The Art of Assembly, a series of talks by author, dramaturg and curator Florian Malzacher, explores the potential of assemblies in activism, art and politics. In the context of The Questions, the focus is on intergenerational coming together.
29. November 2025, 16:00-18:00
What Makes a City II: Social Palimpsests
Museum Gunzenhauser
Speakers: Sajad Habibi, Darren O’Donnell, Cecile Sandten
How could our cities look if they were not still mainly designed around the needs and imaginations of Western white men? What if urban planning began with the perspectives of children, the elderly, migrants, and those who are usually planned for — but rarely listened to? This edition of The Art of Assembly examines how intergenerational, intercultural, and inclusive approaches can transform the ways cities are thought, built, and inhabited. Literary scholar Cecile Sandten understands cities as palimpsests, in which overlapping spatial and representational layers reveal processes of change, power, and interpretation within urban space. Artist and theatre maker Darren O’Donnell discusses how participatory models that centre children and intergenerational exchange can change the social fabric. Sajad Habibi, expert resident elected to the Migration Advisory Board of Chemnitz, brings perspectives from migrant and refugee communities into urban policy and representation.
This edition of The Art of Assembly is part of The Questions, a project by UK based artist group Quarantine, who are working with local people across generations in twin cities Manchester and Chemnitz to explore what we value and why—both individually and as a society.
The Questions at Museum Gunzenhauser is part of the exhibition project Best of II: Visitors' Choice.
