The River. Narratives
with the River Communities of the Elbe | April to June 2025
Public presentation
14 June 2025 – 10am – 2pm
@Stätte der Sportjugend Wittenberge, Friedensteich, Wittenberge
Through sensitive field mappings and solar boat trips, artists and students from the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam and the University for Sustainable Development Eberswalde have engaged in a dialogue with the Elbe River — exploring its myths and legends, bridges and boundaries, the changing scent of the Elbe, migrating crabs and the riverbed as an archive — from April to June 2025.
How might the river and its ecosystems communicate with us? What stories would they tell?
Taking an interdisciplinary approach that combines ecology, participation, art and design, the project explores ideas for the sustainable development of the Elbe and its surrounding landscapes:
The Chinese Mitten Crab | Die Wollhandkrabbe
by Max Bauch, Cornelius Cress, Evelyn Kalis, Karl Felix Kuhlmann
Elbe Haze | Elbe Dunst
by Sophie Dittmar, Nefeli Kordela, Nikolas Riederer, Jette Wendt
Bridges and Borders | Brücken und Grenzenrer,
by Katharina Conradt, Anna Nold, Paul Labdezki, Elisa Spikker
Myths | Mythen
by Henrike Bullmann, Serani Muthunayake, Hannah Schröter, Hagen Weyer
Riverbed | Flussbett
by Lidia Ekimova, Clara Sophie Meis, Elisa Matthewes, Clara Reuter
It is part of the collaborative initiative InNoWest – Einfach Machen!, which focuses on transferring scientific knowledge into practical action together with regional stakeholders.
Project partners: Biosphärenreservat Flusslandschaft Elbe; Elbgarten Wittenberge (Gemeinschafts- und Bildungsraum); Demokratieforum Prignitz;Landesvereinigung kulturelle Kinder- und Jugendbildung (LKJ); Naturwacht Brandenburg; BUND
In the framework of Future DiverCities, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union
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Biodiversity in Action
26-28 May 2025 10am – 3pm
@TINCON | republica Berlin
Let’s reimagine our connection with more-than-human realities
Public Art Lab brings its sensing mapping and biodiversity engaging strategies to the communities of young people at the TINCON 2025 – the conference on youth culture that runs alongside re:publica, Germany’s leading festival on digital society.
From 26 to 28 May at STATION Berlin, TINCON will once again present a packed programme with talks, panels, and workshops on politics, digital life, and pop culture — and we’re part of it with the Biodiversity on Action programme.
Nature Writing: Sense-in-Place
with Michaela Vieser
Explore your surroundings through writing and sensory observation in Gleisdreieck Park.
26 May from 10.00-11.30
Beyond the Screens | CDSA: AI-Generated Videos on Biodiversity
with Ayça Tuğran
Use AI and photogrammetry to create short videos that explore the complexity of ecosystems.
27 May from 10.00-11.30
Let’s Ripple: The Butterfly Effect
with FDC twinning partner from Greece: Evita Stavrou, Craftopia
Fold origami butterflies and reflect on how even the smallest acts can spark powerful change.
2 May from 10.00-11.30
Digital Calligraffiti
with Harshini, Xuli, Amigo and Parisurteil
Turn your words into art and tag digital walls with your own calligraffiti messages.
all days 11.00-12.30 and 14.00-15.00
ECHO Campaign Events
Rooted Together, Bees of the Night, and Re:Moss
Three creative campaigns explore our connection to nature, the impact of light pollution, and moss as a symbol of regeneration.
all days 12.30-14.00
Let’s reimagine our relationship creatively and critically with the beyond human realities — choose your own adventure!
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Many thanks to Future DiverCities and the Creative Europe Programme of European Union, the artists of Beyond the Screens | CDSA and initiator Yuelai Ruan and curators Susa Pop, Ina Conradi and Dominique Moulon, our partners of the ECHO Academy: DE/MO foundation and Prof. Emily Smith, Harshini Karunaratne, and Prof. Günzel from the University of Europe.
Interfacing, Relational Mapping and Storytelling
with the Spree River Communities | April-June 2024
Exhibition The River | Der Fluss @Flamingo-Halle Spreepark, Berlin
4 July 5pm – 8pm || 5 July 4pm – 10pm
Panel: The Rights of the River as an Ecosystem and Legal Entity
5 July 5.30pm – 7pm
Interfacing, Relational Mapping and Storytelling with the Spree River Communities
The river that gives the Spreepark its name has characterised the city’s vibrant culture for centuries. Berlin is built from the river. The Spree has always had a strong influence on the development of the city’s neighbourhoods and their ecologies. The river landscapes are a vital commons in which social, economic, political, technical and cultural interests are interwoven: a ‘flowing library’ that connects the knowledge of the past and present with the visions of the future.
Who is the river? How could we engage with the river and its non-human actors in an experimental, non-verbal, playful, sensual and interactive way? How can we create relational maps, images and narratives that open up new perspectives on the river and its communities? Through research, experimental methods and their own observation tools, design students at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences investigate various river relationships and develop narratives, prototypes and interfaces under the direction of Prof. Myriel Milićević and Yin Boribun together with Susa Pop (Public Art Lab) and Katja Aßmann, Jennifer Sréter (Spreepark Art Space Berlin).
04 – 05 July 2024 – Exhibition
The interactive exhibition objects and installations by River-Interfaces will be exhibited in the Flamingo Hall of the Spreepark Art Space.
Artistic installations and scenarios from Marlene Derwort, Paulina Deutmeyer, Julian Flörchinger, Benjamin Friese, Anna Gasviani, Kaixin Jin, Merle Kauf, Max Kramer, Anja Linke, Jolina Mumbela, Juliane Müller, Alexander Münch, Lisa-Marie Pfadt, Niklas Schmidt, Julian Scott, Shiming Shen, Ragnar Wilczek.
05 July – Panel
How can a river be defined as a legal entity? The global ‘Nature Rights’ movement is working to rethink nature as a legal space and to engage for legal rights for ecosystems. Local and international experts will present different perspectives on this topic.
With Christian Wolter (Leibniz-Institut Berlin) Judith Moellhoff (Freie Universität Berlin, Center for Politics and Law), Michaela Vieser (Author for Nature Writung), Sinido Sur (musician, expert for indegenious practices) – moderated by Ela Kagel.
Thanks to the support of
Experimental Cartography | April-June 2023
Exhibition: Der Park | 1-2 July@Mero-Halle Spreepark, Berlin
The coming weekend we invite you to explore the Spreepark as a changing habitat through a series of field studies. In particular, the disappearance of species and the arrival of new creatures (neobiota) will be made visible through the means of experimental cartography.
With the design students of FH Potsdam; Senta Bannick, Janina Bartmann, Maite Buhr, Ayleen Gabriel, Ruby Guttau, Alexandra Hendel, Katharina Hummel, Ariel Khait, Anna Kusatz, Emily Köster, Victor Molina, Klara Pröpstl, Mathis Rubach, Elisa Sagemüller, Pati Schwegler, Yette Strauss Suhr, Zhijin Tian, Guolong Wang
Under the direction of Prof. Myriel Milićević together with Susa Pop (Public Art Lab), Katja Aßmann, Jennifer Sréter and Katja Szymczak
Public Art Lab is partner of Future DiverCities, a four-year project funded by the European Commission (Creative Europe) from 2022-2026. The project was kicked off in Florence by our Italian partner Lama in October 2022.
In the cluster of Biodiversity Public Art Lab will explore the relationship between human and non-human living beings in the Spreepark which was an amusement park before the Berlin Wall fell, long a lost place, surrounded by water and now an in-between state of past and becoming a future arts and cultural venue, the Spreepark Art Space Together with Prof. Myriel Milićević and her students from Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, Public Art Lab will study especially the disappearance of species and the arrival of new creatures (neobiota) with mapping methodologies presented in artistic scenarios and performances and including the local communities and audiences.
Future DiverCities | 2022-2026
Re-imagine culture-led regeneration of urban empty spaces in an ecological way
Future DiverCities is a four-year project implemented by European organisations seeking to re-imagine culture-led regeneration of urban empty spaces in an ecological way. The project will develop cultural approaches to enhance and preserve the ecological value of unused vacant spaces in 9 European Cities: Berlin, Zagreb, Split, Liepaja, Kuopio, Marseille, Florence, Timişoara and Athens (Elefsina):
• develop innovative cultural models for ecological urban regeneration.
• contribute to change the paradigm in cultural policy, placing the ecology at its centre.
• build the capacity of the creative hubs leaders to become ecological changemakers.
Future DiverCities is about systematising ecosystemic and ecological strategies in cultural urban regeneration. As it unfolds the project will create its own new ecological assessment tools to better quantify and qualify quantity and quality the ecological impact with a framework adapted to a variety of cultural interventions.
We will pilot and design new models to qualify and quantity the ecological factor in cultural development strategies. We will review and control the range of environmental impacts arising from all project’s activities.
Work within three clusters looking at three entry points to building ecological value:
Biodiversity, Commoning and Impermanence.
Public Art Lab partners of FDC are La Friche, coordinator and Seconde Nature in Marseille (France)
ANTI Festivalin Kuopio (Finland), KONTEJNER in Zagreb and Split (Croatia)
LAMA Impresa Sociale in Florence (Italy)
BIOS and European Creative Hubs Network-ECHN in Athens (Elefsina, Greece)
the City Council “Culture Department” in Liepaja (Latvia)
Savonia University in Finland (savonia.fi)
and PLAI in Timişoara (Romania)
The project also benefits from the expertise of INNOCAMP PL in Poland (Ashoka network) (innocamp.pl),
LAMA Impresa Sociale in Italy, Savonia University in Finland and Trajna in Slovenia (Krater project / krater.si).
