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International conference on “Making the City” from June 29 to July 1, 2023 in Chemnitz will discuss the effects of industrialization on various areas of our lives
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The Chemnitz Industrial Museum is one of the historic conference venues in the city. Photo: Dietmar Träupmann/Chemnitz Industrial Museum Archive
From June 29 to July 1, 2023, the international conference on the subject „Making the City: Transformative Processes in (Post)Industrial Urban Spaces“ in Chemnitz. “The aim of the event is to look at the cultural, economic and political factors of industrialization from the beginning to the end and to promote the active participation of citizens in urban transformation processes,” says Prof. Dr. Cecile Sandten, holder of the professorship for English literature at Chemnitz University of Technology, who together with her colleague Prof. Dr. Stefan Garsztecki, Professor of Cultural and Country Studies in Eastern Central Europe, will chair the conference.
With the Industrial Revolution, which began in England around 1770 and spread to Europe and North America, new urban centers quickly became symbols of the rapid and sweeping process of industrialization, modernization, change, and economic prosperity. The life of the citizens in Chemnitz, also known as “Rußstadt” or “Saxony’s Manchester”, and one of these innovation centers was confronted with the drastic social, cultural and economic change.
The conference is therefore taking place at different historical locations in Chemnitz, where it offers the opportunity to discuss the effects of industrialization on various areas of our lives today. The main topics are, among other things, dealing with the industrial heritage and the memory of the cities as well as the need for an enormous restructuring of the local and regional economy and architecture in the course of urban reorientation. In addition, aspects of gender, property, creative spirit or alternative concepts on the topic of “Making the City” will also be the focus of the discussions.
Several internationally renowned researchers could be won as keynote speakers: Dr. Lieven Ameel, Senior Lecturer in Comparative Literature from the University of Tampere in Finland, Daniel Dubowitz, Professor of Architecture from Manchester Metropolitan University in England, and Associate Professor Dr. Daniela Zupan from the Bauhaus University in Weimar.
The conference aims not only for cooperation between different disciplines such as European studies, cultural studies, English literature, sociology and political science, but also for exchange with scientists, curators, designers, artists and the general public. In addition, a dialogue will be held with the city of Chemnitz as part of the conference, as this serves as the scientific basis for the special exhibition “European Manchesters”. which will be shown in the Chemnitz Industrial Museum as part of Chemnitz as European Capital of Culture 2025.
On June 29, 2023 at 7 p.m. in “Open Space”, Brückenstraße 11, there will be a public author reading with Antony Rowland and Shamshad Khan from Manchester, both of whom deal creatively with their city and the various concepts of identity of its residents. The reading is open to the public and will be held in English.
The conference topic “Making the City: Transformative Processes in (Post)Industrial Urban Spaces” is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Conference website: www.makingthecity.tu-chemnitz.de
Further information grant Prof. Dr. Cecile Sandten, Professorship of English Literature, phone +49 (0)371 531-37353, email [email protected] and Prof. Dr. Stefan Garsztecki, Professor of Cultural and Country Studies in East Central Europe, phone +49 (0)371 531-38385, email [email protected].
(Author: Julia Walter)
Mario Steinebach
02.05.2023