[ˈapɡəˌfakt] - something is broken here | OPENING OF THE ARTSPRING FESTIVAL

We can see how what was built over years is crumbling – and disappearing at an alarming rate. It's breaking. It's crumbling. It's falling. Studios are closing. Spaces are becoming unaffordable. Funding and project funding are being cut.

Should we simply carry on as if nothing had happened? Should we pretend that work can still be done on this fragile foundation? Will art become a backdrop for the city, mere decoration, meant to maintain itself while its foundations crumble? How should we respond? With anger? With beauty? With irony?

There is currently no information on whether our own project will be affected by the austerity measures. But the artists participating in it already are.


Artspring thus becomes a meeting place, a potential forum, a workspace in a time when workspaces are disappearing. It's a festival from Pankow, in Pankow—a unique offering for this city, showcasing what's still to come this year. It won't get quieter—it'll get louder.


[ˈapɡəˌfakt] shouldn't remain a mere description of the situation, but rather a festival. The artists won't allow themselves to be pushed into insignificance. They simply [ˈapɡəˌfakt] stay here.