From 27 to 29 June (further dates in September), performative city tours will take place in Chemnitz. The performance artists Caroline Galvis from Chemnitz and Sinéad Brady from Coventry have developed an audio walkfor their Two Townsproject that brings together voices from both cities. We spoke to the two initiators.
The audience usually stands or sits in the theatre or at concerts. Why are they walking during this performance?
"Two Towns" explores how different people feel in public spaces in Chemnitz and Coventry. For our performance, it is important to us that the audience is also outside in the public space and moves through the city while listening to the different voices from Chemnitz and Coventry.
The route the audience will take is around the Alte Markthalle - a fairly central location in Chemnitz, but not the direct city centre that you would probably explore on a normal sightseeing tour. Around the Alte Markthalle and the rooms around it, buildings from different eras stand side by side. We find it interesting that in a place like Seeberplatz, the audience can move between the Alte Markthalle, a more contemporary location like the Schmidtbank-Passage and the Chemnitz river. Our performance poses the question: Who are these spaces planned and built for? Who feels comfortable and who might not? We want the audience to be present together in the public space while we ask these questions.
What can walkers expect?
People from Chemnitz and Coventry will talk about their experiences in the public spaces of their cities such as the Schlossteichpark and the Coventry War Memorial Park. As the walk will also include some performative elements, there will also be some theatre moments along the route. The audience will be taken on a journey through the industrial past of Chemnitz and Coventry. During the performative moments, there will be an encounter with historical figures from both cities - artistically interpreted and with a guaranteed amount of pomp and sequins.
Chemnitz and Coventry are 1000 kilometres apart as the crow flies. What connects the two cities?
We have been working together between Germany and the UK for seven years. One of the topics we have worked on together so far is "home". We realised that Chemnitz and Coventry have a lot in common. Both cities are former industrial centres that had a flourishing textile and transport industry in the 19th century. This focus on productivity still has an impact on public space today, for example, both city centres are built for cars rather than pedestrians. Of course, both cities also had to cope with the decline of these industries. We wonder if and how these transformation experiences affect how people in Chemnitz and Coventry perceive public space in their cities. What's more, both Coventry and Chemnitz were named Capital of Culture - Coventry was UK City of Culture 2021 - so both cities are said to have cultural potential that has yet to be discovered by the general public.
With your audio walk, you want to let everyday emotions have their say. How did you find these people and what do they say?
We wanted to interview a range of people who experience public space in Chemnitz and Coventry in different ways: To do this, we got in touch with various institutions or projects in Chemnitz and Coventry, through which we then came into contact with our interviewees. In Coventry, for example, Sinéad worked with the Coventry Resource Centre for the Blind - Caro in turn found one of the interview partners through Weißer Stock e.V. in Chemnitz. We also made contact with a group of activists in Chemnitz who campaign for feminism in public spaces. We asked all interviewees the same or at least very similar questions, focussing on how they perceive public space in both cities and what they think is missing - or what is already working well. Although we aimed for a wide range of interviewees and perspectives for the audio walk, we know that there are still some perspectives missing that we would like to include when we develop the project further - for example, when we bring it to Coventry.
What do you want visitors to take away from the audio walk?
We are interested in what people experience and feel in public spaces today. Talking about this - and also about the history of these places in Chemnitz and Coventry - can give rise to new perspectives on how we want to use and design public spaces. As one of our interviewees says, "public space is for everyone, absolutely for everyone", even if it doesn't always feel accessible and welcoming to everyone. We believe that if public space is to be for everyone, we need to start thinking differently, not be afraid to make changes and possibly mistakes, listen to the people in our cities and stand up for each other in public space. We want people to feel more connected to the public spaces we move through in Chemnitz. "Two Towns" connects two cities and different voices that make you think as you walk through Chemnitz. We want to offer a way of exploring Chemnitz that is different from normal city tours. "Two Towns" is an exciting opportunity to get to know Chemnitz from different, new perspectives - whether as a visitor or a resident.
The Two Towns performative city tour lasts around 1.5 hours and covers a distance of approx. 2 km. There will be daily updates on the performances on the Instagram account @twotowns2025. Tickets for the audio walk can be purchased online or directly from City Ticket in Chemnitz (Hartmannstraße 3A, 09111 Chemnitz). There is no box office on site.
Supported by the Carl and Marisa Hahn Foundation.
With the kind support of the Chemnitz Industrial Museum and urban.policy.