WE CARE ›YOU REALLY CAN CHANGE THE WORLD BEETS, ROSES AND THE MEANING OF LIFE HILDESHEIM CANDIDATE CITY EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE 2025 SELECTION By blurring the images of our present, the shapes of our future start to mingle, and we can feel that one plus one appears to be much more than two. CQP INTRODUCTION – GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ­ ­. CONTRIBUTION TO THE LONG TERM STRATEGY . . . CULTURAL AND ARTISTIC CONTENT . . . . . . EUROPEAN DIMENSION . .. .. .. ­ .. ­ . . OUTREACH . . . MANAGEMENT . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..­ ­ .. ­ .. ­ .. . .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. . ­ .. ­ .. ­ .. .. .. CAPACITY TO DELIVER . . INTRODUCTION GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ›You really can change the world ›The Future is Unwritten.‹ if you care enough.‹ Joe Strummer Marian Wright Edelman So here we are, the City and District of Hildesheim, to- gether with 17 district municipalities, still bidding for the The truth is that we do not know what the world will look title of European Capital of Culture 2025. It is the difficult like in 2025, nobody does in these times of uncertainty. For times that make us reflect on the things that matter most: Europe, the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the major crises the passion and the power we can develop as human be- since 1945, affecting the economy, public health, safety and ings, the communities we live and love in, the societies of freedom of all its citizens and to an alarming degree art, Europe and the world we are able to shape. Aware of this culture and the creative sector. Neither our governments global perspective, we are still mindful of our roots; our nor science can provide easy and reliable solutions, and it sugar beets and the 1000-year-old rose bush are still with is one of the great achievements of our European societies us. While we are now distilling disinfectant from our crucial that they do not pretend to. crop, the stubborn plant in the cathedral courtyard inspires In our first bid book, we stated that we need to blur the us to meet our challenges and the disturbing uncertainty images of the present to shape the future. We also said that with collective creativity, solidarity and imagination. in Hildesheim, a provincial city and region in the middle of Being pre-selected as European Capital of Culture, we Germany, the burning issues of our times are still somehow paused to listen and reflect carefully. We listened to the under the radar. With the pandemic that has changed. We feedback by the ECoC panel; we listened to the voices of now experience rather closely how fragile we are as hu- the citizens, international artists, cultural professionals, man beings, on a vulnerable planet. And our quest for the colleagues, as well as our partners and friends from all over meaning of life condensed into the meaning of live: now the world. Now we know with even more confidence what it that we are cut off from contacts, encounters and physical takes to recalibrate the route towards a more sustainable closeness, we realise that we are social beings at heart. Be- Hildesheim, Europe, and global community. The hinter- ing able to share our experiences and our culture with each land of Lower Saxony has started a serious, passionate and other, to celebrate, to remember, and to learn together must already fruitful conversation with Europe and the world. not be taken for granted. There is a great deal of uncertainty We can't wait to continue and invite everybody to join us about the present, and the future remains blurred. in our conscious decision that We Care. CQP ­ INTRODUCTION GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS Q . Has the concept of the programme described for ›the province‹ that offers space and an often tightly the ECoC year changed between the pre-selection woven community, and both have the potential to mit- and the selection stage? If yes, please describe the igate the distressing consequences of isolation. Human new concept and explain reasons for the change. geographer Gerhard Henkel, nicknamed the ›advocate of the villages‹, once called the rural phenomenon – that With our pre-selection concept ›Beets, Roses and the Mean- people know each other and do not live in anonymity – ing of Life, re['ru:]ting Hildesheim‹, we wanted to show how ›the promise to care‹. a provincial city and its surrounding region can use the potential of culture and art to shape a process of transfor- So it was learning by burning that many of our concerns mation. Given the burning issues of our time, our call was are utterly important. But there is more to it. We do not to turn an utterly ordinary city and region into a cultural know how the world will look five years from now, but we and artistic laboratory for the future of Europe. But was recognise that it is no longer enough only to explore the big that enough? Would the idea of re['ru:]ting Hildesheim questions about the meaning of life; instead, it is necessary ultimately contribute to re['ru:]ting Europe? And for what to take a strong stand. We must acknowledge complexity purpose, in which direction? The pre-selection panel but contradict indifference. We need to consciously encour- proposed that we should be sharper about what we have age a more sustainable way of life, in Hildesheim, Europe, to share with Europe and the world. We decided to and the rest of the world. That is why our revised cultural reconsider the role and meaning of history and our diverse and artistic concept still builds on all that was there in cultural heritage and to make a clear choice about our route. the pre-selection phase but proclaims the choice that has Since then, the world has changed. SARS-CoV2 has spread implicitly been part of our concept from the beginning: We throughout the world and left us in severe confusion choose a deliberate attitude of compassion, of solidarity, and turmoil. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought death and a respectful approach towards who and what is around us, pain, distress, significant changes to all our lives and the to what was passed on to us and what we leave for future unsettling feeling of not being in control. The pandemic generations. As a sugar beet farmer, a hairdresser, an artist, presents itself as a crisis which works like a magnifying or a politician, we are all fragile human beings not knowing glass that emphasises our challenges and concerns: what the future will look like. These days we live in severe – Global issues do not stop at the borders of the District of uncertainty, but we get up every day, and we can decide Hildesheim, or the borders of Europe, respectively. The anew. We can decide that We Care. Our programme invites pandemic has made it even more evident how we are part and encourages people to do so as well. of one global community. We Care is our more passionate and more proactive vision – Facing an existential threat, the questions of what is tru- for Hildesheim 2025. It is the new headline for our cultural ly relevant, of what is ›systemically important‹ in life, are and artistic programme. Four perspectives set thematic crucial. The importance of community and of institutions priorities, all resonating from our prior concept but adding that care has been brought into an even sharper light. precision and decisiveness. – Europe is in a volatile situation. In the crisis, the Euro- pean Union was challenged, with single states resigning to national solutions. Many societies are in real danger of We Care For Each Other falling apart, with populism and radical forces rising in a … is about fostering social cohesion, promoting distressing way. diversity and access. – The social division, inequality and bias we see across the world are obstacles that counteract efforts aimed at We Care For Ourselves achieving sustainable societies, cohesive development … is about reflecting on faith, worldviews, self-images and well-being for all. and well-being. – The vulnerability of the cultural sector has become bla- tantly manifest. At the same time, we realise how much We Care For Our Planet we need the imaginary power of culture and art to envi- … is about reconfiguring the ways we live together sion a future world. We need a strong and resilient cul- with our environment. tural sector, to respond to and overcome the mentioned above challenges, and to further unite us as Europeans. We Care For Our Past and Future Heritage – Last but not least, with physical distancing, social iso- … is about activating our World Heritage and lation and lockdown, several core features of provincial creating the Sites of Tomorrow. and rural areas that we described in our first bid book came to the fore and revealed their significance. It is CQP ­ ­. We Care – Beets, Roses and the Meaning of Life aims to po- We have already had a foretaste of what Hildesheim 2025 sition Hildesheim as a European cultural region that strives can mean for the city and the region. The pre-selection for sustainable development in cultural, social, ecological triggered unprecedented energy that was not dampened and economic terms. Together with many different part- by the consequences of the pandemic. New alliances were ners in the region, Europe and beyond, Hildesheim 2025 formed from the public, private and NGO sectors to ad- will create a blueprint for a healthy, diverse and inclusive vance the development of the city and the region, led and living environment that is fit for the future. Here, we want informed by culture. More and more stakeholders believe in to join the provincial and the visionary and bring into con- the success of our concept and have adopted its vision and versation: urban and rural cultures, centre and periphery, ideas and actions.