European St. Pölten, Youth of ecperience of working across Europe- artists, for example: Centre Steppenwolf, By that time public support for this courageous and in- In addition, the platform “KulturhauptSTART” 2019 an boundaries, other less, but we all have Fest der Begegnung (Feast of Encounter), novative application was so great that it spurred on a continuously organised events in cooperation with us a strong will to cooperate with European ▶ Transformation Festival Association akta-Kunst series of unanimous political decisions that also led to in the formats “Salon2024” and the public “Jour Fixes” artists and partners at all stages of a project. This new yearly format is a well and tru- im inter diszi plinären an autonomous management organisation to organize, for networking and information for the local scene. In We are all aware that the sector as a whole ly new, though seamlessly organic depar- Raum, Association structure and push the process. We as O ce St. Pölten June, the symposium “Realraum - zu Wissenstransfer has an enormous opportunity to learn and ture platform integrating the form, nature, Die Puppen werk- statt, Association 2024 actively harnessed this energy and channelled it und Kulturvernetzung” took place in cooperation with that this means engaging with talent on the and appearance of the local and region- raum greifend, through more than 250 bilateral cultural talks and var- the art and culture association LAMES. ground to improve competences and foster al communities of artists. Opening up Association Freunde ious participative formats from KulturFOREN to the excellence. What is actually vital is not an new possibilities for the arts, the annual der Wilhelms burger series of events “Artistic Programming in Discourse”. equal distribution of resources but the qual- Transformation Festival is a gathering of Keramik, Association Kultur im Schloss Here the detailed thinking, the interconnection, the in- ity of each person and artistic idea and the a diverse selection of cultural players that Walpersdorf, Galerie spiration and the construction of ideas worked togeth- chance to have a deep, lasting and sustain- espouses a community- building ethic, and Daliko, Verein Burg er to our common aim. able impact. We will develop artworks in a value system that celebrates life, personal 2025 (Burg Neuleng- co-creation and -production in partnership growth, social responsibility, healthy liv- bach), OpenGLAM.at, Vocal Groove Project Were those open calls a good idea? How to move on from here? equally with the cultural and civic agents as ing, and creative expression for the resi- “Bauchklang”, Band well as with the end user and visitor. dents of the city and the Culture Region und Music Produc- In spring 2019, we reached out to four target groups: cul- Starting in spring 2020 the program for 2024 is be- We have respect for the artist’s way of St. Pölten. For that extra touch, we invite tion Team “House tural institutions, cultural associations, creative artists, ing developed in a joint process with thoroughly pre- working, the passion-love-relation in every people from all over Europe to make them- of Riddim”, Höfefest, Music Festival Barock- artists and interested citizens, as well as universities, pared and designed pilot projects. We have lists and situation, the people with whom we engage selves seen and heard in their own plain festival, Music Festival schools and businesspeople. These calls were accom- project plans telling us where to start. Through the and the sympathy that grows throughout the and honest way. This initiative starts in Musica Sacra, Music panied by a detailed briefi ng explaining our selection
Chapter 3 Chapter 3
Elaborate on the scope and quality of the activities: ▶ Promoting the cultural A place for everything diversity of Europe, intercultural dialogue and greater mutual understanding between and everything in its place European citizens; ▶ Highlighting the common aspects of European cultures, heritage and history, as well as European integration and current European themes; We explore Europe at home by seeking out com- In this respect St. Pölten 2024 uses the very mon ground: how our language and names are problems that beset everybody seeking to bring adopted and changed (Route 24 ▶ p 46), why the people together. Life on line, the creative in- way we eat and celebrate has changed (The Per- dustries (where language is often less of a bar- fect Feast ▶ p 36), how fashion is evolving (Trash rier, home centred and pan European climate Diaries ▶ p 34) or how virtual space is dissolving change solutions, tool use, shopping and DIY and enriching our familiar environment (Dig- – all of these play their part. Such a cumulation ital Platform ▶ p 23). Our overall strategy is to re- of practical togetherness shows the importance tell the history of ideas, people and inventions of the European ideal. Our strategy to support using migration stories as our starting point. this European integration is to showcase how After all, we are – more or less – all migrants as time passes the increase of freedom of choice and the e ects this has had on European con- stimulates solidarity between individuals. We fl icts can be rediscovered through personal do this in concrete terms by bringing together stories about the world wars, Napoleon (who people that experience crisis and share their was here), the Balkans, current waves of refu- problems via their chatboxes, blogs, gra ti, gees from the Middle East. We can study the chronicles, inventories, ordinance, court re- impact past and present migration has had on ports, wills and other documents pertaining our neighbourhoods. One way is to combine to their everyday lives. organised walks through industrial buildings and environments with visits to neighbour- Europe at Home hood labs in densely populated areas, with a guest worker and a local maverick building the storyline together as they go. Without a European dimension the whole business of any European Capital of Culture Year fails. How come? The initiative thrives on interactions, disruptions, disagreements, innovation and fruitful exchanges involving all the people in Europe that have or will have some kind of a relationship with St. Pölten. If we are going to operate in this person- al space, we need to work at the right level of intimacy and in a very honest and direct way. Rescaling distances and embracing Eu- rope as our home means to refl ect on our daily life – housing, furnishings, food, dining and clothes – and let it trigger inspiring discus- sions about our cultures in the broadest sense. On the other hand it also means to spread out St Pölten is a railway town in its very bones. It lies directly on the and let ourselves inspire by the European di- east-west connection between Budapest and Munich. 30 years versity of answers given to the urban chal- ago, at the fall of the Iron Curtain, St. Pölten found its perceived lenges of our time and start experiments on geopolitical position on the edge of Western Europe shifted all at small and local scale. This is what we mean once into its heartlands. Strange as it may seem, we in St. Pölten when we speak of “Europe at Home”. We are and Lower Austria have not yet fully come to terms with the full talking about a place where small is beautiful e ect of the positive challenges posed by a 400 kilometre long and warmth is strength. open border towards our neighbours Czech Republic, Slova- The work we have done so far with our kia and Hungary. The intercultural dialogue and mutual under- own population has showcased diversity for standing is still somehow focused on an east-west divide. The us in a series of questions, large and small, north-south axis is a di erent matter. There is still a great deal with the answers to be given as we work our of untapped potential to be mined in our relationships with Po- way through. Our strategy is to put critical, land, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Croatia. Our strategy must Elfriede Jelinek’s “Am Königsweg” by Nikolaus Habjan at Landestheater NÖ healthy pressure on relationships, highlight be to range across social and cultural barriers if we are to un- disruptions and retell the story of Europe in dertake a successful exploration of the evolution of ideas in the time, space andin a social context . world of the home. 58 59
Chapter 3 Chapter 3
How do we implement this European Neighbour_ship & Citizens_hood European Diversity Released “Europe at Home” approach? Standing on the Rathausplatz, we can take any one Ten minutes away by bus is Castle Viehofen, where the social barriers of the small streets around us as the starting point that the building once trumpeted are overcome symbolically and actual- In order to establish intensive relationships be- for the many relationships we are building between ly as everyone is called upon to participate. The range of St. Pölten 2024 tween macrocosmic Europe and microcosmic these parts of our entrepreneurial city and surround- stretches from the Queerschnitt Film Festival to the experience of Euro- St. Pölten in the ECoC year, we have identifi ed ing neighbourhoods in smaller towns and villages in pean diversity in terms of important gender movements that are destined six thematic strands as interfaces for Europe- the region and across Europe. We bring the neighbour- to grow over the next few years, combatting discrimination and attitudes an exchange. The themes are integral parts of hood between member states to the level of a small of denial and o ering challenging solutions to misconduct, representa- our existing and evolving programme within urban neighbourhood and “exchange” an alley in the tion and inclusion. Our approach is to call out the lack of diversity and the three tracks. Every theme can be seen all centre of St. Pölten with an alley in Brno by means of show that now is the time to act and speak up for accountability, conse- the way through the cultural programme and artistic-architectural transformation. In return, visi- quences, promotion and retention. We will call attention to the sad fact every theme has its own assigned place in our tors to Brno will of course be enchanted in their turn that discrimination is an ever-present fact for many Europeans. Our landscape highlighting places where we start by a small piece of St. Pölten. Our cultural and creative method is to include a range of old and new marginalised groups from to explore Europe at home. entrepreneurs and citizens strike up relationships with our own and other medium-sized cities, formulate messages and actions people in the partner cities. In 2024, St. Pölten will cre- that work together and connect places that symbolize lack and openness ate a democratic political foundation for these projects towards diversity in our towns and cities. in cooperation with Danube University Krems and the ○ Hub Castle Viehofen fi ve-year project “The Future of Democracy in Austria ● Stop Queerschnitt Film Festival, and EU-rope”. In a broad youth campaign, we want Europe ● Stop There will always be holes in the wall, to achieve, both in the city and the region, the high- ● Stop Becoming Europe/gestures 5 europe est voter turnout of all under thirty year old voters in at Home the European Parliament elections 2024. ○ MAIN STATION Europe at Home ○ Hub Route 24 ● Stop Grätzellabor ● Stop Lab Europe – Together we are Europe unCommon European History ● Stop Voice and Vote Migration is Mobility ● Stop Direct connections If we walk from the Cathedral Square to the The mobile stage vehicle Mirage 24 crosses the sur- Former Synagogue, we can feel the presence rounding region and the city throughout the year. It of Europe in every stage of our city’s develop- deals with mobility of ideas, services and people as ment – Roman times, migration of peoples, it poses major challenges for policymakers. Our ap- repopulation through monastery buildings, proach here is to point at often distorted public per- peasant revolts, a fl ourishing Jewish religious ceptions of immigration as they cast their shadow over Sense of Undiscovered Place community, its brutal destruction by the Na- the human challenges and consequences of migration. zis, industry taking over the town – the list The Cultural District hard by the provincial o ce of With such a mass of information within our reach, Nature, Climate and the wreckage of the Future is endless. This is our heritage. It is also our the state of Lower Austria is – to say the least – very what we remember and what we forget, especially inspiration – both the glue that holds us to- Those who bike south for a few minutes from St. Pölten rail- di erent from the rest of the city and quite literally has the role played by memory in the confi guration of in- gether and the medium by which we can way station will fi nd the 5 hectare, well-kept and participative- to be seen to be believed. Our approach here is to look dividual and collective identities, we have a rich fi eld see ourselves from the outside and consider ly designed Sonnenpark. Here the two associations Sonnenpark with minds set fi rmly to “cultural” and “creative” for for exploration. The deletion, the uses and misuses of how we might change and develop. We will and LAMES are developing an international utopian project some kind of inner coherence with the wider city by memories that excluded, revised or reinforced narra- use the digital part of our projects to bring embracing art, science and eco-activism. Together with Euro- searching out the meaning buried in many abandoned tives once accepted as dominant and usually opposing together those who are interested in using pean partners, they are test driving possible solution to mak- spaces in its streets and squares. Using such artistic and those a ected, is the subject of the temporary fl agship heritage in this open manner as a motor for ing the future a more ecological and sustainable place. Another cultural methods we can arrive at a freedom of inter- project Sankt Pölten Museum for European Integration. venue is the Nuclear Power Station Zwentendorf – 30 km away pretation and generate an acceptance that leads us to social change and understanding. ○ Hub Mirage 2024 and never in operation – where the public are confronted by the discover a deeper experience of the city as a whole. On ○ Hub Cathedral Square ● Stop The Sankt Pölten Museum for European Integration ○ Hub Former Synagogue horror picture of a posthuman world: a reference to the costs the way we take along experiences from other midsize ● Stop Food Connection ● Stop Melk Memorial that humanity must incur if it ignores existential threats. Our cities that have undergone their own transformation ● Stop A SHIP WILL COME ● Stop Tower of Memory method here is to demonstrate that it is no longer possible to from industrial and workers’ cities towards service cit- ● Stop Eurotour ● Stop Archaeology at Cathedral Square cling to social norms and cultural identifi cation in the face of ies. We invite our own citizens and the many visitors ● Stop St. Pölten and its Environs in the National Socialist Era global warming and other global crises and the answer starts to the city to revise, refocus and renew their sense of ● Stop Living Archives with each and every one of us. the place where they live or which they visit. ○ Hub SONNENPARK/LAMES ○ Hub Cultural District ○ Hub Nuclear Power Station Zwentendorf ● Stop Transformation Festival ● Stop Futurama Lab ● Stop The secret worlds of the cathedral and monastery ● Stop Visionale ● Stop The Wheel of Delight ● Stop Migration – Nature takes to the road ● Stop I’ve got something to tell you ● Stop Where Does Your Food Come From? ● Stop Critical Chance 60 61
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Elaborate on the scope and quality of the activities: ▶ Featuring European artists, cooperation with operators Can you explain in detail your strategy to attract and cities in di erent countries, and transnational partnerships. ▶ Name some European and international artists, the interest of a broad European and international public? operators and cities with which cooperation is envisaged and specify the type of exchanges in question. Name the transnational partnerships your city has already established or plans to establish. Our approach is that the cultural producers and creative activists – local and Eu- #europe@home Developing and implementing our programme will allow us ropean in a curated relationship – look beyond their borders and learn from each International to make our ideas relevant at a personal level and at the same other as they co-produce, co-create, co-construct. Our strategy therefore is to artists #rescalingdistances Mariano Pensotti time on a macro level, the potentially huge network of Europe- learn by doing – right from the start through artistic pilot projects – and through (ARG), Thomas #mobility an mid-sized cities. St. Pölten 2024 is determined to involve all close collaboration with European partners and our ECoC network. Without Eu- Bellinck (BEL), Lora Shopova active participants and all visitors in a new, personalised rela- ropean artists, agents, operators and their transnational partnerships the ongo- (BGR), Ivan #childrenartlab tionship with the great challenges of our time, which are only ing process of development of the cultural programme would clearly fail. In the Shopov (BGR), Kateřina Šedá #abandonedplaces too often seen in abstract terms: what does climate change really end, their artistic inspiration and energy makes our cultural activities relevant (CZE), Milan Cais mean for each and every one of us? How will the polarisation and fascinating for European communities and citizens and provide an endur- (CZE), Krištof Kin- tera (CZE), Jakob #migration of our societies and the continuing erosion of solidarity a ect ing legacy for all. Nepraš (CZE), Rebecca Horn #changedirection our daily lives? What impact will Artifi cial Inteligence really (D), SIGNA (DNK), have? Let’s pool our resources in the vibrant lab of St. Pölten How do we learn in practise? Carlos Perez Several international gatherings are being hosted in the preparation period: (ESP), Kashink #yourstory and get to work on our #europe@home of the future! (FRA), Philippe ▶ We are going to start this process in the
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Describe the links developed or to be developed between your cultural programme Explain in detail how the local population and your civil society have and the cultural programme of other cities holding the European Capital of Culture title. been involved in the preparation of the application and will participate in the implementation of the year.
In the coming years, we will use visits, invitations and di- ECoCs 2022 rect exchange, especially in the areas of capacity building, ▶ Kaunas: Cooperation with the “Tempo Acade- People are the engine driving St. Pölten 2024 volunteering and outreach to learn as much as we can about my” and on cultural education with children the preparation and implementation of the cultural pro-
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Preparation & Invitation Phase (2020–2023) and Articulation (2024): Mere contact or true connection?
We look forward to deepening the relationships we have developed. Of great importance to us is the cooperation with social and edu- cational institutions and with key workers. A catalogue listing tools, further-training and networking measures is ready to be used in our
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How will the title create in your city new and sustainable opportunities for a wide range of citizens to attend or 2B. We empower key workers participate in cultural activities, in particular young people, volunteers and the marginalised and disadvantaged, WHAT WE PROPOSE TO DO including minorities? Please also elaborate on the accessibility of these activities to persons with disabilities Rather than just being left to their own devices key workers and the elderly. Specify the relevant parts of the programme planned for these various groups. Explain in detail Mr Jovanovic, 50, born in Serbia, was 20 when your strategy for audience development, and in particular the link with education and the participation of schools. can count on substantial support. Committed residents are welcome to take part in workshops on key work, where we he came to Austria. For several decades he share information on the content of St. Pölten 2024 with them. held down a job at the GLANZSTOFF factory in We will use the
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Architectural, physical, fi nancial ART AND CULTURE ENRICH THE DAY-TO-DAY and geographical barriers EXPERIENCE OF THE YOUNG GENERATION We have identifi ed a number of barriers in the run-up Schools, more than any other institutions, are faith- to St. Pölten 2024 to tear them down so that our projects ful mirrors of our society, they are meeting places for are within easy reach of a broader audience. This is our youngsters with widely di erent social and cultural fi rst logical step on the path of diversity: no barriers. backgrounds. In this microcosmos, we want to promote Financial obstacles are tackled jointly with the “Hun- the haunting role played by art and culture in the day- ger auf Kunst und Kultur” initiative founded in 2003. to-day experience of the young generation. Through People on a low income have free admission to cultural key people and our Open Call, we have already begun institutions. A large portion of our programme will be to actively collaborate with schools and universities. freely accessible. The Virtual European Capital of Culture How do we work and live in Europe’s mid-sized cit- networks all those who are stopped by geographical bar- ies in the future? Along our six European focal points riers from joining us in person: St. Pölten 2024 spreads (▶ p 58) we will develop specifi c co-creative process- its digital wings and creates a great mix of narratives es for and with pupils and students. We want to press that include as many experiences, ideas, languages and the reset button for our youngest citizens to redefi ne artefacts in Europe as possible in real time. There are the relationship between themselves and their city, its also projects moving through the city and the region, cultures, its other residents of whatever age and, last such as the Tractor Trailer Cinema and the AIR-Train of but not least, their approach to art and artists. We will the Hub Mirage 24. We overcome linguistic barriers by create programme and education o ers targeted at all publishing vital information in di erent languages as age groups, in public space, in schools and education- well as in Braille and tactile alphabet and with the help al institutions, in museums and theatres, in libraries of sign language interpreters and Easy Reading texts. and in our exciting new venues. In collaboration with Physical barriers are likewise removed, for instance in the Lower Austrian Institute of Education and the the adaptation of the Festspielhaus St. Pölten, or they will Lower Austria’s Director of Education we will involve pointedly be avoided as in the planning of the Children. educators both as lecturers and as participants in the The Children.Art.Lab – Art.Lab. We take care of children within the framework Children.Art.Lab and the
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Operating budget for the title year, Income to cover operating expenditure:
Our city is a campus: The City of St. Pölten and the Province of Lower Austria have voted unanimously to approve both How we grow on our Capacity Building Platform the operational programme budget, amounting to a total of EUR 60 million, and the “cultural We want “to give change a place”. The
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What is your fund raising strategy to seek fi nancial support from What is the fund-raising strategy used to seek support from private Union programmes/funds to cover operating expenditure? sponsors? What is the plan for involving sponsors in the event?
EU Subsidies ERASMUS+ The O ce St. Pölten 2024 has set itself the ob- ▶ Children exchange programmes between Values in partnerships jective of seeking further EU funding. These our Children.Art.Lab and other European fi gures will depend on the budgets/fi nancial cultural institutions for children e.g. in Ri- Creating partnerships is the sponsorship strategy pursued by St. Pölten 2024. Workshops and stra- frameworks adopted by the EU for 2021 to 2027 jeka/HR, Bratislava/SK or Copenhagen/DK and on funding programmes that are yet to be ▶ Exchange programme involving “young del- tegic presentations overseen by the leading sta of the O ce St. Pölten 2024 are designed to help (re)launched (Creative Europe, Horizon 2020, egates” of the European Committee of Re- companies, foundations and other organisations both public and private discover shared values Erasmus+, Citizens for Europe, etc.). We are gions which will be part of the Europa Forum and themes where they feel they can make a contribution. The shared goal and basis for all col- therefore not yet in a position to provide reli- Wachau 2024 at Stift Göttweig linked to the laborative projects is added value for society! able information regarding revenue from the project “Who needs Europe?”. public sector to cover operational expenditure. ▶ Youth exchange programmes of ELit - Lit- St. Pölten 2024 profi ts enormously from the eraturhaus Europa and eljub - Europäische How can this be made to work? Di erent types of contributions expertise NÖKU has acquired in submitting Jugendbegegnungen Our working method is rapidly becoming Each company has its own individual profi le and realising EU funded projects in the fi elds more and more concrete. Take the Lower and its own resources. Given our desire to ex- of art and culture and beyond. EUROPA CINEMAS Austrian Chamber of Agriculture for exam- clude no one, we have created di erent types We will use and share the experiences we ▶ Cinema Paradiso (St. Pölten), Kino im Kes- ple. In a major organisational reshu e, they of participation o ering options suited to all have accumulated over the last 20 years or so, selhaus (Krems). decided to supply their sta canteen with re- potential partners. Companies are invited to the competence and expertise we have ac- gionally sourced produce. This has made the gift us their sta ’s time or let us use vacant or quired in submitting and realising EU fund- CREATIVE EUROPE menu more diversifi ed, since it now depends underused spaces; they may support us with ed projects. In doing so we hope to enlarge ▶ “European Orchestra LABoratory II” with on what is in season; it has also helped to cut contributions in kind; they may take charge our budget’s room for manoeuvre in pursuit international Orchestras organised by the costs. In collaboration with St. Pölten 2024, of the implementation of a specifi c project, of the ECoC’s sustainability and legacy and to Tonkünstler Orchestra together with The the idea now is to take a leaf out of the Ag- make a fi nancial contribution in classic style document, broaden und intensify networking Netherlands Symphony Orchestra (NL), the riculture Chamber's book and to raise this or share their media space with us to stimu- with European partner institutions through Hallé Symphony Orchestra (UK), the Czech initiative to an entirely di erent level: a test late discussion; or simply spread the spirit of these EU projects. Philharmonic Orchestra (CZ), the Romanian canteen will be instrumental in working out St. Pölten 2024 in their networks. As things In keeping with the current state of our National Symphony Orchestra (RO) or the guidelines, including a market survey and net- stand, we have factored in an 1.5 million eu- artistic programme planning the following Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (ES) (audi- works reducing the distance between farmer ros for our operational budget but we are aim- EU funding programmes are of special inter- ence development project for golden agers) and consumer, to spread the good news and ing to surpass this fi gure. est for us now: ▶ European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) infect other companies with enthusiasm for with its residency partners Grafenegg/AT this concept. The collaborative project draws and Ferrara Musica/IT as well as other Eu- attention to the shared value of sustainabili- ropean partners ty and the idea of cutting distances, this time exemplifi ed by regionally sourced food.
According to what timetable should the income to cover operating expenditure be received by the city and/or the body responsible for Categories according to level of involvement preparing and implementing the ECoC project if the city receives the title of European Capital of Culture? Category Type of contribution Contribution Our quid pro quo source of income for 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Main supporter Support the project ▶ Financial assets Creating tailor-made packages operating expenditure St. Pölten 2024 in its entirey ▶ In-kind assets (use of trademark, presence EU 1 0 0 0 0 0 1,500,000 Programme supporter Support the artistic pro- ▶ Financial assets at strategic events, presence gramme ▶ In-kind assets on our website, involvement in national government 0 1,420,938 1,806,658 4,945,905 6,302,250 3,357,582 2024 CLUB press work, consignments of free Co-Creators Develop specifi c projects in ▶ Financial assets city 2,400,379,50 1,420,940 1,806,700 4,945,905 6,302,500 956,909,50 tickets, ad spaces in print and collaboration with St. Pölten ▶ In-kind assets province 2,400,379,50 1,420,940 1,806,700 4,945,905 6,302,500 956,908,50 digital media and, potentially, the 2024 (e.g. in the area of ▶ Temporal assets development of partner-specifi c sponsors 150,000 150,000 150,000 150,000 750,000 150,000 socioculture, culture tourism pictorial logos ) Others 2 0 0 0 0 3,500,000 0 or hospitality) Friends Spread the St. Pölten 2024 ▶ Financial assets 1 Melina Mercouri Prize (smaller businesses) spirit in their networks ▶ Temporal assets 2 Ticket revenue for admissions and education programmes, shop and merchandising Culture partners Communicate us in their ▶ Financial assets revenue, revenue for renting out catering outlets, revenue from the exploitation (all cultural and educational networks ▶ Temporal assets of rights, cloakroom proceeds, revenue from the sale of catalogues and evening institutions in St. Pölten, programmes, donations and funding provided by the municipalities in the Culture Culture Region and Region St. Pölten, by embassies, cultural institutes and other funding institutions Lower Austria) 74 75
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Networking and exchange as key factors and medium-size businesses in St. Pölten and the Cul- Budget for capital expenditure tural Region St. Pölten will put its know-how, networks What is the breakdown of the income to be received from the public We are already busy networking to ensure our pool of and resources at our disposal. As part of a dedicated sector to cover capital expenditure in connection with the title year? Please fi ll in the table below: partners keeps expanding: locally and regionally via the working group a core team is proactively involved in business platform St. Pölten 2020, nationally and inter- St. Pölten’s application process. Our call for support nationally by negotiating the support of major Austri- has already elicited exciting ideas: Cultural infrastructure (▶ See Chapter 6: Cultural Infrastructure List) an corporations, whose core markets are concentrated income from the public sector Plan B3) Plan B3) in Central and East Europe. The Austrian Federal Rail- ▶ SDG Call for Ideas: Projects designed by businesses to cover capital expenditure in EUR in % in EUR in % ways (ÖBB) are to become our strategic partner in the to contribute to reaching the 17 Sustainable Devel- national government 1) 5,333,333 14.81% 5,333,333 17,78% fi eld of sustainability. Initial talks are already under- opment Goals will be supported in the implemen- City 11,658,333 32.39% 8,658,334 28,86% way with the top management. tation phase and with communication. (Christian Province 2) 19,008,334 52.80% 16,008,333 53,36 % From 2020, the networking and communication plat- Brandstetter, Dominik Mesner, Roswitha Reisinger) EU (excluding the 0 0 0 0 form “CLUB 2024” will enable all partners to fi ne-tune ▶ Helping Hands: Businesses “gift” us sta time or tie Melina Mercouri prize) their e orts to establish new contacts, to benefi t from in their team-building activities with St. Pölten 2024. Other 0 0 0 0 the advice of specially invited experts and to work on Both parties stand to profit from new experienc- Total 36,000,000 100% 30,000,000 100 % tailor-made collaborative projects. es, know-how and interdisciplinary collaboration. ( Brigitte Fuchsbauer) 1 Amount requested 2 Fundings provided by the Province of Lower Austria comprise subsidies Taking business on board for implementation ▶ A 24-Kilometre-Long-Smorgasboard: Inspired by Ruhr and also what is known as Bedarfszuweisungsmittel. 2010, the S33 motorway links the Danube valley to the 3 Plan B covers the possibility that St. Pölten is not nominated ECoC 2024 Committed businesses will want to make use of the Traisen river and St.Pölten. For one day, this motor- opportunity to realise their own projects from which way will be given over to an utterly counterintuitive society as a whole and St. Pölten 2024 stand to bene- use: one huge smorgasboard of artistic, cultural and fi t. Content-based participation is likely to strengthen culinary delights. (Gastro St. Pölten, Musikschule a sense of togetherness and of local identity, especial- St. Pölten, Traisental Tourismus) ly when large and small fi nd common topics. In what ▶ Menu translator: This open-source tool makes restau- is known as our
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What is your fund raising strategy to seek fi nancial support Organisational structure from Union programmes/funds to cover capital expenditure? What kind of governance and delivery structure is envisaged for the implementation of the European Capital of Culture year? In the absence of suitable EU funding programmes in Austria no applications for EU funding are currently being envisaged. An autonomous and stable management organisation has been set up A clear, professional and partnership-oriented structure was created as early as 2017: the O ce According to what timetable should the income to cover capital expenditure be received by the city and/or the body responsible for preparing and implementing the ECoC project if the city receives the St. Pölten 2024 as an autonomous and stable organisation – having sole responsibility – will be in title of European Capital of Culture? Please fi ll in the table below. charge of implementing ECoC 2024. Both the City of St. Pölten and the Province of Lower Austria are represented as strategic partners in all bodies. The organisation is linked to NÖKU, a major Source of income for cultural management holding company, which guarantees stability, know-how in cultural man- capital expenditure 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 EU 0 0 0 0 0 0 agement matters, many important services, standards and robust network of 25 cultural institu- national government 1) 0 0 0 0 5,333,333 0 tions within St. Pölten and the Culture Region. city 0 2,915,000 2,915,000 2,915,000 2,913,333 0 Governance level produced tremendous feedback whose scope and com- province 3,000,0002) 4,000,000 4,000,000 4,000,000 4,008,334 0 The O ce St. Pölten 2024 was founded in early Octo- plexity demonstrate that what is needed is know-how, sponsors 0 0 0 0 0 0 ber 2017 as a limited liability company by two strategic energy, social skills and European networks. In accor- Others 3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 partners, the City of St. Pölten and the Province of Low- dance with the programme structure, the Curators will er Austria. The City of St. Pölten holds 50 % of the LLC, also take charge of cross-genre projects. 1 Funding requested 2 dedicated explicitly for structural work in preparation of projects the share of the Province of Lower Austria is split be- from the cultural infrastructure list according to a resolution passed tween two strategic partners: 35 % is held by the NÖKU Operational level by the Lower Austrian Provincial Government on 25 June 2019 Holding, a major cultural management holding com- All departments cooperate closely with a focus on proj- 3 Plus potential funding for the Former Synagogue awarded by the National pany, and 15 % by the Lower Austrian Tourism Board, ects both with each other and with the management Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism in charge of the marketing of Lower Austria as a tour- team. Regular jour fi xes and working groups concen- ist destination. The LLC’s articles of association meet trate on developing and implementing the projects of both the criteria for non-profi t status and the require- St. Pölten 2024. Since cultural infrastructure expenditure is fi nanced by turn are fi nanced by an increase in ongoing operating ments for favourable treatment of donations. the City of St. Pölten and the Province of Lower Austria subsidies granted by the city and/or the province, …), If St. Pölten is nominated ECoC 2024, the O ce 1. Communication by a wide variety of fi nancing instruments (e.g. subsi- the above table is to be viewed as binding with regard St. Pölten 2024 will be in charge of the preparation and In light of our communication strategy with its focus dies, so called Bedarf szu weisungsmittel, long-term loans to funding and partners, but is only of limited signifi - implementation of ECoC 2024 without any change in on digital media we treat Marketing and Communi- and/or lease fi nancing or fi nancing via rents, which in cance with regard to periodisation. the partnership shares and control bodies. cation as one single entity and have therefore lumped all communication tasks together in the fi eld of action Our compass shows us the way: (Marketing&Media, Public Relations). To facilitate The structure of the O ce St. Pölten 2024 the implementation of measures in the Culture Region We navigate through the application process compass St. Pölten & Networks fi elds of action, we have created If appropriate, please insert a table here that specifi es which amounts will be spent for new cultural infrastructure to be used in the framework of the title year. (▶ p 7) in hand – and we have used that same device to the entities for the Culture Region St. Pölten and Tour- realign our governance structure. This new tool has en- ism/Hospitality. This guarantees the long-term develop- abled us to defi ne new focal points in the structure of ment of the Culture Region St. Pölten, the principle of The funding of the following cultural infrastructure our organisation. This guarantees that what is outlined radically lived hospitality and cooperation with tourism projects has already been secured by unanimous resolutions in our strategic guidelines is actually implemented. also in terms of organisation. The Sponsoring entity is passed by the city and the province. (▶ Chapter 6, p 76) in charge of cooperation with the business community Management level in close harmony with the leadership team and Project Cultural infrastructure projects in EUR Plan B 1) in EUR The Management Board (comprising the Operation- Development. al and the Commercial Directors), the Artistic Director Cathedral Square 7,400,000 5,000,000 and the Head of European A airs together make up the 2. Production Children.Art.Lab 12,000,000 12,000,000 leadership team of the O ce St. Pölten 2024. They are Production is reponsible for planning, organising and Former Synagogue 4,000,000 4,000,000 jointly responsible for all strategic decisions (▶ p 80). The realising artistic and cultural projects, with its remit ex- LAMES at the Sonnenpark 500,000 400,000 European dimension is part of the joint responsibility tending from checking the viability of specifi c projects Linking inner city/Culture District/Traisen River 750,000 500,000 of the entire team. The new position Head of European and contracting artists to logistics and the realisation St. Pölten City Museum 1,200,000 750,000 A airs will ensure that the European dimension will be of the events themselves. Each of our Hubs will have Other measures (to be defi ned) 2,800,000 0 taken into account in any action envisioned by St. Pölten people in charge (Venue Management), who will be re- Festspielhaus St. Pölten 6,850,000 6,850,000 Klangturm (tower of sounds) 500,000 500,000 2024. The Head is therefore given collective powers of sponsible on site. The Production entity is a sort of in- Total expenditure 36,000,000 30,000.000 attorney and assigned a key role. The number of Cura- terface between the Artistic Director, the Curators, the tors has been doubled from two to four. The reason be- Technical Department and the Management, designed 1 Plan B covers the possibility that St. Pölten is not nominated ECoC 2024 ing that our calls for artistic and cultural projects have to facilitate the realisation of projects. 78 79
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3. Technical Department institutions during last year. We cooperate with local business This department is responsible for all tech- in the framework provided by Plattform 2020 with its more than Governance nical aspects of projects, events, exhibitions. 200 members. Pre-projects and evaluation provide the context General Assembly Advisory Board for Strategic It acts in close collaboration with Production of collaboration with both the regional and the local scene and Aairs without being subordinated to it. Its autonomy with schools and universities. is designed to give it an independent voice in matters concerning the technical viability and Enlarging the team 50% 35% 15% realisation of projects as well as safety and se- Starting as early as 2020, all departments of the ECoC team will City of St. Pölten NÖKU Holding Lower Austrian curity aspects. Last but not least, the depart- go on stream. The team of the O ce St. Pölten 2024 will be be Tourism Board ment will submit artistic project demands to gradually enlarged by the addition of competent sta . a reality check. Management Number of sta employed Operational Commercial Artistic 4. Capacity Building Director Director Director 20 – 22 Curators Since the preselection phase we have be- come acutely aware of the crucial signifi- 22 – 24 cance Capacity Building has for our project. 28 – 30 38 – 40 We have therefore installed it as an entity Head of European in its own right. The driving “engine” is the 48 – 52 Aairs with power
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How will this structure be organised at management level? How will you make sure that there is an appropriate Please make clear who will be the person(s) having the fi nal responsibility cooperation between the local authorities for global leadership of the project? and this structure including the artistic team?
The supreme supervisory body of the O ce the Artistic Director is free to make all pro- Ours is by no means a one-man show. Our activities are based on unani- St. Pölten 2024 is the General Assembly, which gramme decisions concerning content and all mous resolutions passed by the relevant bodies of the City of St. Pölten, the is convened twice a year. It comprises the own- artistic matters. It is up to the management Province of Lower Austria and the O ce St. Pölten 2024. A clear structure er representatives of the City of St. Pölten and board to check whether the structure of the overseen by such regularly convened bodies and working groups ensure of the Province of Lower Austria. programme and the concrete projects correlate partner-like cooperation between the O ce St. Pölten 2024 and local au- Responsibility for the overall control of the in principle with the specifi cations laid down thorities. The content of the artistic and cultural programme for St. Pölten project rests with the Operational Director, in the two Bid Books and whether they can in 2024 is exempt from this, since the artistic director is independent in his/her the Commercial Director and the Artistic Di- fact be realised, funded and realistically car- artistic and cultural decisions. Politics is not allowed any infl uence what- rector. Assisted by the Head of European Af- ried out with the available human resources. soever on the cultural programme. fairs, these persons constitute the leadership All decisions made by the Management team of St. Pölten 2024. Within the framework Board concerning operational and strategic staked out by the strategy- and content-relat- questions must be unanimous. ed positions outlined in the two Bid Books,
How will you ensure that this structure has the sta with the appropriate skills and experience to plan, manage and deliver the cultural programme for the European Capital of Culture project?
In addition to the required skills and expertise, how, the professional skills and the resources we will bear the following points especially brought into play by one of our key partners in mind as we recruit new sta : and our part owner, the NÖKU Holding. The O ce St. Pölten 2024 is among the or- ▶ Sta members are expected to share and ganisations linked to the NÖKU Holding. It embody the cosmopolitan, creative spirit is therefore entitled to make use of NÖKU’s We have created four of St. Pölten’s bid. recruitment and personnel development ser- levels of cooperation: ▶ Vienna has a great reservoir of highly qual- vices. Currently around 2,500 applications a ifi ed sta for St. Pölten 2024. year are handled by the digital, state-of-the-art 1. Project Group St. Pölten 2024 3. Mayor’s Jour Fixe ▶ During recruitment we will be aiming for a recruiting tool Rexx. Furthermore, St. Pölten Important operational topics are regularly dis- Important operational and strategic issues are balance mixture of people who commute be- 2024 stands to profi t from NÖKU’s many years cussed with the Project Group, which compris- discussed and decided at the monthly infor- tween Vienna and St. Pölten and residents of of experience in the training and further ecu- es, in addition to the O ce St. Pölten 2024, mal Mayor’s Jour Fixe. The most important St. Pölten and the Culture Region St. Pölten. dation of sta . representatives of the city, the province and decision makers of the city and the province – ▶ We will also be aiming for balanced quotas Especially noteworthy in this context is the civil-society platform KulturhauptSTART. St. Pölten’s mayor and other City Council exec- of 50 percent women and 50 percent men. the highly successul programme “NÖKU for utives and representatives of Lower Austria’s ▶ In addition, the team should mirror the di- Excellence”, which is aimed at the training of 2. Advisory Board for Strategic A airs Department of Art and Culture and of the versity of St. Pölten’s population: we want to NÖKU’s own future executives in the fi eld of The Advisory Board is convened on a near- NÖKU Holding – take part in this jour fi xe. have people on our sta with a di erent fi rst cultural management. This is another weighty monthly basis and o ers advice both to the language than German and we want to have contribution to capacity building: highly tal- owner partners and to the management team 4. General Assembly a signifi cant number of women and repre- ented young Europeans receive goal-orient- of the O ce St. Pölten 2024. Its mission in- All key decisions concerning budget, strategy sentatives of the younger generation – thir- ed training, which leads to a “brain gain” for cludes making sure that all crucial matters and recruitment of the managing team and the ty to forty – in leading positions. We have the city and the region. concerning strategy and funding are closely Artistic Director are made in the General As- already started to work on ads for the posi- What this means for the O ce St. Pölten accorded between city and province. In the sembly, the O ce St. Pölten’s highest super- tions we want to fi ll, which we will publish 2024 closer to home is that the highly expe- event of St. Pölten being nominated ECoC visory body. A two-thirds majority is required. immediately after nomination. rienced and highly qualifi ed team in charge 2024, the Advisory Board, comprising at pres- of the the Lower Austrian Provincial Exhibi- ent 16 representatives of the City of St. Pölten We will recruit competent and e cient team tion, the NÖ Landesaustellung, which is again and the Province of Lower Austria, will have players by deploying suitable recruitment and scheduled to take place in 2022 and 2026, will its scope broadened by the addition of repre- personnel development processes. be available to assist us in the implementation sentatives of the Republic of Austria, the Euro- These processes will make use of the know- of ECoC 2024. pean Union and the Culture Region St. Pölten. 82 83
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According to which criteria and under which arrangements have the general director and the artistic director been chosen – or will be chosen? Operational Director (m/f) What are – or will be – their respective profi les? When will they take up the appointment? What will be their respective fi elds of action? (to join the team at St. Pölten as soon as possible, all-in, end date 31. 12. 2025) In the event of St. Pölten winning its bid for The vacant positions will be fi lled on the basis of a ECoC 2024, the vacant positions in the leader- multi-stage and transparent selection process. The Your remit Your profi le ship team – the Commercial, the Operational decision will be taken by a competent jury comprised ▶ You will be part of the leadership team, alongside the ▶ Several years of experience in senior positions in the man- and the Artistic Director – will be advertised of the owner partners and national and European ex- Commercial Director, the Artistic Director and the Head of agement and steering of a comparably complex organisa- publicly across the EU and beyond at the end perts. In addition, the process will be monitored by European Aff airs with powers of attorney. tion, preferably in the fi elds of art and culture and ideally in a European context (with German and English as working of November 2019. Please fi nd below the ad- an established personnel consulting company. The ▶ You will be in charge of all measures concerning planning, preparing and implementing the project St. Pölten 2024 and languages) vertisements we are going to use, which spec- leadership team is expected to be available to start the Children.Art.Lab (including user representation in this ▶ Ideally a university degree, preferably in business studies, ify our criteria, requirements and remits. work by 1 July or by 1 September 2020 at the latest. construction project) on the basis of the current strategies law and/or humanities or proof of comparable professional outlined in Bid Book I and II. You will do so in close collabo- experience and expertise ration with the Commercial and Artistic Directors and with ▶ Skills in guiding and motivating staff , outstanding commu- the teams currently being hired. nicative competence, a zest for innovation and persuasion Job advertisements ▶ Recruiting the Artistic Directors in accordance with the topped off by highly developed negotiating skills and, ide- predefi ned process aimed at the creation and specifi ca- ally, experience in organisational development tion of the artistic programmes for St. Pölten 2024 and the ▶ The social competence and integrative skills required for Children.Art.Lab on the basis of Bid Books I and II. this complex, many-layered mammoth project involving ▶ Recruiting the St. Pölten 2024 and the Children.Art.Lab highly divergent stakeholders Commercial Director (m/f) teams in accordance with the current organigram and staff ▶ Evidence of an in-depth understanding of and great sensi- establishment plan, while taking into consideration local tal- tivity to artistic and sociocultural processes and content (to join the team at St. Pölten as soon as possible, ent and competence, the desired balanced gender quotas all-in, end date 31.12.2025) and the greatest possible diversity. ▶ High motivation for achieving goals and results; implementation strength and a working style in keeping ▶ You will be at the head of all of the company’s units on with the project’s international dimensions in conjunction the ground in St. Pölten and will have overall operational with an entrepreneurial practical and intellectual Your remit Your profi le responsibility for human resources, budget and results. approach and business knowledge ▶ You will be part of the leadership team, alongside the ▶ Several years of experience in senior positions in the com- ▶ You will create optimal framework conditions for in-time Operational Director, the Artistic Director and the Head of mercial management and steering (including controlling) of planning, production and presentation of the artistic and European Aff airs with powers of attorney. a comparably complex organisation, preferably in the fi elds cultural content of St. Pölten 2024 and the Children.Art. ▶ You will be in charge of all measures concerning planning, of art and culture and ideally in a European context (with Lab and for the target-group-adequate communication and preparing and implementing the project St. Pölten 2024 and German and English as working languages) accessibility of that content. the Children.Art.Lab (including user representation in this ▶ Ideally you will have a university degree, preferably in ▶ You will be focused in your work on the European dimen- construction project) on the basis of the current strategies economics (and preferably with an emphasis on controlling) sion, audience development, artistic and cultural outreach as laid out in Bid Book I and II. You will do so in close collab- and/or law, or proof of comparable professional experience programmes (especially for children), inclusion, participa- oration with the Commercial and Artistic Directors and with and expertise tion, capacity building, diversity and sustainability. the teams currently being hired. ▶ Outstanding communicative competence, a zest for ▶ You will act as a communication hub in constant contact ▶ Based in St. Pölten, you will be in charge of and responsible innovation and persuasion topped off by highly developed with all relevant stakeholders (notably the City of St. Pölten, for the entire commercial agenda (budgeting, comprehen- negotiating skills the Province of Lower Austria, the municipalities of the sive controlling, reporting, cash management, compilation ▶ The social competence and integrative skills required Culture Region St. Pölten, the Republic of Austria and the of annual fi nancial statements, monitoring of the audit and for this complex, many-layered mammoth project involving European Union), with the media and with civil society as a all other screenings, tax and social insurance matters, com- highly divergent stakeholders whole. You will make sure that all these stakeholders take an pliance with labour, contract and procurement law, support active part in St. Pölten 2024. in the application for and the settlement of subsidies, etc.). ▶ Evidence of a keen interest in artistic and sociocultural ▶ You will gain for the company as much third-party funding You will be responsible above all for St. Pölten 2024 staying processes and content as possible, through such formats as sponsoring, ticket within the limits of the company’s total budget and for the ▶ High motivation for achieving goals and results; sales, EU-funding and subsidies granted by the municipali- eff ective, targeted and economical use of that budget. implementation strength and a working style in keeping ties of the Culture Region St. Pölten. You will be the compa- with the project’s international dimensions in conjunction ▶ You will be using the software tools of the NÖKU Holding ny’s public face in all its dealings with visitors, government with an entrepreneurial practical and intellectual approach (ERP-System RS2 and P&I) and NÖKU-standards as laid out agencies and business partners. in the organisation manual. and profound business knowledge ▶ In-depth knowledge and experience of matters con- cerning taxes and social insurance in the fi eld of culture and in labour and contractual law and, ideally, also in procurement law We are looking forward to receiving your application including salary requirement (benchmark EUR 95,000 p.a. gross ▶ Experience in the public funding system would be an or more, depending on qualifi cation and work experience, plus company car with private use) by 12.01.2020 at the advantage latest, c/o Frau Miriam Angerer, MA, at www.noeku.at/de/arbeitswelt/jobs-in-der-noku-gruppe
We are looking forward to receiving your application including salary requirement (benchmark EUR 80,000 p.a. gross or more, depending on qualifi cation and work experience, plus company car with private use) by 12.01.2020 at the latest, c/o Frau Miriam Angerer, MA, at www.noeku.at/de/arbeitswelt/jobs-in-der-noku-gruppe 84 85
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Contingency planning Artistic Director (m/f) St. Pölten 2024 Have you carried out/planned a risk assessment exercise? What are your planned mitigating measures? (to join the team at St. Pölten as soon as possible, all-in, end date 31.12.2025) We feel we owe it to our stated strategy of “You only need to change direction” Your remit not to tone these risks down – otherwise risk assessment would hardly be helpful. ▶ You will be part of the leadership team, alongside the ▶ Yours will be the face of St. Pölten 2024 and its content Operational and the Commercial Directors and the Head of for audiences, the media, the art community, the partner European Aff airs with powers of attorney. institutions and the public in an overall European con- Enough staying power ▶ The development of the cultural strategy “St. Pölten 2030” in close contact with Bid Book I and II and its offi cial release both underscore the ▶ You will be responsible for the fi nal formulation and text. This will include responsibility for the content of all for a long-term strategy? accentuation of the content-related programme strategy, publications. long-term orientation of and the political commitment to St. Pölten 2024. The experience of other ECoCs has shown that ▶ A signifi cant increase in the city’s subsidies for cultural matters beyond including an integrated approach to outreach, and for the ▶ You will be in charge of expanding and developing the there is tendency for a certain fatigue to set in 2024 was agreed on as early as the selection phase. In addition, both creation of the concrete artistic and sociocultural overall network of local, regional, supraregional and European/ once ECoC year is over what puts the long-term programme of St. Pölten 2024, based on the content of Bid international partner institutions, artists, curators with the Children.Art.Lab and the Former Synagogue are guaranteed long- goals at risk. The return to “business as usual” term post-2024 budgets. Book I and II. an eye on the successful realisation of artistic and other after a year of 365 days of culture has been known cooperations, especially in the wider European context. ▶ The programme budget for 2025 is dedicated exclusively for the transi- ▶ You will be charged with optimally developing and posi- to have a demotivating eff ect on local cultural tion from ECoC year 2024 to the “transformed normality”. tioning the City of St. Pölten as European Capital of Culture ▶ You will be focused on strengthening national and institutions and initiatives. 2024, as a cultural hub and a livable, European mid-size European/international networking of art and culture city, and with honing that profi le. You will do the same for scenes and partner institutions. Cultural Profi le: ▶ The city is set to morph into a go-to place for short distances between the Culture Region St. Pölten. ▶ You will assist in the initiation and acquisition of additional St. Pölten is the city of… what? art genres, between large-scale institutions and small associations, ▶ You will be in charge of recruiting curators, together with funding (subsidies, sponsoring, co-production funds between young and old, between diff erent communities, between The image projected by St. Pölten is not yet readily the Operational and the Commercial Directors in keeping and the like). St. Pölten and the Culture Region St. Pölten and, above all, between recognisable as that of ECoC. There is the distinct with a predefi ned process. The goal is to create an innova- local and European. danger that St Pölten’s insuffi ciently articulated tive and effi cient programme team capable of dealing with ▶ Lower Austria’s focus on its still relatively young capital and invest- Your profi le cultural profi le may slow down the city’s process the challenges and the complexity of the task. ments in cultural infrastructure such as the unique Children.Art.Lab ▶ Profound experience acquired over several years in leading escaping the shadow of Vienna and Linz. will deliver an autonomous innovative city of culture located midway ▶ You will be in charge of compiling the concrete artistic positions dealing with the artistic conception, organisation between Vienna and Linz and midway between Budapest and Munich. programme, which will also include a whole raft of diff erent and realisation of large-scale, complex cultural and artistic ▶ We will be using our strategic cooperations with the Vienna Tourist discourse formats, and will work with the curators in the events and formats such as opening events, festivals, Board and Tourist Board Linz to invite tourists on their way to Vienna preparatory phase (2020–2023), the implementation phase exhibitions, art in public space and the like, ideally in a or Linz to stop off in our city in 2024, in the hope that we will be able (2024) and, budgetary considerations permitting, in the de- European context (German and English as working lan- to welcome them again as “repeat users” in St. Pölten and the Culture briefi ng phase (2025). The programme will comprise three guages). Region St. Pölten at a later stage. categories of events: the European Capital of Culture’s own events, co-productions involving partners and content- ▶ Ideally a relevant university degree and further training related cooperations. and/or proof of comparable experience and expertise. Audience Development: ▶ Thanks to the cooperation of key actors we have already established ▶ contact with many diff erent communities and we will continue to do so. ▶ You will develop sustainable, many-layered outreach con- Excellent contacts with European and international artists, How do you reach “everybody”? festivals, organisers, art institutions, sponsors and media ▶ Each phase of the conception and the programming of ECoC 2024 cepts (especially for children) together with our audience Citizen’s diversity is not adequately represented takes into consideration the interests of potential co-creators. In devis- development department. This will already be part of the with an eye to relevant cooperations, co-creations, co- in the city’s cultural life. There is the danger that productions and co-realisations. ing our repertoire of measures and off ers care is taken that every group programming process. 2024 will be unable to make any lasting diff erence receives its due share with diff erent degrees of commitment. ▶ to this state of aff airs. ▶ You will develop sustainable audience development strate- Proven expertise and solid anchoring in the relevant art and ▶ Impact circles make sure that reliable information on audiences in their gies to make sure both of the loyalty of existing audiences culture scenes; proven competence in presenting and pro- capacity as co-creators is constantly fed into the conception and the and the inclusion of potentially new target groups, which moting art formats in the area of tension between tradition programming of ECoC 2024. will include socially marginalised groups as a matter of and contemporary developments. ▶ The Children.Art.Lab and close collaboration with the Province’s De- course. ▶ Great implementation strength and a working style in partment of Education will help us address diversity in the most hetero- geneous group of all: children. ▶ In programme work and in networking you will focus on keeping with the project’s international dimensions. values such as inclusion, empowerment, participation, ▶ The social, communicative and integrative competence capacity building, diversity, sustainability and the European demanded by this complex and many-layered mammoth Sustainability: ▶ Building on the insights and foundations created by the Aahrus dimension. project with its many diff erent stakeholders. “Preach water, drink wine?” Sustainability Model we will be seeking to keep Co2 emissions as low as possible. In collaboration with other ECoCs and with Denmark’s ▶ You will act as a communication hub in constant contact ▶ Media affi nity, confi dent media appearance and, ideally, Mammoth projects such as an ECoC year and Worldperfect team we will continue to work on that model to ensure it with all relevant stakeholders in the fi elds of politics and familiarity with social media international exchange use up resources and have represents the cutting edge of technology. public administration; with all kinds of cultural institu- a huge carbon footprint, from air travel to the ▶ In collaboration with the Austrian Institute of Sustainable Development tions; the local scene; the art scene; with representatives generation of waste. What can we do to defend we will pursue the goal of a carbon neutral ECoC. The c ompensation from such fi elds as social aff airs, environment, education, ourselves against the charge that our advocacy of scheme required for this will involve projects by international research, sciences; with the media; and with civil society as sustainability is just a mere attitude without a real artists, schools and universities, whose roles will be documented a whole. You will be looking to involve these actors in the content? in St. Pölten 2024. European Capital of Culture project.
Creative Industries: ▶ Even though we are still in the selection phase, we are already pro- Still early days for St. Pölten’s actively involved in the SMART UP Advisory Board of St. Pölten’s City Council and the local University of Applied Sciences. creative industries scene ▶ We have involved both the University of Applied Sciences and the There is the danger that the great opportunities New Design University in preprojects. We are looking forward to receiving your application including salary requirement (benchmark EUR 110,000 p.a. gross off ered by a ECoC will not be used to their full ▶ St. Pölten 2024 will, furthermore, launch a call for start-ups which or more, depending on qualifi cation and work experience) by 12.01.2020 at the latest, c/o Frau Miriam Angerer, MA, extent. includes the off er of the temporary free use of vacant or abandoned at www.noeku.at/de/arbeitswelt/jobs-in-der-noku-gruppe inner-city business premises. 86 87
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Governance: ▶ We have vacancy ads ready for publication for the positions we need Marketing and Communication Embodying the open-minded to fi ll that are set for the recruitment of open-minded people ▶ Could your artistic programme be summed up by a slogan? ▶ What is the city’s intended marketing and ▶ The NÖKU’s Recruiting Skills & Tools and external monitoring by the communication strategy for the European Capital of Culture year, in particular with regard to the media creative spirit holding company will help us to minimise risks. strategy and the mobilisation of large audiences? This includes the use of digital communication channels. While the existing Offi ce St. Pölten 2024 is a tried ▶ Nearby Vienna has a large pool of highly qualifi ed personnel that and proven asset, its expansion from a staff of St. Pölten will draw on. However, during the recruitment process, care fi ve to more than fi fty will require a great pool of will be taken to achieve a balanced mix of residents of St. Pölten and suitable candidates. the Culture Region, Viennese “commuters” and Europeans. Our leitmotif: “Europe at Home – Rescaling Distances”
Tourism: ▶ The city’s Ecopoint Wirtschaftsservice in tandem with investors is Meeting tourism demand developing innovative hotel concepts Our appeal: “You only need to change direction” ▶ We are going to launch a campaign to assure the quality of accommo- Our concept of radically lived hospitality is dation facilities, using the know-how of our strategic partners within The appeal “You only need to change direction!” goes out to all Europeans. With our artistic proj- subjected to a tough reality check by the fi eld of tourism. the limited number of beds off ered by St. Pölten’s ▶ We will be coordinating our hospitality & welcome strategies with ects and our campaigns we want to urge people all over Europe to adopt new perspectives and see hospitality industry. the Destination Management Organizations of the Culture Region things in a wholly di erent light. We start with ourselves. It is their compactness that makes me- St. Pölten and start a strategic collaboration with Vienna Tourist Board. ▶ In addition, the Culture Region St. Pölten and nearby cities off er dium-sized cities like St. Pölten useful experimental labs for the future of Europe. St. Pölten 2024 plenty of accommodation. has initiated a movement for European Mid-Sized Cities. Our communication campaign promotes
Region & Networks: ▶ We have started a process involving the City of St. Pölten and the dialogue and public discourse and encourages the identifi cation of the alienating e ects of dis- Creating the Culture Region St. Pölten Province of Lower Austria aimed at the development of the identity of tance – and of the way they can be overcome. the Culture Region St. Pölten. is a major undertaking ▶ We have invited all relevant cultural institutions in the Culture Region The development of the Culture Region St. Pölten St. Pölten to contribute relevant programme ideas to Bid Book II sup- OUR STRATEGIC GUIDELINES 2. We create a European community harbours great potential in terms of social portive of the development of a regional identity. of people in mid-sized-cities development, artistic-programmatic content ▶ We have established a regional network linking up all kinds of actors in and cultural tourism, but it does carry with the fi eld of culture, such as mayors and heads of cultural institutions 1. We generate stimuli to change direction Public becomes private and private becomes public: in it the risk that it may not be fully adopted and with an annual programme. We will tune our communication channels at “human our social-media campaign, our growing communi- not actually “lived” by people. speed”, which allows us to catch the attention of peo- ty will use storytelling formats to recount their stories. ple on the move: ambling in the city, in the saddle of We will be looking to sign up as many “ambassadors” a bicycle, commuting to work on the train or walking as possible to share their experience of work and life in Our plan B scenario along with the smartphone. Content determines form: general and the particular ideas, problems or moments into these highly fl uid situations St. Pölten 2024 wants of happiness that are on their mind; in short, personal Should we fail in our bid to be nominated ECoC 2024, the City of St. Pölten and the to inject impulses that trigger moments that lead to the stories of what it means for them to live in a mid-sized Province of Lower Austria will nevertheless realise a joint programme in and for decision to change direction. city. Generating feedback by sharing stories about what St. Pölten in 2024 in the fi elds of culture and urban development, based on the positive To attract to our messages the subjective perception really matters to individuals will make our movement pro European dynamic in the population, even though with a redimensioned budget. of residents, travellers in transit and dedicated visitors, grow. We will create our own virtual network by link- The funding of the operational programme budget and of the cultural infrastructure we will be employing interventions and irritations. Using ing up our network to those of kindred communities list is guaranteed by resolutions already passed by the city and the province (▶ p 76). spatial, visual and aural stimuli that appear unexpectedly in other mid-sized cities, to facilitate the discussion of But to be honest, we would really prefer plan A. and seemingly out of nowhere in the city’s physical real- themes relevant to Europe as a whole. With support ity or in virtual space, we want to revolutionise routine from our
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and have won them over to the idea of ECoC. In this ▶ Strengthening and developing strategic 4. St. Pölten 2024 as a space for experience way we have established partnerships that allow us to partnership and communications networks reach their communities and so a broader public. Our We are already cooperating or plan to cooperate with ▶ Radically lived hospitality ▶ Fair ticketing and individual packages partners cover various communities in the fi elds of ed- local, regional and European strategic partners from Everybody is welcome! By a reassessment of the tradi- The NÖKU Holding has its own ticketing network. That ucation social a airs, the local art scene, the business di erent fi elds, using their already existing communi- tional roles of residents and visitors, of hosts and guests, allows STP2024 to o er its visitors the purchase of tick- community, mobility, children’s institutions, tourism, cations networks to spread our messages, for example we want to change direction. We will create precondi- ets without any extra charges. Barrier-free accessibility artistic and cultural institutions, other ECoCs. in the formats of co-branding and co-creation tions that will shrink traditional distances between trav- is as relevant here as it is to all other areas. In addition, ellers and “travellees”: we invite visitors to our home, to we will provide a broad spread of concessions for spe- ACTIVITIES AND CAMPAIGNS our table. We want to get to know them and exchange cifi c groups, such as children, young people, students, Mobility ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways), Verkehrsbetrie- be (LUP-Busse) St. Pölten, Verkehrsverbund Ost ideas with them. We want to give them personal recom- apprentices, or people with disabilities or low incomes. 1. Developing the St. Pölten 2024 brand Region (VOR), NÖVOG (NÖ Verkehrsorganisa- mendations & tips. The system allows us to o er tailored instead of on-size- in an integrated process tionsges.m.b.H), Bicycle rental fi rms fi ts-all packages: tickets for individual events, day passes, We will press the reset button. Startind end of 2019 we Tourism Austrian National Touris Offi ce, Lower Austrian Our opportunities to do so will include the central homebase packages that include public transport and reductions MAIN STATION Europe at home for visitors and residents, a will involve all relevant players to develop the brand Tourism and Destination Management Organi- on hotels, restaurants and bicycle rentals. sations, St. Pölten Tourist Board, Vienna Tourist place of encounter, interaction, enquiries, ticket purchase or “St. Pölten 2024” in an integrated process to develop Board, Tourist Board Linz simply for chilling, graduates from the School for Tourism St. Pölten invite people to their long table loaden with regional Our “You-Konfi gurator” generates customised off ers online the corporate identity and brand the city to the out- Children ZOOM Kindermuseum (Vienna/AT), Children’s mu- side world. Only a holistic approach will be successful specialities, specially branded hospitality tables all over the for every visitor, taking into account special interests. The seums all over Europe, NÖ Familienland, cultural city invite visitors to meet locals and every visitor will be given result comes complete with access codes for additional ser- in turning around the contraditory and negative image providers with high-quality children‘s programmes a “Change Direction” set comprising a map, a WLAN pass- vices. In addition, there are standard packages such as: “Dare that St. Pölten still has in many eyes. Science New Design University St. Pölten, University of word, the code for a bicycle rental, the week’s programme, to go out” (for the Vienna-Tourist), “Please change direction!” Applied Sciences fl ower seeds to be scattered in public space. (for railway users in transition), “Children.Art.Lab.” (families) 2. Developing the identity of the Culture Region ECoCs Graz, Linz, Rijeka, Galway, Timişoara, Eleusis, Novi Sad, Esch-sur-Alzette, Kaunas, Vesprém, Tartu, St. Pölten as the basis for its strategic positioning Bodø Please describe the partner- We have already set up a close working relationship with the media during the se- ships planned or established Our aim: the Culture Region St. Pölten being a unique Economy Our future sponsors and business partners, the lection phase aimed above all to promote the ideas behind ECoC. We will expand with media with a view living environment will assign its own place on the map Platform 2020, the Kaufmannschaft St. Pölten our existing relationships, e.g. with the ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation), to ensuring wide coverage of Europe as a sustainable destination with St. Pölten Art and See Chapter 2 and 3 of the event the Niederösterreichische Nachrichten or the Bezirksblätter, in the future and sup- clearly at the centre. Culture plement it with innovative formats.
1. In September 2019, a process of defi ning the identity ▶ Building up the communiy’s capacity Planned cooperations with media and tourism institutions of the Culture Region St. Pölten was started. with our
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How does the city plan to highlight that the How will you mobilise your own citizens as European Capital of Culture is an action of the European Union? communicators of the year to the outside world?
Europe is at the heart of our outreach, our communications and our whole programme Taking an active part
By consistently presenting European Capital of Culture The international two-day symposium Europaforum Our openly proclaimed strategy is to turn residents, representing our values, into com- as an EU initiative we confi rm in all our formats what Wachau at Stift Göttweig will link its 2024 theme, “Art municators by letting them take an active part in St. Pölten 2024 on many di erent levels was already clear in the selection phase – the great im- and Culture”, to the programme of St. Pölten 2024. An and inviting them to make their own contribution. Personal engagement and participa- portance we accord to Europe. Our artistic programme Erasmus+ project and youth exchange programme in Europe at home – Rescaling Distances is thoroughly Eu- collaboration with the Youth Regional Network will give tion turn them into ambassadors for the whole project and all it contains: ambassadors ropean. Additionally to that, we will be foregrounding the event an additional youthful and international note. active within their own networks and beyond, not only in their own families, commu- the values of the European Union in a raft of projects. The Melina Mercouri Prize, endowed with 1.5 mil- nities, associations and clubs but outwards into the wider circle of their whole acquain- lion euros and if awarded, will be dedicated to projects tance: their colleagues, business partners, businesses and organisations – and, of course, In December 2023 we want to be the venue for the Euro- that have been especially successful and therefore be our neighbours in wider Europe! O ering full support, the
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1 Please supply evidence of the continuous political support 2 Please detail the state of play of the foreseen infrastructure projects and commitment from the relevant authorities. detailed at pre-selection stage, including the planned timetable for the works. Please clarify the links with the European Capital of Culture project. Broad, strong support across party demarcation Our philosophy of “abandoned places” lines from the city and the province fi res up urban development
Left-leaning, Social Democratic St. Pölten and the Conservative ruled Province of Lower Austria Coming face to face with their own identity is the key to developing and sharpening the make common cause for the city’s bid for European Capital of Culture 2024. Their political di er- cultural profi le of European mid-size cities. Space is of the essence here: there are so many ences do not stop the two entities pulling in the same direction in such matters as the foundation sites in St. Pölten with great potential, calling out for development, that the city gives the of the O ce St. Pölten 2024 and the important decision-making processes, funding and support. impression of being unfi nished. It is this state of being unfi nished, in a thoroughly pos- All resolutions were passed unanimously by the relevant authorities of the city, the province and itive sense, that o ers a great deal of manoeuvring space for artistic productions and for O ce St. Pölten 2024 so far. as yet untried forms of co-existence and of actually living side by side. Other European mid-sized cities have similar resources of their own. This is why we want to share our ex- periences with them and learn from theirs. Commitment to and support for St. Pölten The relevant boards of the city and the province have 2024 by political representatives and the rel- unanimously voted for decisions in principle con- evant authorities runs like a golden thread cerning funding Our strategy provides for putting centre stage Giving the city’s cultural through all phases and decisions : The city and the province have approved investment in anything that is unfi nished in a positive sense profi le a cutting edge cultural infrastructure totalling 36 million EUR (in the and for transforming these sites into key fea- The O ce St. Pölten 2024 (LLC) was found- event of nomination) or 30 million EUR (in the event of tures of the city. Places and infrastructure proj- ▶ All measures are designed to give the city’s ed as an independent company by the city non-nomination). This means that these plans will ac- ects we invest in and link to our programme cultural profi le a cutting edge and to en- and the province. tually be implemented at this level. The operative pro- are integral to developing St. Pölten’s identi- hance its sense of identity. Founded in 2017, the O ce St. Pölten 2024 be gramme budget has likewise been hedged by relevant ty and giving it a cutting edge. How will we ▶ We integrate all relevant cultural players into solely responsible for the implementation of decisions. Come what may, it cannot be absorbed into do this? By incorporating these infrastructure the process of formulating the required con- ECoC 2024 and will oversee the operation of the cultural infrastructure budget. projects into the programme of St. Pölten 2024, tent-related and operational concepts, with the Children.Art.Lab. The City of St. Pölten by working out long-term operating concepts a view to strengthening their sustainabili- holds 50 % of the LLC, while the share of the St. Pölten 2024 meets with uniform approval in City and by providing budgetary guarantees for ty and their acceptance, thus assuring their Province of Lower Austria is split between and Province – and beyond them to continue operating after 2024. long-term operation. two strategic partners: 35 % is held by the Among St. Pölten 2024’s most reliable supporters are ▶ Investments are restricted to cultural infra- NÖKU-Holding, 15 % by the Lower Austrian the St. Pölten City Council (its Chief Executive O ce, All the city is a stage structure whose operation is assured after Tourism Board. the departments of Finance, Law, Future Development, 2024 in terms both of funding and and strate- Business, Marketing, Culture, Education and Construc- Abandoned places are sites that have lost gic and content-related operational concepts. The representatives of the city and the prov- tion), St. Pölten City Marketing, St. Pölten Tourist Board, their original raison d’être or have otherwise ▶ We primarily invest in existing infrastruc- ince take part in all important decision-mak- the departments Art and Culture, Business, Tourism fallen into disuse. They include vacant fac- ture. The only new construction project is ing processes overseen by the various boards. and Technology, and International and European Af- tories, car sales plots, castles, cinemas and an institution for children designed to em- Political infl uence on the cultural programme fairs, the Education Authority of the Province of Lower pubs. All of them can be turned into training power them for the challenges they face in has been ruled out. Austria, the Lower Austrian Tourism Board and their facilities for as yet untried forms of living to- the future. Decisions concerning infrastructure or long- a liates in the Culture Region St. Pölten, mayors and gether. Use of these easily accessible sites will term strategy elicit strong political support. people in charge of the tourism agenda in many munic- help to reduce barriers to entry and reach a The representatives of the city and the prov- ipalities of the Culture Region St. Pölten and the Low- younger and ethnically signifi cantly more di- ince take part both in all boards of the O ce er Austrian Chamber of Agriculture. verse audience. By assigning them new func- St. Pölten 2024 and in all working groups – tions we want to shift their perspective and EXCURSUS: Why investment as specifi ed in the cultural such as the one for the development of the We are in particular pleased about the future cooper- pass on positive impulses. “In-between” and infrastructure list eschews the Culture Region St. Pölten Culture Region St. Pölten, for the formula- ation with the Austrian National Tourist O ce, the “abandoned” places will be given a new pur- St. Pölten is surrounded by a region – referred to in this Bid Book tion of the “Guidelines for Public Space” and Vienna Tourist Board and Tourist Board Linz, which pose, with all the positive e ects this entails as the Culture Region St. Pölten – which is remarkable for its high of the cultural infrastructure list. The same is o cially market Austria, Vienna and Linz respectively for their surroundings and for the appearance levels of art and culture. The past has seen a great deal of invest- true when it comes to formulating innovative all over the world. The Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region, of the city at large. We deliberately invest pri- ment in the cultural infrastructure of this region. All the while concepts for the Children.Art.Lab, the Former one of the largest regional transport service providers marily in existing buildings because we want St. Pölten was ignored, even though the refurbishment and ad- Synagogue and the Cathedral Square. in Eastern Austria catering for 950 million passengers to warn against urban spread and the disuse aptation to present needs of many institutions was long overdue. a year and the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), with of green space which is on the up and up all This is why we will restrict investment to the cultural infrastruc- a sta of 40,000 and 1.5 million passengers a day, are over Europe. We will confi ne ourselves to just ture of the provincial capital, the focal point of the Culture Region to become strategic partners of our application in the the one entirely new construction project, St. Pölten. The only new construction project, the competence fi eld of sustainable mobility of the future. Initial talks the Children.Art.Lab. centre Children.Art.Lab, is designed to have an e ect that is re- are already underway with the top management . gional and international rather than merely local. 94 95
Chapter 6 Chapter 6
Link to Programme Why? Vision Time schedule Legacy The table below outlines how everything is connected: which cultural infrastructure projects will be St. Pölten 2024 realised, why and how they are realised, how they are linked to the programme of St. Pölten 2024 and to Linking the inner city to the Cultural and Government District and the Traisen river the subsequent long-term strategy. (see the table showing which amount will be spent for each project ▶ page 76) ▶ Upgrading the link ▶ Revitalising the Cultural ▶ Setting up a working Establishing a con- ▶ Upgrading the quality between two key city District as a venue group involving all nection to the HUB of stopovers in urban Link to Programme quarters and the for art and culture for relevant institutions Cultural District public space Why? Vision Time schedule Legacy St. Pölten 2024 recreational area on residents and visitors (2019-2020) ▶ Opening event ▶ Integrating the Cultural the banks of the Traisen ▶ Revitalising the un- ▶ Joint search for ▶ Concerts and District into the spatial Hub Cathedral Square river and shortening derused lanes along planners (2019-2020) performances context of the inner city ▶ The cradle of ▶ Car-free at least ▶ EU-wide call for tenders HUB ▶ Has the potential to the eff ective distances the connecting route ▶ Implementation phase ▶ Public art historical St. Pölten throughout 2024 for the design of the ▶ Opening event be the heart of the between them and upgrade the (until 2023) and focus point of ▶ Use as market place, refurbishment (2020) ▶ ECoC Art inner city walkway system ▶ Opening (2024) European history as a place to linger and ▶ Trial use (2023) installation ▶ Has the potential to Stop St. Pölten City Museum ▶ Used at present as a communicate, and as ▶ Implementation phase ▶ Orchestal karaoke become car-free ▶ Need for state-of-the- ▶ Creation of state- ▶ Assessment of the tech- ▶ Exhibition: ▶ Ongoing scientifi c parking lot and a platform for the (until summer 2023) ▶ Symphonic Mob ▶ Venue for artistic and art exhibition venues of-the-art exhibition nical improvement po- St. Pölten and its analysis of the archaeo- twice weekly as a presentation of histor- ▶ Opening (2023) ▶ Movie at the cultural productions ▶ The museum is the and work areas tential of the museum Environs in the logical excavations market place ical fi nds and cultural Cathedral Square ▶ Long-term dedication city’s memory of history ▶ Presentation of the ▶ Working out a concept National Socialist at the Cathedral Square ▶ One of the largest events ▶ Artistic light design as market place ▶ Need for an archaeo- original fi nds made for the new archaeolog- Era in the post-2024 era “abandoned places” in logical department during excavations ical department ▶ Presentation of the centre of St. Pölten. at the Cathedral Square, (until 2020) the archaeological Hub Children.Art.Lab which make it necessary ▶ Completion of all work fi nds made at the ▶ Result of the 2018 par- ▶ A venue designed for ▶ EU-wide call for HUB ▶ Unleashing the to rewrite (2023) Cathedral Square ticipative process and children to get to know architecture based on ▶ 3-4 exhibitions educative potential of the city’s history ▶ Opening (2024) the only new cultural contemporary art and the concept formulated a year art and culture Stop Festspielhaus St. Pölten infrastructure project artists from all over within a participative ▶ Workshops and ▶ Enabling children to ▶ St. Pölten’s largest ▶ Automation of the ▶ Implementation of linked to HUB ▶ Improving accessibility ▶ An autonomous Europe process (2019) Open Studio off ers realise how much dance, theatre stage equipment adaptive measures Cultural District ▶ Increasing the venue’s institution focused on ▶ Competence centre ▶ Establishing a for children and they can contribute and music venue ▶ Comprehensive barri- (2023) ▶ Community competitiveness in the the promotion of and networking hub for Children’s Advisory school groups to shaping their ▶ Need for state-of- er-free adaptation ▶ Opening (2024) Dance Days fi elds of dance and contemporary art and education programmes Board and appointment ▶ Children’s book environment the-art stage of the entrance, foyer ▶ Statt-Orchestra theater cultural competences on a European level of the Artistic Director library ▶ Operation in the and box offi ce areas ▶ Are at home/ for children ▶ Information and (late 2020) post-2024 era Are in the garden/ ▶ Accepting responsibility counselling centre ▶ Opening (2024) guaranteed by city Are at the beach for the youngest and province members of our society Stop Klangturm (tower of sounds) Hub Former Synagogue ▶ A marginal existence as ▶ Maintenance measures ▶ Testing the tower linked to HUB ▶ Seasonal utilisation a viewing tower ▶ Revitalisation through as a venue for artistic Cultural District in the post-2024 era– ▶ The destruction of ▶ Refurbishment and ▶ Formulation of a HUB ▶ Long-term lease ▶ St. Pölten star-quality temporary/seasonal events (from 2021) ▶ Opening event depending on previous the Jewish community adaptation operating concept ▶ Installations: contract concluded vacancy – silent for use as a venue ▶ Opening (2024) ECoC experience by the Holocaust ▶ Creating a place by a working group Jahrzeit, with the Former years ▶ Voice and Vote ▶ The only former dedicated to history, including the Institute Standpunkte Synagogue’s owner ▶ Radio networks Synagogue in the to remembrance, to for Jewish History in ▶ Science Goes Public (mutual waiver ▶ Radical Radio German-speaking area getting to know and Austria and representa- ▶ Europa Jehudit – of termination for Europe to have been restored to promoting the tives of the city and European Festival 40 years) to its former splendour diff erent Jewish the province (2019) of Jewish art ▶ Guaranteeing the Privately owned venues ▶ Refurbishment and cultures in Europe ▶ Establishing agreement and culture Synagogue’s use for adaptation required ▶ Creating a venue for in matters of content ▶ Discourse format: artistic and cultural Link to Programme as well as long-term educational activities, with the owner (2019) European Debates purposes also in Why? Vision Time schedule Legacy St. Pölten 2024 funding of operation reasearch and installa- ▶ Establishing an the post-2024 era by tions independent trademark city and province MAIN STATION Wesely house ▶ Making it accessible and organisation (2023) ▶ 1960s brutalism ▶ Use as homebase and ▶ Agreement about use MAIN STATION Europe ▶ Usage may lead to to the public, notably ▶ Planning and Architecture (former welcome centre for already reached with at home new visions for the to schools refurbishment (2023) car dealership) St. Pölten 2024 – infor- the owner ▶ Homebase and fi rst long-term utilisation ▶ Close collaboration ▶ Opening (2024) ▶ Inner-city vacancy mation point, central ▶ Adaptation phase (2023) port of call for all with local institutions box offi ce, meeting ▶ Opening (2024) visitors, venue for Hub SONNENPARK/LAMES point, round-the-year events and exhibitions venue for interdisciplin- ▶ Virtual European ▶ Large, communally ▶ Partial refurbishment ▶ Working out diff erent HUB ▶ Capacity Building as ary artistic interventions Capital of Culture cultivated park in and adaptation of the versions of the adapta- ▶ Social sculpture the result of collabora- the inner city clubhouses tion in a participative ▶ Space for utopias tion between European Hub Castle Viehofen ▶ Used by two ▶ Upgrading the houses process involving the & experimenta- artists and the local ▶ 1130: fi rst recorded ▶ The castle and its ▶ Agreement about use ▶ One-to-One ▶ Long-term usage associations as a so that it can be used as local scene and experts tion, studios and cultural scene mention open areas are used already reached with Performances by the owners testing ground for a venue all year, while (2019) workshops ▶ Renovation, operation ▶ Vacancy as venues for the owners ▶ Luxury for the others alternative forms of part of the house con- ▶ Commissioning a ▶ Artists in Residence and funding are based ▶ View of the Culture productions in 2024 ▶ Adaptation phase (2023) artistic creativity tinues to be used by the static expertise and a ▶ Co-creation space on a long-term opera- Region St. Pölten ▶ Opening (2024) and social co-living associations for their feasibility study (2019) ▶ Club and perfor- tional concept agreed GLANZSTOFF Factory premises ▶ The clubhouses have own purposes ▶ Devising a long-term mance programme with both city and been in need of operational concept ▶ Installations province ▶ Industrial architecture ▶ Used for exhibitions ▶ Agreement about use ▶ Main exhibition ▶ May lead to a long- restoration ever since (2020) with landmark status and festival-like already reached with Resacling Distances term development of LAMES moved in ▶ Planning and ▶ Part of a large scale formats in the fi elds of the owner ▶ Who needs Europe? the entire premises around 20 years ago implementation phase area earmarked for performance, media ▶ Adaptation phase (2023) ▶ A collaboration in (2020–2023) urban development art and installation and ▶ Opening (2024) the post-2025 era is ▶ Opening (2024) for discursive formats conceivable 96 97
Chapter 6 Chapter 6
Nuclear Power Plant Zwentendorf
Castle Viehofen
GLANZSTOFF Rescaling Distances
Route 24
City Museum
MAIN STATION Europe at Home
Cathedral Square Route 24
Former Synagogue Children.Art.Lab
Cultural District
Klangturm Cultural infrastructure in St. Pölten and SONNENPARK/LAMES the Culture Region– Mirage 24 Hubs and Stops
Culture Region Hubs on track The Long Now St. Pölten Hubs on track Changing Rooms
Hubs on track Come Closer
Stops 98 99
Chapter 7 Chapter 7
Add any further information which you deem useful in relation with your application.
What does it actually mean to come from and live in St. Pölten – or to move away from St. Pölten? A native, who has been feeling the pulse of the city and its diverse inhabitants for years, tells us about his home in Europe. Johannes Reichl, born in 1974, is a true St. Pöltner, who already intensively dealt with his hometown during his studies. Since then, as a journalist and author, he has felt her pulse at regular intervals.
When I was born in St. Pölten, in 1974, the city was church princes rubbing along with tales about peasant somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Neither fi sh uprisings, the French occupation, the plague, the fi res; nor fl esh. Not a small town, but certainly no metrop- about the Industrial Revolution and the years of rapid olis either. It was simply an indefi nable somewhere, industrial expansion; about the escalation of ideologi- whose factory chimneys were spewing the smell of cally motivated tensions, civil war and the slide into fas- rotten eggs, which during thermal inversion periods cism and dictatorship; to mad wars that brought out our made its way right into our living room. A place where capacity for heroism but laid bare our darkest side, and the waters of the Traisen river tributaries were dotted ended in the destruction of the city’s Jewish community, Who we are? – Europe! with balls of foam. the execution of resistance fi ghters in the Hammerpark In the days of our youth the city was if not hateful in and lost loved ones in almost every family; about the our eyes then at least suspect. It was no Heimat to cast a Russian occupation and the Wirtschaftswunder , which spell on us and it certainly never inspired anything re- attracted – and required – the fi rst migrant labourers, sembling “patriotism”. Many of us moved away – and who in St. Pölten mostly came from Turkey; and about who could blame them? Things here were stagnant, os- the gradual genesis of the capital and the advent of ref- sifi ed – there was a general lack of fresh air and every- ugees from former Yugoslavia who have found a new thing was so radically di erent in nearby … Vienna! It home here. was of course completely absurd to pit a city of 50,000 This makes our bid to be nominated European Cap- souls on the banks of the Traisen River against the ital of Culture the logical next step on the road we have former imperial capital of the k&k Monarchy, with its chosen to travel: the emancipated European mid-size city then 1.6 million inhabitants, but this is what people stepping out from underneath the shadows and claiming did. As a foil for nearby, glamorous Vienna, St. Pölten due recognition as a place of innovation, transforma- seemed to be the incarnation of everything provincial, tion and networking and as an experimental lab where boring, hopeless, ugly, backward. This was of course Europe’s great questions are tackled, rescaled to match hardly conducive to our developing any kind of healthy the capacity of a city the size of St. Pölten. Europe it- self-esteem – and what was even worse: we ourselves self functions as a framework of reference that opens were complicit in making that comparison by bringing up new perspectives and that is indeed – as the Selec- it up again and again. It was painful, but we couldn’t tion Phase has made us see – the prime agent causing help it. And with all this self-pitying railing against distances to be rescaled. City and countryside; civil so- the city’s alleged weakness we entirely overlooked the ciety and the St. Pölten of o cialdom; natives and mi- strong points which were no less part of its character: grants; business and culture; the city and its environs: the closeness – spatial and emotional, the mix of inti- all are tasked with fi nding common ground. macy and anonymity, the general willingness to accept Today we have had our fi ll of looking at our shoes. the otherness of others, baroque galore, the abundance Today we believe in ourselves. Today our eyes are on of green spaces and, well, the city’s urbanity, which the horizon taking in other St. Pöltens all over Eu- may run below its surface but is there if you look for it. rope, ticking the way we tick, looking back on histo- We did a lot better when St. Pölten became the cap- ries like our history, confronted with the challenges ital of Lower Austria in the mid-80s. This move was we are facing. We are not alone. We are like you and designed to usher in St. Pölten’s emancipation from Vi- you are like us. Looking into our mirror, all visitors to enna, a city that had, for as long as memory goes back, St. Pölten will learn something about themselves. As siphoned o its rural sister’s knowhow. This led to a citizens. As human beings. As Europeans. And they long overdue phase of self-refl ection, which ended up will perhaps be reminded that “Europe is not a word, putting one thing centre stage: our history, which is at it’s a state of mind!” the same time the history of Europe, with stories about the Romans, the founders of monasteries and baroque Europe is us. 100
Applicant City of St. Pölten
Editorial Team and O ce St. Pölten 2024 Michael Duscher (Operational Director) Albrecht Grossberger (Commercial Director) Bernadette Gugerell (Offi ce Manager) Jakob Redl (Project and Press Manager with the power of attorney) Carolin Riedelsberger (Marketing and Editorial Manager) Christian Steiner (Production Manager)
Artistic Project Development Thomas Edlinger, Andreas Fränzl, Romana Maliti, Elisabeth Schack
Sounding Board & Project Group St. Pölten 2024 Thomas Karl, Thomas Pulle (Department of Culture and Education of the City of St. Pölten) Martin Grüneis, Alexandre Tischer (Department of Arts and Culture of the Province of Lower Austria) We have been supported in our work by very Michael Koppensteiner (St. Pölten Mayor’s Offi ce) many people: with words of encouragement and Klaus-Michael Urban, Lena Weiderbauer critical feedback, with food for thought and (KulturhauptSTART) inspiring debates, with various contributions and, Sparring partners above all, by giving us use of the most valuable Ulrich Fuchs assets of all: their time and their trust. Mattijs Maussen
Text and Content Support We would like to thank all of them most sincerely, Angela Wieser especially those who have accepted our invitation Christoph Winder to parti cipate in working groups, pre-projects, Susanne Wolfram public events, the four calls for project ideas and What will YOU do Translation other formats, contributing in this way to what Otmar Binder, David Sinclair-Jones (copy editor) is truly a great project. TOMORROW Design in NEXT SPACE? Process – Studio for Art and Design www .process.studio Martin Grödl, Moritz Resl with Gerhard Jordan Photography Credits Print Roman Seidl: page 12 Print Alliance HAV Produktions GmbH Christian Fürthner: pages 14 (top left, top right), 96 (centre left), 97 (centre right) Process Support “Guidelines for Public Space” Josef Vorlaufer: pages 14 (centre left), 98 (centre left) RAUMPOSITION SCHEUVENS I ALLMEIER I ZIEGLER OG Konstantin Mikulitsch: page 14 (bottom left, centre right) Peter Rauchecker: pages 14 (bottom left), 64 Links OMAi GmbH: page 23 www .st-poelten2024.eu Martin Bosch: page 24 www .facebook.com/kulturhauptstadt2024.stpoelten Anders Lindén: page 25 www .instagram.com/stp2024 Thomas Schnabel/fotodiaz: pages 28, 97 (bottom right) David Višnjić: pages 30, 97 (centre right) NÖ Kulturlandeshauptstadt St. Pölten GmbH Patrik Blaha: page 40 Rathausplatz 1, 3100 St. Pölten Peter Fattinger: pages 45, 96 (bottom left) Teri Schulz: pages 46, 98 (bottom) Map mid-sized cities (p 2) Alexi Pelekanos: page 57 GeoMagis St. Pölten, Michael Bauer International GmbH Daniel Hinterramskogler: page 90 GeoPic: page 97 (top right) Photo Concept Class 4B of primary school “Franz Jonas” in St. Pölten: Klaus Pichler page 96 (bottom) www .klauspichler.net All other pictures: Klaus Pichler St. Pölten 2 0 2 4