UWE Festival

The UWE Festival 2023, organised by the European Art Community and other local actors, was the first tangible connection between rural and urban areas on a cultural level. The maker festival was designed to combine the "do it yourself" idea with local and international culture.

Among others, the internationally active Finnish urban activist Jaakoo Bloomberg was a guest and demonstrated his approach to creating social interaction with a wide range of activities such as public food tables, sauna days and city flea markets. Tomislav Topic, an artist living in Berlin, created a multi-layered, expansive installation in the large Elektrohalle in the run-up to the festival. Artists from the region such as Silvio Ukat, Ossada, Ines Adam and Martin Mow Tretner passed on their skills in workshops. The Gellert Museum in Hainichen delighted visitors with a play of light and projection, while the FabLab in Chemnitz gave visitors the chance to experiment with 3D printing and a pantograph and make their own soap at the Strigistaler Seifenmanufaktur.

Visitors were able to view various works by local and international artists and enjoy a musical supporting programme. In addition, a bicycle tour including a panel discussion was organised, which had a long-planned cycle path in the region at its core. Culture was not installed here as a foreign body, but an intersection between urban and rural culture was created.