Concept

The idea behind 48 Stunden Neukölln is to provide a framework in which both established, professional and newer or private venues, and especially public spaces function as locations for the arts for all to discover and savour.

Any artist or other resident of Neukölln is invited to get involved. As long as the deadlines set by the organisers are met, one has free reign as a participant in the festival; there is no jury to decide what fits the programme. Any cultural event may (as long as it conforms to the guidelines in our charta) can be part of the festival. No authority decides what should be considered to be “good“ (acceptable) or “bad“ art. In the process, spaces and an atmosphere are created, in which creative proesses and experimental discourse can thrice without limitations. 48 Stunden Neukölln is, therefore, guided by the principle of access for all. It is also an opportunity for realising artistic and socio-cultural projects, facilitating improvements in the quality of life in the area.

The spectrum of events encompasses not only high culture selected by curators, but also includes “outsider-art“ and works realised by amateurs. Additionally, artists' studios and other private spaces will be open to the public. Participatory projects and installations in public spaces will take place while all other imaginable spaces will be opened for use by artists such as courtyards, cellars, stairwells, gardens, private flats, and churches. The festival is, in this respect, based on “sub-cultural“ ideas in which the elementary notion of artists' own initiative as well as that of each visitor, are crucial.

In 2010, marking the 650th anniversary of Rixdorf/Neukölln, the festival focussed of the theme “Komplex650 – Neukölln remembers!” Special attention was given to events that dealt with notions included under the heading “Remembrance/ Forgetting / Retaining / Loss“.

This year, in 2011, in contrast, an apparent paradox development is expressed in the theme “Luxus Neukölln“. Changes in a number of neighbourhoods will be dealt with in different ways and reality of artists' precarious existences also come to the fore. A creative environment in which a lively art scene thrives in an area with a contradictory reputation is, which in its own right, a luxury unto itself!