On Wednesday, 16 July 2025 at around 3 p.m., Brigitte and Werner Sieber from Augustusburg were welcomed to the Flöha Art Station as 12,000 visitors to the "Entanglements" exhibition by the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) as part of the PURPLE PATH art and sculpture trail of the European Capital of Culture 2025. They were welcomed by PURPLE PATH curator Alexander Ochs and production manager Julianne-Ingrid Csapo as well as Flöha's mayor Volker Holuscha and cultural employee Holger Diehnelt.
"The interplay between the PURPLE PATH artwork by Tanja Rochelmeyer, the newly renovated railway station and the high-calibre art from the ifa - Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen collection almost guaranteed success for me. I didn't expect it to be so big, and I congratulate everyone involved. Alongside the sculpture trail at the PURPLE PATH, we have placed various temporary exhibitions, "Entanglements" being one of them. And I am pleased and grateful that the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen e. V. (ifa) and its curator Susanne Weiß have accepted our invitation. The exhibition is a perfect fit for Flöha, as we have a great tradition in the textile industry here," explains Alexander Ochs, curator of the PURPLE PATH art and sculpture trail.
Mayor Volker Holuscha of the large district town of Flöha is also extremely satisfied: "We were pleasantly surprised by the response to this exhibition. In the past, our town has not been characterised by long-term art and cultural projects. It is therefore all the more pleasing that this exhibition as part of the PURPLE PATH as the start of a public meeting place dedicated to art has attracted so much national and European interest. I was also particularly pleased that many visitors to the exhibition were also interested in the development of the new city centre in the Alte Baumwolle. During the tour of the new city centre, the guests were impressed by the courage and perseverance of our city to breathe new life into an industrial wasteland."
The PURPLE PATH art and sculpture trail links Chemnitz, the European Capital of Culture 2025, with the region. This also benefited the neighbouring town of Flöha, where the "Entanglements" exhibition could be realised thanks to this connection. "With the title of European Capital of Culture, we are initiating a transformation process in the entire region: towards a cultural centre where visitors can experience art that provides new impetus for tourism. The fact that the Flöha Art Station was opened at the same time as the Verstrickungen exhibition is a perfect fit. A historical location is being rethought and artistically revitalised. The artistic positions enter into a dialogue with the history of the location. The large number of visitors to the exhibition shows that this approach works. The dialogue between art and place is part of the idea behind the PURPLE PATH art and sculpture trail, which will also have an impact here in Flöha and far beyond the European Capital of Culture year," explained Stefan Schmidtke, Programme Director of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025.
The "Entanglements" exhibition at the Flöha Art Station marks a special project for the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa): although works from the ifa art collection are only rarely shown within Germany - for example at premieres or at the end of international tours - a deliberately regionally anchored format was created as part of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 in cooperation with the city of Flöha and the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025. The exhibition links international artistic positions with the region's textile history and turns the historic railway station into a cultural meeting place. In this way, ifa is bringing its many years of experience in international cultural exchange into a local context. "I congratulate the Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025, the city of Flöha and the PURPLE PATH - the visitor response is impressive - it shows how participation in art and culture is possible when spaces are opened up. The "Entanglements" exhibition shows how textiles as a material and motif create social, cultural and artistic "entanglements". Because it is these images and stories that have a home in Flöha, they are locally anchored and touch us personally, but also socio-politically," says Susanne Weiß, curator of the ifa's "Entanglements" exhibition.
The "Entanglements" exhibition will be on display in Flöha until 3 August 2025 with works by Antje Engelmann, Katharina Fritsch, Hermann Glöckner, Renate Göritz, Käthe Kollwitz, Helga Paris, Judith Raum, Reinhard Mucha, Rosemarie Trockel and Franz Erhard Walther. The "Entanglements" exhibition in Flöha will end on 3 August with a small finissage: "All interested parties and art lovers are cordially invited from 2 pm. There will be one last free cultural coffee and cake as well as two guided tours of the exhibition with Ms Petronella Soltesz (ifa)," explained Holger Diehnelt, cultural officer for the town of Flöha. He also pointed out further events at the Flöha art station: "UndoYarn from Chemnitz will be a guest at the art station on Friday, 1 August. Ina Goetz will be leading a workshop on upcycling, material utilisation and repair. A special highlight will follow on Saturday, 2 August: a coffee party with the former head chef of the Alte Baumwolle, Mr Bernd Schaufel. Films about the last days of cotton will be shown once again. Admission to the events is free," Diehnelt concluded.
The initiator of the exhibition and curator of the PURPLE PATH art and sculpture trail, Alexander Ochs, has already learnt a few lessons from the exhibition in Flöha: "I have only had positive experiences, also because the supervision was partly carried out by very committed volunteers, and of course we now have to think together about how things can continue," explained Ochs, looking to the future of the Flöha art station.