Werkleitz Society
The Werkleitz association supports professional artists and young artists, realizes and presents film culture and media art, from short films and documentaries to interactive installations and internet projects. Werkleitz was founded in Tornitz / Werkleitz in 1993 and has been based in Halle since 2003 . The annual Werkleitz Festival, which emerged from the Werkleitz Biennale, is an international presentation platform for film and media art in the new federal states.
The scholarship and funding program European Media Artists in Residence Exchange , A38 production scholarship , Werkleitz project funding, Supported Artist from Werkleitz supports and networks individual artists from Germany and abroad. Since 2011, Werkleitz has offered successful practical training for documentary filmmakers and media professionals in Eastern and Central Germany with the Professional Media Master Class, which lasts several months. The in-house technology rental shop offers equipment for non-commercial film and video productions and is on hand to provide advice. In cooperation with the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design in Halle, Werkleitz operates the Videorama as a presentation space for video art.
Werkleitz is institutionally funded by the state of Saxony-Anhalt.
history
The society was founded by 27 students and cultural workers from the old and new federal states in the village of the same name. The entry in the register of associations took place in 1993. The first result of the association's work was the first Werkleitz Biennale in 1993 with the title "Change of scenery", which was programmatic for the start of a new concept of a media art festival: the joint and equal presentation of film / video, visual arts , Computer art and performance in a (culturally and financially) structurally weak rural area.
In 2004, the Werkleitz Gesellschaft was invited by the city of Halle to set up its headquarters there. Mainly for logistical and structural reasons, those responsible accepted the invitation; With the decision of the association on October 24, 2004, the company left Werkleitz and has been operating from Halle ever since.
Fields of activity
The company performs the work of a media office and a media workshop in the implementation of projects in the field of moving images and digital media. Further offers include various grants (EMAP, EMARE, EMAN), artist presentations (visiting artist, supported artist), workshops on the topics of film project preparation, recording, post-production and film and media theory, as well as the creation and maintenance of the world's first extensive Internet database for Experimental film and video art, Cinovid (since 1996). In addition, the Werkleitz Gesellschaft organizes various events, some alone, some with cooperation partners; For example, the project “Import Export”, funded by the European Union and carried out together with the Berlin House of World Cultures , which dealt with the dynamics of mutual perception between India and Europe in the age of globalization.
Werkleitz Biennale
One of the flagships was the Werkleitz Biennale , which was held every two years as a forum that spanned topographical and categorical boundaries and consisted of an elaborately curated film program and a corresponding exhibition . The peculiarity of doing this in a rural setting made Werkleitz known both as a location and as a media art project not only for professional circles, at the latest after Ulrich Wickert had spoken of the “ documenta des Ostens” in the daily topics (July 31, 2002).
Werkleitz Festival
Since 2008, instead of the Werkleitz Biennale, an annual Werkleitz Festival has been held, which is held in the urban area of Halle.
The features of the regional and national German press regularly report on the Werkleitz Biennale and the Werkleitz Festival, among others. a. because these events succeed in attracting attention and emotions with their topic and presentation. The changing managers focus on a specific, socially relevant topic and question this with the help of artistic positions.
The biennials:
- Change of Scenery (1993)
- Cluster Images (1996)
- Sub Fiction (1998)
- [real] work (2000)
- Community of gains (2002)
- Common Property (2004)
- Happy Believers (2006)
The festivals:
- AMERICA (2008)
- .move (2009)
- Fear Has Big Eyes (2010)
- ZOO (2011)
- .move forward (2012)
- Werkleitz Jubilee Festival 2013 Avoid Utopias (2013)
- Werkleitz Festival 2014 doppelganger
- Werkleitz Festival 2015 .move ON
- Werkleitz Festival 2016 trans positions
- Werkleitz Festival 2017 Not anymore, not yet
- Werkleitz Festival 2018 Get and Bring
- Werkleitz Festival 2019 model and ruin
Projects and Cooperations
The number of national and international collaborations, e.g. B. with the Theater der Welt 2008 , within the framework of the EU-funded scholarships ( E uropean M edia A rt N etwork established in 2007 together with Impakt ! -Festival Utrecht / Netherlands, VIVID Media Arts Center Birmingham / UK and Interspace Medienkunstzentrum Sofia / Bulgaria ) or through personnel exchange with Ars Electronica Linz / Austria.
1995 initiated the Werkleitz the European Media Artists in Residence Exchange (EMARE) program with changing European media institutions as partners that could assist with multiple EU funding to this day 150 European artists.
In 2011, the Werkleitz Gesellschaft started the Professional Media Master Class (PMMC) with the support of the European Social Fund and the Central German Media Fund - a six-month advanced training course for Central German media professionals in the documentary film sector. The 10 participants produce 5 short documentaries. Partners are the Dokwoche Leipzig , the Dokfest Kassel , as well as the Bandits-Mages Festival in Bourges and Labomedia in Orléans . The lecturers include well-known people such as the founders of the International Forum of Young Film at the Berlinale , Erika Gregor and Ulrich Gregor , the film essayist Harun Farocki , as well as the camerawoman Sophie Maintigneux , who has received several German and international camera awards .
Professional Media Master Class (PMMC)
The Professional Media Master Class (PMMC) from Werkleitz offers Central German film and media workers from a wide variety of areas the opportunity to gain further training in professional media practice and to qualify for the media market. The PMMC is not an academic training, but a practice-oriented further education with masters in their field. It should help to close the gap between the numerous media courses in Central Germany and the practical requirements of the media industry.
Luther trip
In 2013, Werkleitz initiated the long-term Luther Trip project in cooperation with the lkj (State Association for Cultural Children and Youth Education in Saxony-Anhalt) . Together with adolescents and young adults, a web-based map is being developed on which Luther's paths and known points of the Reformation movement are linked with their own experiences and experiences. The aim is to research and reinterpret the Reformation and Luther as part of excursions to Luther's home, the Mansfeld region. The impressions gained can already be entered on site in the form of text, image and audio material by the participants using a specially developed app in a digital map. The mapped paths are the basis for any further excursion. The network becomes tighter with every tour that is entered. The excursions lead through the settlements characterized by agriculture, mining and metallurgy. In addition to the work of the reformer, the tours also focus on the cultural identity of the region.
Prices
As part of the Voeux de lʹInternet Europe 2007, EMARE coordinator and Werkleitz founder Peter Zorn received the Golden @ Award in the Art category in the House of European Parliamentarians in Strasbourg .