From 11 to 13 April 2025, Chemnitz and the Capital of Culture Region will celebrate the opening of the PURPLE PATH art and sculpture trail. It is one of the five main projects of Chemnitz 2025 and the most extensive in the Capital of Culture region. The PURPLE PATH is intended to develop into a new centre of attraction for visitors and locals in the long term. With the works of important national and international artists, a unique exhibition of contemporary art in rural public spaces is growing in the municipalities of the region. The works curated by exhibition organizer Alexander Ochs establish a link between past, present and future via the places where they were installed, their form, materiality or history of creation. They include the likes of Alice Aycock, Sean Scully, Bettina Pousttchi, Jay Gard, Tony Cragg, Leiko Ikemura, Friedrich Kunath, Jeppe Hein and Nevin Aladağ. They also create a symbolic link between the region's 38 municipalities and between the countryside and the city of Chemnitz, where works such as Daniel Buren's striking '7 Colours for a Chimney' are also part of the trail.
Invitation to the opening ceremony
Ceremony
on Friday, 11 April 2025 at 10 am
"Alte Baumwolle" Flöha (Seeberstraße, 09557 Flöha)
With the Saxon State Minister for Culture and Tourism, Barbara Klepsch, the Mayor of Chemnitz, Sven Schulze, the Mayor of Flöha, Volker Holuscha and PURPLE-PATH curator Alexander Ochs, among others. The managing directors of Chemnitz 2025, Andrea Pier and Stefan Schmidtke, will host the opening ceremony.
Exhibition opening
"Entanglements: On the role of textiles in art and society"
on Friday, 11 April 2025 at 12 noon
Kunstbahnhof Flöha (station concourse, Bahnhofstraße 2A, 09557 Flöha).
The exhibition, curated by Susanne Weiß (ifa), shows positions from the art collection of the ifa - Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations with works by Antje Engelmann, Hermann Glöckner, Renate Göritz, Asta Gröting, Barbara Klemm, Käthe Kollwitz, Reinhard Mucha, Helga Paris, Judith Raum, Rosemarie Trockel and Franz Erhard Walther in dialogue with local textile history. The newly renovated railway station in Flöha is once again opening its doors as an art station and the station concourse is becoming an exhibition space. The exhibition is produced and sponsored by ifa - Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen.
Guided bus tour
on Friday, 11 April 2025 from 12:45 to approx. 20:00
Meeting point for departure at the Kunstbahnhof Flöha (station concourse, Bahnhofstraße 2A, 09557 Flöha)
It is possible to take part in a guided bus tour along the art and sculpture trail. Project manager Julianne Csapo and the artists Gregor Gaida and Jeffrey James will accompany the bus to the artworks in Oederan, Freiberg, Hainichen, Mittweida and Wechselburg. Further guided bus tours will take place on the opening weekend.
Accreditation
We cordially invite you to the opening programme. Please let us know at presse@chemnitz2025.de whether you can come to the ceremony and the exhibition opening and whether you would like to take part in the bus tour so that we can plan a place for you.
Advance press tour
On Tuesday, 8 April, we are offering a full-day press tour with curator Alexander Ochs to some of the PURPLE PATH's stations. Departure is at 9 am from Chemnitz and return around 8 pm. If you are interested in travelling with us, please write to us at presse@chemnitz2025.de.
Programme for the opening weekend
11 until 13 April 2025
The weekend offers a varied programme of art, culture and community experiences throughout the region, in which the municipalities of the Capital of Culture Region are participating with their own offers. In addition to new sculptures and exhibition openings, there will be walks to individual works of art and a free concert by jazz musician Till Brönner. There will also be four public bus tours to works of art at the PURPLE PATH throughout the weekend.
New art at the PURPLE PATH
New sculptures will be unveiled at eight locations and three exhibitions will open.
Friday, 11 April, 7 p.m.: Burgstädt
Via Lewandowsky - Wetterleuchten (Illumination)
Taurastein Tower, Am Taurastein 5, 09217 Burgstädt
Saturday, 12 April, 12 noon: Lugau
Annaberger Impuls I - Christoph Rößner, Uwe Schwarz, Thomas Suchomel, Silvio Ukat, Rolf Büttner, Sebastian Müller, Roland Buschmann, Michael Jörn, Jörg Seifert
Stadtpark Lugau, 09385 Lugau (on the coal railway cycle path)
Saturday, 12 April, 2 p.m.: Neukirchen
Maruša Sagadin - Fast Legs (Marjetka) / Bad Mood without Kiosk and Kitchen (Juliana Three-Legged)
Meadow area opposite Hauptstraße 92, 09221 Neukirchen/Erzgebirge
Saturday, 12 April, 2 pm: Wechselburg
Kris Martin - Good Luck
At the town hall, Bahnhofstr. 16, 09306 Wechselburg
Saturday, 12 April, 2 p.m.: Oederan
Annaberger Impuls II - Milan Bezaniuk, Paul Brockhage, Rolf Büttner, Kurt Gebauer, Steffi Getzlaff, Petr Hladky, Marcel Kabisch, Jitka Kusova, Wilfried Runst, Adam Rybka, Jörg Seifert, Josef Swancar
Area "Zu den drei Schwanen", wild plant park of the Wildes Oederan e.V. association, Chemnitzer Str. 2, 09569 Oederan
Sunday, 13 April, 11 a.m.: Zwickau
Jana Gunstheimer - dingenunner, dingenauf
Muldeparadies/Nähe Paradiesbrücke, 08056 Zwickau
Sunday, 13 April, 12:30 pm: Mittweida
Jeffrey James - Cumulus
Technikumsplatz 17, Traditionsweg of the Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, 09648 Mittweida
Sunday, 13 April, 2 p.m.: Niederwiesa
Anja Schwörer - Mapping Patterns: Industrial Flora
Braunsdorf show weaving mill, Inselsteig 16, 09577 Niederwiesa OT Braunsdorf
Exhibition openings
Friday, 11 April, 12 noon: Flöha
Entanglements: The role of textiles in art and society
An exhibition of the ifa Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations
The exhibition "Entanglements" focuses on the textile tradition of the region and shows works of modern and contemporary art in this context with works by artists such as Antje Engelmann, Käthe Kollwitz and Franz Erhard Walther. On display until 3 August 2025.
Kunstbahnhof Flöha, station concourse, Bahnhofstraße 2A, 09557 Flöha I Admission: free
12.4. 10-18 h / 13.4. : 10-18 h
Saturday, 12 April, 16:30: Schneeberg
Corina Gertz: The averted portrait
Düsseldorf-based artist Corina Gertz photographs women around the world in unusual costumes and outfits from behind. in 2023, she travelled to the Ore Mountains and for the first time photographed men, representatives of various mountain brotherhoods in richly decorated, traditional costumes.
Technical Museum, Siebenschlehener Pochwerk, Lindenauer Str. 22, 08289 Schneeberg I Admission: free
13.4th: 10-17 h I Admission: 3 € I reduced 2.5 € I fam. 6 or 8 € I students/pupils 2 € I up to 6 yrs. free
Sunday, 13 April, 5 pm: Oelsnitz/Erzgebirge
Till Brönner: Melting Pott
Jazz musician and photographer Till Brönner travelled through the Ruhr region a few years ago on behalf of the foundation Brost-Stiftung and portrayed the former mining and industrial region and its miners. A selection of pictures can be seen in the KohleWelt. On display until 18 August 2025.
KohleWelt, Pflockenstraße 28, 09376 Oelsnitz/Erzgeb. I Admission: free
Afterwards, 7 pm
Concert "Music around the Steigerlied"
with Till Brönner, Dieter Ilg and Günter "Baby" Sommer
Oelsnitz/Erzgebirge town hall, large hall, Rathausplatz 3 I Admission: free
The European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 gGmbH would like to thank the Brost Foundation, Essen, for its generous support, as well as the Friends of the European Cultural Region Chemnitz 2025 e.V.
Festivals in the region
Spring festivals, hands-on activities, guided tours, hikes, concerts, church services and exhibitions invite you to actively discover the PURPLE PATH and the region.
The PURPLE PATH art and sculpture trail is a joint effort by 38 partner municipalities, 90 artists, the Kulturkirche 2025 and numerous museums, galleries and cultural institutions
Complete programme at chemnitz2025.de
Concept of the PURPLE PATH art and sculpture trail
The renowned curator Alexander Ochs developed this project for the bid for the title of European Capital of Culture with the aim of making the Capital of Culture region, including the Ore Mountains, Central Saxony and the Zwickau region, tangible through art. This puts places such as Schneeberg, Flöha, Schwarzenberg, Zschopau and Jahnsdorf permanently on the map of the art world. The unifying narrative "Everything comes from the mountain" follows the classic narrative "Everything comes from mining". This has characterised the cultural and mining landscape in today's UNESCO World Heritage region right up to the present day.
In total, the PURPLE PATH art and sculpture trail presents works by 90 artists at around 70 locations. The majority are permanently installed in the region. 30 works will be shown in three exhibitions taking place in 2025 in the newly designed Flöha railway station, the Hospitalkirche St. Georg in Lößnitz and the Siebenschleher Pochwerk Technical Museum in Schneeberg.
All works of art at a glance
Press contacts
presse@chemnitz2025.de
Mareike Holfeld
Phone: 0049371 33563110
mareike.holfeld@chemnitz2025.de
Federico Antonelli
Phone: 0049371 33563117
federico.antonelli@chemnitz2025.de