Stefan Schmidtke, Programme Director of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 gGmbH, was a guest at the Meet Up ECoC! - Face to Face in Tokyo. The annual event brings representatives of the European Capitals of Culture to Japan to present current cultural developments and jointly develop new perspectives for cooperation between Europe and Japan.
The focus was on how culture connects people, cities and entire regions. The EU-Japan Festival has supported this dialogue for many years and sees itself as a platform that promotes artistic exchange and sustainable cooperation between Japanese institutions and European Capitals of Culture.
In the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 programme, the EU-Japan Festival also supports numerous projects that bring Japanese and European culture together:
- MAN:GA:RAGE MITSUME invited visitors to discover the diversity of Japanese art and cultureat KOSMOS Chemnitz (in cooperation with the European Capital of Culture Nova Gorica 2025). The Japanese artist MITSUME was a guest and offered four online workshops and two live painting sessions in which visitors could experience his manga art up close.
- In the performance accident exercises, the groups Contact Gonzo from Osaka and Rotterdam Presenta from Düsseldorf explored moments of risk and transformation together
- The Makers United festival recently hosted Japanese makers who opened up new approaches to technology and craftsmanship with creative DIY robots
- The Dancing Neighbours project combines contemporary and urban dance as well as improvisation and brings older and younger people together. Amateurs and professionals come together in a highly professional environment: Yoko Ando, a globally acclaimed dancer and choreographer from Japan, known for her work with the Forsythe Company, supports the dance project. The Dancing Neighbours perform regularly in Chemnitz and the Capital of Culture region, such as at the opening celebrations for the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 or with a flash mob at KOSMOS Chemnitz
The connection to Japan is particularly enriching for Chemnitz 2025 - through joint projects, artistic exchange and the opportunity to learn from each other.
