Cooperative art strategies and potential for participation in public spaces

Diversity without randomness

For over eleven years, with editions in Berlin and internationally, the collective art project Citizen Art Days (CAD) followed the Berlin tradition of involving citizens in the design of public space. At the same time, it went beyond that: ‘Testing models of self-determined knowledge acquisition and transfer, as well as social design and creative participation, within a focused framework was new in this programme, and we felt that,’ write Oscar Ardila, Stefan Krüskemper and Kerstin Polzin from Citizen Art Days e. V. as editors in their foreword to the publication. The book compiles drawings, diagrams, maps and photographs with documentary material and texts by invited authors. Shared values such as participation, respect, care and democracy serve as a compass. The result is an informative and inspiring artist's book that celebrates diversity in turbulent times, far removed from randomness, bringing to life the special spirit of Citizen Art Days. The pilot event in 2012 at the Freies Museum Berlin already showed what it was all about: instead of curating from above, the initiators of the CAD contributed artistically, participated in the events – as enablers, space holders and initiators on an equal footing with a very diverse group of contributors. This climate of trust and respect made it clear that the focus was not on artists' egos, but on actors whose performative and discursive competence was combined with ethical integrity. This made it possible to involve people who do not define themselves as artists and to spark initiatives that had an impact far beyond the duration of the project.

Thinking about changing the world

In fact, while CAD critically examined politically and socially controversial issues from the outset, it never stopped at mere criticism. Its goal was to create spaces in which options for action and design could be collectively tested – without ideological narrowing, but with the aim of making social change conceivable and tangible. In doing so, they drew on Social Sculpture (Joseph Beuys) as a guiding principle of CAD, not as a slogan, but as a lived practice. The venues for this ‘creative we’ were predominantly public spaces with little connection to art and low thresholds, such as the former Stasi grounds (2016) or Schäfersee in Berlin-Reinickendorf (2023). Here, models of self-determined knowledge transfer and participation were developed, the effects of which continue to resonate today. The development of the Campus of Democracy is testimony to this. In Berlin, the CAD thus set a clear counterpoint to a cultural policy that increasingly focuses on consumability. Even though the format as such has come to an end, its impulse remains alive. "It continues to carry itself forward into new projects, new forms, new alliances. ‘For democracy – like participatory art – is not a state that has been achieved, but a process that must be nurtured, practised, negotiated and constantly reinvented,’ according to the editors of the book.

Precariousness in a social and ecological context

Looking back, it is clear how much the framework conditions have changed since the beginning of the 2010s. Today, crisis scenarios and a climate of fear dominate: fear of ecological tipping points, of social right-wing developments, of a future that promises more threats than hope. In the arts and culture sector, the danger of self-censorship is growing under the pressure of authoritarian shifts. Where are the spaces in which these fears can be discussed openly, critically and without protection? Precariousness no longer affects only certain professional and population groups – including artists – but also the ecological foundations of life. Large-scale fires, droughts, species extinction and the loss of fertile soil indicate that the balance is shifting. The environment – for modernity nothing more than a passive backdrop and resource – is now unambiguously demanding political attention to the deeply ignorant and disrespectful practices of the ruling civilisation. In many places, efforts are underway to expand the spheres of politics, law and social affairs in such a way that non-human actors are also included in decision-making processes. Could the legacy of CAD inspire new alliances here? In relational art practices beyond the human sphere and in democratic formats with a biocratic horizon? The actions at Berlin's Schäfersee in 2022/23 – documented as the last edition of the CAD in the publication entitled ‘Dreckig werden und untertauchen’ (Getting Dirty and Going diving under) – already tested artistic formats for new forms of perception, care and communal responsibility: ‘sensual, situational and open to long-term learning’. Participating artist Marcela Moraga contributed this groundbreaking statement by Berta Cáceres, Honduran activist for human rights and nature conservation from the Gualcarque River: ‘I knew how difficult it would be. But I also knew we would succeed. The river told me so.’

Collective critical autonomy

Not far from ExRotaprint in Wedding, where the CAD retrospective exhibition took place in October, the territory of the ‘Organismendemokratie Berlin Osloer Straße’ (Organism Democracy Berlin Osloer Straße) has been located on an overgrown wasteland since 2019, initiated by the artist group Club Real. There are currently other such territories in Augsburg and North Rhine-Westphalia. Who owns the city? Who lives on public green spaces and who decides what happens there? The ‘Organism Democracy’ finds completely new answers to these questions: all living beings in the respective community – from snails to ash trees to root nodule bacteria – have the same political rights. Once or twice a year, a ‘parliament of living beings’ meets and decides on the future of the area. Human and non-human actors in all their diversity have an equal say. Poetic, speculative and at the same time scientific, this initiative explores ‘resonance relationships’ (Hartmut Rosa) as a basis for the further development of democracy as well as for the defence of the rights of all living beings. This is precisely where the CAD publication's postulate comes in: ‘In an environment where institutional structures are becoming increasingly fragile or exclusionary, it is crucial to reaffirm collective critical autonomy. This does not mean isolated autonomy, but rather one that derives its capacity for action from communal bonds, mutual care and clear objectives.’