ZK/U – Center for Art and Urbanistics
ZK/U – Center for Art and Urbanistics is an artist and research residency that has hosted more than 500 artists since its opening in 2012. KUNSTrePUBLIK is the organization behind ZK/U–an artist collective that has been working in the public sphere for more than fifteen years. Through tangible projects, they have been exploring the potentials and limitations of art for citizens to freely express themselves or to be represented by an action or physical outcome of KUNSTrePUBLIK’s work.
ZK/U is located in a neighbourhood in Berlin marked by conflicts between established “middle-class” citizens, precarious first- and second-generation migrants, and newly arriving groups. Therefore ZK/U aims to (re‑)activate the social and spatial relationship between individuals and groups that are divided by differences in education, income, gender, and cultural background. It is interested in bringing together global discourses and local practices. More specifically, it looks at how art can act as a catalyst for transformation in urban spaces. Through its work, ZK/U tries to demonstrate the feasibility of such participatory artistic practices.
ZK/U’s recent projects include the intercontinental residency program Turn2Residencies (2021/22); the research project Grounded Urban Practices, Berlin (2020/21); the urban development project CTB-Lab (as part of the European Capital of Culture 2020, Rijeka); and the revitalization of Haus der Statistik in Berlin (since 2019).
