Across the borders
Across the borders is an internationally oriented, cross-disciplinary and cross-border cultural festival that has been taking place regularly in Aachen and neighboring countries since 2008 . It has been part of the Route Charlemagne project right from the start , a cultural and educational tour that connects the city's historical and cultural sites. The festival is organized by the cultural organization of the city of Aachen under the direction of Rick Takvorian, who also runs the Pacemaker Festivaland it is supported by numerous sponsors. Across the borders initially stretched over four months and was reduced to one to two months from 2011. With renowned artists and groups from home and abroad, it offers music, dance, performance , visual arts as well as literature and films under an annually changing motto and was part of the “Rhenish Cultural Summer” in 2018.
chronology
The reason for the establishment of “across the borders” was, among other things, the EuRegionale 2008 , which was awarded for the year in question by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia to the Aachen region and the neighboring districts in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Under the motto “globalization” there should be a lively artistic exchange with regard to geographical and political border crossings as well as with regard to artistic examination of the individual genres. In addition to many regional actors, the participants included the performance artists Laurie Anderson and Angie Hiesl , the British musician Peter Gabriel with his album Big Blue Ball and the groups Jerobam with Benny Greb and Stephan Sulke with Manfred Leuchter . The performances often took place in public places as well as in the Ludwig Forum for International Art , in the Suermondt Ludwig Museum and in the St. Paul Church, which was still open at the time.
In the second year of the festival, the motto was “Power” and this time the individual performances took place primarily on the stations of the Route Charlemagne. In addition to the musical performances, the highlights were a light installation on the Katschhof and the integration of the “ Long Night of Museums ”. The appearances of Trilok Gurtu , Helen Schneider and Adwoa Hackman as well as the Compagnie Irene K.
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In 2010 the festival took place under the sign of the “global banana”, designed by the artist Thomas Baumgärtel . This time the focus was on street art, which was presented by Baumgärtel himself, Lake13 and Lazy 65 , as well as activities around Aachen's partner city Cape Town with, among others, the South African musicians Bonita and Abdullah Ibrahim . Other highlights were the world premiere of the oriental dance concert “The Sky has no Borders” by Lebanese artist Abaji, a performance about Martin Kippenberger by Christiane Dénes and a multimedia live performance by Thomas Kagermann .
At the 2011 festival, Horst Wackerbarth's red couch became the symbol of the event, which was temporarily set up in different places and used as an optical signal for unusual art events, concerts and productions. The main guests included Mohammad Reza Mortazavi with his sound worlds, the Trio Ivoire , the photo artist Wackerbarth in the Aula Carolina and in the Köpfchen art and culture center (KuKuK) and the musician David Rhodes , who also performed the program with his partner Graham Dean "Painting Music" played on places in Heerlen and Maastricht .
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The courtyard, a square between the houses zum Lindenbaum , zum Mohren , the cathedral cellar and the former Quirinusbad, was the main focus of the 2012 event alongside the city church St. Nikolaus . International music and dance styles such as klezmer , afro-jazz and flamenco were played here and Tango offered by Adjiri Odametey and Andreas Molino , among others .
The 2013 festival program focused primarily on literature and presented for the first time the “German-Arabic poetry salon”, the German-Dutch literature festival “Literary Summer” and the literature office in the Euregio Maas-Rhine . The writers Monika Held , Astrid Rosenfeld and Christiane Neudecker held their author readings in the City Church , some with musical accompaniment. The musical highlights were created in public places by the musicians Ernst Reijseger and Vadim Neselovskyi .
In 2014 the festival was canceled due to the numerous special events for the Charles Year in Aachen.
On the occasion of the FEI European Championships in 2015 , the festival in that year referred to the topic of horse and rider, to which, for example, the photographer Andreas Herrmann and the writer Clemens Meyer made contributions. Zap Mama , the band Banda Senderos and the dance company Irene K. were won over for the musical program .
The eighth edition of the festival in 2016 was themed “Diversity of Cultures” and presented dance performances between Haiti and St. Petersburg, guitar sounds in the tradition of the Sinti and Roma as well as an excursion into the worlds of “ Outsider Art ”. It was designed, among others, by the artist couple Delaine and Damian Le Bas , the guitarist Ferenc Snétberger and played mainly in and around the Ludwig Forum for International Art.
International music and contemporary art were the focus of the 2017 event. For example, in cooperation with the German-Dutch literature festival “Literary Summer”, the writer Feridun Zaimoglu read from his novel “Evangelio” and Karl Walter Sprungala , together with René Böll, recalled “100 Years Heinrich Böll ”. The musical highlights were provided by the composer Christian Klinkenberg with his new opera “Das Kreuz der Verlobten”, the brass band Too Many Zooz and the National Band of New Zealand. The Anu Theater took visitors on a poetic journey through a nocturnal "forest of shadows". In addition to the usual performance spaces, the Kennedy Park , the city forest and various cinemas were also available this time.
Circus, dance, poetry, contemporary and medieval choral and world music, as well as literature, film as well as installation and sound art were the focus of the 10th event in 2018. This time, the "Depot Talstraße" was added as a performance location for the first time after it was part of the the redevelopment of the northern quarter of Aachen was set up as the central social meeting point there. In addition to many individual actors and groups, Jürgen Nendza and again Clemens Meyer organized their author readings, the composer Patrick Otto performed his new opera “Apfel und Amsel”, the group “The Turbans” brought music from the Near and Middle East to the audience and film evenings were held in the Apollo-Kino and as part of the “FilmSchauPlätze NRW” held for the first time in the restored cloth factory in Aachen . Another highlight was the open-air performance of Carmina Burana in Heerlen by the Spanish theater group La Fura dels Baus .
Web links
- Official website on the Route Charlemagne page with annual programs
Individual evidence
- ↑ across the borders Festival 2018 , on rheinischer-kultursommer.de
- ^ The blue planet , in: Klenkes - Stadtmagazin Aachen on the occasion of Peter Gabriel's appearance in 2008
- ^ Hanna Sturm: “Across the borders” cultural festival opened , in: Aachener Zeitung from June 19, 2010
- ↑ Die Rote Couch Kultur // Spots on the website of logoi.de, p. 14
- ↑ 18th literary summer 2017
- ↑ Pictures from across the borders 2017 from the Kennedypark , on the website of the city of Aachen
- ^ "Across the borders" 2018: Beyond borders, among artists , in: Klenkes - Stadtmagazin Aachen from June 26, 2018