Hello, we are:
Kulturanker Hannover ev
We, the non-profit association KulturAnker Hannover eV, were founded on January 30, 2021. With the aim of bringing together freelance artists and cultural workers from all disciplines in the city and region of Hanover, creating synergies, continuing education together, organizing politically and creating a co-working space for creative minds. Due to the restrictions to contain the corona pandemic over the last year and a half, we have clearly felt the social importance of art and culture and the need for more strong initiatives to strengthen the cultural landscape and support cultural workers.
We were founded out of the need to provide young, independent cultural workers and artists in particular with the intellectual and physical space for their artistic activities and to unite the entire artistic creative process in one place through the "space for creative minds". Bringing together cultural professionals from different sectors and areas in one place encourages exchange and offers opportunities for inspiration. This form of creative collaboration does not yet exist in the state capital of Hanover.
The limited spatial options in the city and the region mean that freelance cultural workers are faced with the challenge of finding rehearsal, work or presentation spaces. In order to ensure the basis for artistic and creative activities, KulturAnker Hannover eV is closing this gap by establishing a project-related coworking space "The Space for Creative Minds" with rehearsal rooms, a shared work area, a studio and exhibition and presentation space. The creative actors in the cultural landscape of Hanover and the region should be given the opportunity to rent rooms temporarily and for specific projects, as well as to use the coworking area, which is accessible to everyone, and to exhibit their projects. Due to the limited spatial options in the city, it is only logical to share the resource of space.
The artistic creative process is subject to constant change. On the one hand, current social and political input is required for one's own work, and on the other hand, specific knowledge is required to professionalize individual activities. To name just a few examples: social media marketing, acquiring financial resources through grants or the question of the financial value of artistic activities. We provide a remedy by offering continuing education formats in the form of workshops, lectures and seminars. On the one hand, the members' own resources can be used, according to the motto of helping people to help themselves, and on the other hand, selected experts are brought in. Interdisciplinary exchange can help to make it possible to realize projects in a more professional and targeted manner.
The possibility of cooperation and exchange offers the potential to politically represent the needs of artists and cultural workers from various disciplines. In particular, to continue to ensure and further develop the working conditions for independent actors in the creative sector. This association creates the opportunity to take a political position, to actively participate in shaping things and to be heard.
WHAT WAS OUR LAST SUCCESS?
At the beginning of June this year we moved into our first premises and are now able to open our first co-working space! We use the space for projects and events by ourselves and other freelance artists and cultural workers. In addition to continuing education events, concerts and exhibitions as well as project work, the room can also be used as a co-working space with individual and group workstations. The room is equipped with mobile and flexible interior design so that it can be used individually.
WHAT DO WE USE WECHANGE FOR?
We use the WECHANGE platform for internal club organization. We use the pads to collect and document our plenary sessions, plan room rentals using the calendar, and inform our members using the “News” function.
HOW HAS OUR WORK CHANGED SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC?
Before we founded the association, we thought long and hard about whether the timing was right or whether we should wait until the pandemic was at its peak. In the end, we decided that the Corona pandemic had shown just how important art and culture is in society and how important it is to bring artists and cultural workers together and to support them, and that more strong cultural initiatives are needed. Since we founded the association in the middle of a hard lockdown, the first cooperation and exchange meetings took place via Zoom meetings. We have now switched to analog plenaries and events. However, we plan all events so that they can take place digitally again if necessary. We want to show that we are not alone with our worries and fears in these difficult times and what potential we can harness from them - no matter how!
WHICH TOOL DO WE USE THE MOST?
We use the pad function the most to document our club work, followed directly by the calendar, which is used to coordinate our room allocation and organization.
Visit our website at https://www.kulturanker-hannover.de/ and here you can find us on wechange.de: https://wechange.de/project/kulturanker-hannover-ev/
Photo credits:
Cover photo: WECHANGE
Pictures in the blog article: Kulturanker Hannover eV
Would you also like to introduce yourself here?
We want to make our strong WECHANGE community more visible and give other organizations and initiatives examples of how to use WECHANGE. If you would like us to introduce you, please send us an email with the subject "WE ARE THE CHANGE" and answer the questions above. We would also be happy to receive 3 photos and a link to your WECHANGE page.