Participating artists:Stephan Dillemuth, Fid. Fischer, Calla Henkel & Max Pitegoff
Period (opening hours):Wed 4–7 pm, Sun 3–7 pm
Venue:IDEAL artspace
Schulze-Delitzsch-Straße 27
04315 Leipzig
Partner:The project is funded by the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony and the Cultural Office of the City of Leipzig. This initiative is co-financed by tax revenue in accordance with the budget approved by the Saxon State Parliament.
OPEN END explores the conditions of artistic self-organisation, its scope for action and long-term continuity.
The exhibition brings together two documentary approaches: the VHS video archive of Kunstraum Friesenwall 120 (1990–1994) by Stephan Dillemuth and the episodic film THEATER by Calla Henkel & Max Pitegoff, bringing together two documentary approaches in which, even without a physical location, the archive and the narrative itself become an ongoing practice.
The VHS video archive from Friesenwall 120 accumulated over time in the back room of the Kunstraum in Cologne into an extensive collection and as a model of a counter-public sphere: 800 VHS cassettes of exhibition documentation, artistic films, activist material and TV clips. During the exhibition OPEN END, the archive will be collectively viewed, activated and digitised.
The five-part film THEATER by Calla Henkel and Max Pitegoff is set in the New Theater Hollywood, a small theatre they have been running in Los Angeles since 2024. Using documentary footage from real rehearsals as a starting point, the narrative tells the story of the fictional theatre owner Kennedy and her longing for community.
The site-specific mural The Resilient Residency by Fid. Fischer, together with sofas from Saxon youth clubs, a coffee machine and a photocopier, creates a setting in which the IDEAL becomes a salon over the summer months for an ongoing programme of networking meetings, discussions, film evenings and workshops. The programme explores possibilities for self-organisation, resilience and solidarity-based structures and spaces for action against the backdrop of intensifying (cultural) political shifts and growing pressure on art venues. Collectives currently without a space are also invited to help us bring this space to life with jam sessions, readings and workshops.
OPEN END is a project by Clara Hofmann and Gregor Peschko with the support of Adrian Lück.
The graphic design is by Cristina Zickert.
