<Program overview

Annual theme 2023:

Togetherness - The dream of a new community

The corona pandemic and the experience of "social distancing" in recent years were the starting point for the annual theme 2022 in hase29. Under the title "Proximity and Distance - Perspectives on a Society in a State of Emergency", the focus of the program was on singularization in today's society. At a time when many people have concentrated on a narrower group of people, it has also become painfully clear how essential the experience of community is. Especially under the impression of the ongoing war in Ukraine and in line with the Osnabrück anniversary celebrations for 375 years of the Peace of Westphalia, hase29 would like to use the annual program 2023 "Togetherness - The Dream of a New Community" to remind people how fundamental togetherness, empathy and care for the cohesion of a democratic society.

In recent years, there has been an increasing call that art venues such as hase29 – Society for Contemporary Art eV have to participate in community building processes. As a space for experiments and a source of impetus for social debates and processes, they are an important means of democracy that can have a stabilizing effect. The Minister of State for Culture, Claudia Roth, also emphasized this in an interview with KUNSTFORUM International: "This is exactly what our democracy lives on: from the rousing impulses of art, from its food for thought, from its changes in perspective" (Art Forum International #281, p. 79.) . And the International Council of Museums (ICOM) also emphasizes in its new definition that art houses, like museums, should serve society. The task of every cultural institution is therefore to remove entry barriers and build participatory structures in order to offer access to the widest possible audience. This right was passed by federal legislators in 2011 as part of the education and participation package, which regulates participation in social and cultural life for everyone. At hase29, this is done, among other things, through an inclusive and integrative educational program that introduces children, young people and adults to contemporary art and encourages independent creative activity.

The art space “hase29 – Society for Contemporary Art Osnabrück eV” sees itself as a catalyst for artistic processes. Here social issues and challenges of the present are reflected in order to negotiate questions for the future. With the annual theme 2023, the Kunstverein wants to specifically emphasize its role in a lively urban society and create a space for exchange. "Togetherness - The Dream of a New Community" is based on the assumption that numerous issues of our time can only be solved together. The aim here is to research the relevance of new forms of community for today's society. In view of ecological crises and new technological possibilities, however, the perspective is deliberately broadened. The theme of the year also reflects a view of the world in which man gives up his central position in favor of coexistence with nature and other living beings.

Exhibitions 2023