The Begehungen art festival will take place in 2025 on the site of the decommissioned Nord lignite-fired power plant in Chemnitz. In the midst of this impressive industrial architecture, the 22nd edition of the art festival will take a future-oriented look at burning issues such as resource consumption, biodiversity and climate change. The Begehungen 2025 art festival is part of the official programme of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025.
Artists in particular have the ability to sensitise society and provide new perspectives on pressing social issues. The aim of the exhibition and the festival as a whole is to raise awareness of the complexity of the issues and stimulate new discourse. In this way, the festival aims to become a place of encounter, exchange and inspiration.
A new dimension
The owner, eins energie in sachsen GmbH und Co KG, has made part of the power station site on Dammweg available for the art festival. In the immediate vicinity of the famous artwork Seven Colours for a Chimney by Daniel Buren, an area of around 16,000 square metres is available for the art festival. The exhibitions will utilise the site, including the historically significant cooling tower 1, which dates back to the early 1960s, as well as various technical facilities such as the huge metal deitonate tanks. The three large halls will also house an exhibition area of more than 2000 square metres .
For the first time, the exhibition is planned to run for four weeks (mid-July - mid-August 2025). Due to the unique location, the exciting topics and an outstanding exhibition, the organisers are expecting at least 50,000 visitors.
Co-project manager Frank Weinhold: "The dimensions of the 2025 edition of the festival are significantly larger than previous editions. The site is huge, the duration is unprecedented and expectations are high. But it is precisely the challenge of creating something unique in the European Capital of Culture that is spurring our team on enormously. We want to present ourselves as one of the summer highlights of the European Capital of Culture 2025."
Exhibition will be high-calibre
As in 2024, Dr Claudia Tittel will be the artistic director of the exhibition. The exhibition will be created using works by internationally renowned artists, an artist-in-residence programme with the European partner festivals of the Begehungen and the project ideas from the worldwide Open Call. Dr Claudia Tittel: "After the successful 21st Begehungen art festival, I am delighted to be taking over the artistic direction of the festival in the Capital of Culture year 2025. The location chosen for next year, the Chemnitz-Nord cogeneration plant, sets the thematic framework for the festival: the energy crisis - a topic that could not be more topical. I can already promise you that the festival will feature a high-calibre line-up and I'm looking forward to working with the team."
The first names will be announced in autumn and the complete list of artists will be finalised by the end of the year.
Strong co-operation partners
The festival is being organised in close cooperation with the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 gGmbH and eins energie in sachsen GmbH & Co. Matthias Döhler, Chairman of Begehungen e.V., comments: "A project of this magnitude can only be realised with strong partners. We have sensed the absolute determination of both cooperation partners to implement this programme highlight for the Capital of Culture year and to overcome major hurdles to do so. We are now looking forward to further cooperation."
