Planting Assembly Places in November 2022

In November 2022, another building block was added to the Capital of Culture flagship project WE PARAPOM! The first gathering places were created; these are places where trees are planted by many participants together and in large numbers and the apple trees “gather” in a figurative sense.

On 12 November 2022, 50 first graders of the school “Chemnitzer Schulmodell” planted apple trees together with their sponsors from the 9th grades and parents in the apple park in Hilbersdorf. The plantings were supervised by the regional groups of BUND and NABU. A week later, apple trees were also planted in Kleinolbersdorf – 22 in total.

You can read more about it here.


A conversation about artistic interventions on 02.07.2022

In the context of their research to develop an artistic intervention for “WE PARAPOM!”, the artists Zbyněk Baladrán, Amica Dall (Assemble), Paul Rajakovics (transparadiso) and Apolonija Šušteršič will present their working methods and selected projects on 2 July 2022.

In the subsequent exchange with the audience, cultural actors of the city, all interested Chemnitz residents and guests are invited to propose topics for “WE PARAPOM!” and to discuss them together with the artists and urban ethnologist Kathrin Wildner (metroZones) in relation to current social issues in Chemnitz. The exchange of different perspectives on the city, of experiences and desires, opens up new visions that leave the “impossible” behind and strive for the impossible.

The programme can be found here.


Second public performance on 01. – 03.04.2022

The second public appearance of “WE PARAPOM! – European Parade of Apple Trees” invites all Chemnitz residents from 1 to 3 April to take part in the second phase of planting and to set an example of what civil commitment can do, what art can do, and what Chemnitz can do as European Capital of Culture.

The plantings around the area of the Museum Gunzenhauser and Zwickauer Straße will be accompanied by an extensive film programme around the question “What is the norm? It will take place in different public places and thus link very different publics. The European Parade of Apple Trees is curated by the Austrian artist Barbara Holub.

The whole programme can be found here and a short review can be found here.


First public performance on 06.11.21

On 6 November, “WE PARAPOM!”, one of the trend-setting art projects on Chemnitz’ way to becoming European Capital of Culture 2025, will start. The European Parade of Apple Trees – curated by the Austrian artist Barbara Holub – will run right through Chemnitz. And you can become part of the project!

The parade crosses property boundaries and thus prepares the ground for people to come together. It is accompanied by artistic interventions that will be realised continuously until 2025. The parade and the apple are symbols for a series of themes that are specifically addressed by artists: Standardisation and norms, migration, homeland and climate change as well as questions about the current situation of democracy.

A review and a video can be found here.

All detailed information and background on www.weparapom.eu.

Photos: Ernesto Uhlmann