The Strasbourg artist MATHIEU TREMBLIN, the driving force behind the Urban Art Biennale 2024 of the collective DIE GESELLSCHAFT DER STADTWANDERER, which was called to life, collected anecdotes from Völklinger over the course of weeks: inside, which he combined to form a fairytale and legend-like narrative of Völklingen’s history and formulated. The contact details under which Tremblin could be reached were given in advance communicated to citizens using posters distributed throughout the city. Now there are many places the resulting seals on the site of the world cultural heritage site and in the Völklingen urban area walls to discover. The project was accompanied by open interest. “The people here were immediately ready to talk to us. They were interested and asked what we were doing do there. For me that is the sign of a healthy city. If the city really belongs to the people, Then they are happy when someone brings them something, like our interventions,” says the artist. Local participation, through which memories, moods, feelings and moments become an urban The fact that myth was able to merge with a completely independent character undoubtedly forms the core this work. MATHIEU TREMBLIN created with his series „Völklingen Chronicles“ several works on the steelworks permisses as well as some in the urban area of Völklingen, a few can be found especially along Rathaus Straße and around the old town hall. – Völklinger Hütte
Urban Art Biennale 2024 – „Völklinger Chronicles #1“ – „Namen“ – Völklinger Hütte
„The slag mountains were named after the factory owners. The importance of industry for the city’s history was manifested in the naming of streets and squares. But what about the history of the people of Völklingen?“.
Urban Art Biennale 2024 – „Völklinger Chronicles #2“ – „Industrie Musik“ – City Area
„Deindustrialization had an impact on the city’s structures. Urban life, once closely linked to the factory, was now crammed behind the hypermarket fortress: the factory had become a place of pilgrimage. The people of Völklingen paid tribute to their ancestors by gathering in front of the former entrances to listen to electronic music characterized by industrial and machine sounds.“ – ‚Industrie-Musik‘ in English means ‚Industrial Music‘.
Urban Art Biennale 2024 – „Völklinger Chronicles #3“ – „Zyklus I“ – City Area
„Urban development policy was cyclical in nature. The people of Völklingen tore down old buildings in order to rebuild them in the style of the old town.“ – ‚Zyklus I‘ in English means ‚Cycle I‘.
Urban Art Biennale 2024 – „Völklinger Chronicles #4“ – „Zyklus II“ – City Area
„After the first church burned down, a new one was quickly built in a different location. The remains of the building remained untouched for several decades until a group decided to use the area as a garden: the old stones and the building footprint were used to structure the plots for cultivation.“ – ‚Zyklus II‘ in English means ‚Cycle II‘.
Urban Art Biennale 2024 – „Völklinger Chronicles #5“ – „Parkplätze“ – City Area
„After the factory was shut down, a temple to consumerism was built on top of the inns. The parking lots had become places for social interaction. Here you learned to drive a car or bike. People met here in the evenings on weekends when there was nothing to do. Circles of rubber were drawn on the asphalt while drifting. Shops were conducted here and drive-ins were held here. Even birthdays and weddings were celebrated here.“ – ‚Parkplätze‘ in English means ‚Parking Lots‘.
Urban Art Biennale 2024 – „Völklinger Chronicles #6“ – „Geschichte I“ – City Area
„The city seemed to have no history as there was no museum to remember. When the work that was to be demolished was saved and preserved at the last minute, it was like the end of a curse. In order to think about the future, you have to know your past.“ – ‚Geschichte I‘ in English means ‚History I‘.
Urban Art Biennale 2024 – „Völklinger Chronicles #7“ – „Geschichte II“ – Völklinger Hütte
„Since the story was not recorded, it could be rewritten. The people of Völklingen began to tell local urban legends associated with prominent personalities. They played the roles of their parents and grandparents.“ – ‚Geschichte II‘ in English means ‚History II‘.
Urban Art Biennale 2024 – „Völklinger Chronicles #8“ – „Geschichte III“ – Völklinger Hütte
„French soldiers disguised as women came to steal wine and bread from the grocery store and then fired cannons at the city. The city’s very first cinema screening took place a second time and was a complete success, as was the sugar beet syrup eating competition. At the shift change, 400 beers were tapped in a quarter of an hour. A famous thief reported how he disguised himself as a captain and robbed the town hall’s coffers. The first German locomotive was rebuilt, but still didn’t work. And the emperor was finally greeted by a crowd after an initial meeting failed.“ – ‚Geschichte III‘ in English means ‚History III‘.
Urban Art Biennale 2024 – „Völklinger Chronicles #9“ – „Farben“ – City Area
„The city was once dirty but prosperous. It had rained dirt for decades and the walls of the houses were covered with gray or brown dust. When the ironworks was shut down, the people of Völklingen spontaneously began to paint the facades with bright colors. The city center was now colorful, but impoverished.“ – ‚Farben‘ in English means ‚Colours‘.
Urban Art Biennale 2024 – „Völklinger Chronicles #10“ – „Eis“ – City Area
„The people of Völklingen were crazy about ice cream. The opening of the ice cream parlor was a milestone in urban change: it was no longer unpleasant to eat ice cream because you no longer had to feel like you had dust between your teeth.“ – ‚Eis‘ in English means ‚Ice‘.
Urban Art Biennale 2024 – „Völklinger Chronicles #11“ – „Integration“ – Völklinger Hütte
„Sunflower seed shells lay on the floor around the benches. Çekirdek’s presence was a sign of the cultural integration of Turks in Germany: where there were bowls, you could be sure that you would be welcome and that rents would not increase.“
Urban Art Biennale 2024 – „Völklinger Chronicles #12“ – „Gastfreundschaft“ – Völklinger Hütte
„The church and the art school created refuges by offering church asylum and art asylum. Hospitality was a key to anti-fascism.“ – ‚Gastfreundschaft‘ in English means ‚Hospitality‘.
Urban Art Biennale 2024 – „Völklinger Chronicles #13“ – Völklinger Hütte
Urban Art Biennale 2024 – „Organes industriels / Entités naturelles“
These works are the result of group collaboration by the artists and lecturers MATHIEU TREMBLIN and ARZHEL PRIOUL aka MARDI NOIR together with 36 students from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Strasbourg, or in short ENSAS. The students should ask themselves the questions of what future can be created from the post-industrial wasteland and ruins introduce? And what useful ecosystems can a UNESCO World Heritage Site accommodate? A second group developed a display on the topic of “smoke clouds”. talks about “industrial organs”. The collages of creations and idea manifestations are titeled „Organes industriels / Entités naturelles“, which means in English „Industrial organs / Natural entities“.
Urban Art Biennale 2024 – „Manifestos Project“
For the Urban Art Biennale 2024, the artists ANTONIO GALLEGO, PASCAL ANSELL, COCO BERGHOLM, CORENTIN SEYFRIED, EPOS 257, LÉA HUSSENOT, DEANA KOLENČIKOVÁ, MATHIEU TREMBLIN as well MARY LEMONADE and JIEM from the duo WANDERLUST SOCIAL CLUB became an international collective, the GESELLSCHAFT DER STADTWANDERER, which would mean in English the „Society of City Hikers“. The group dealt intensively with the city of Völklingen and its history specifically involving the local population. Posters were used to distribute contact details for citizens to contact the collective, some of whose members stayed in Völklingen for weeks. The people of Völklingen willingly shared memories and sensitivities and the dialogue resulted in very different works, which the artists did in the form of temporary interventions without permission carried out in the urban area. “We take the freedom to grow in the city intervene, we try not to commit vandalism, our interventions can be reversed at any time,” says MATHIEU TREMBLIN, who is impressed by the great willingness to participate in Völklingen. – Völklinger Hütte
Opposite the main work at the Möllernhalle at Völklinger Hütte, a video was shown in an endless loop in which two people were walking through the churchyard and the city center of Völklingen, suddenly met each other and began to nod their heads like pigeons, „nod“ at each other and then strut on, as if you had blisters on your feet or in your pants. Some of the works are installed in the hut area, other photos show the manifestos that were stuck in the city area or what remained of them after a few months of being installed. Those manifestos were presented in English, French and German. Overall, it can be said that many “exhibits” were no longer preserved or were only partially preserved. – Irxnschmoiz
Project Promotion Poster in the City Area – Rathaus Street
The GESELLSCHAFT DER STADTWANDERER is a confidential, self-organized association of hikers, observers and interventionists in the transforming city. A local delegation from the society will explore the city from February to April 2024. They follow or lead; they looks or comment; they elevate or awaken; they writes with you the story of exploring the gray areas of the city of Völklingen. Share with us an urban legend, a hidden place, a forgotten history of the city or a local personality, by text or voice message at +33 745 002 054.
Manifesto „English“ in the City Area – Rathaus 2
Cross-border and international,
our Society has existed
since the urban fabric covered the planet.
We are a confidential and self-organized group
of walkers, observers and interventionists
operating within the urban transition.
Our goal is to collect and transmit
the forgotten stories that lie
in the territory across different time scales.
Our members are anonymous:
they travel the city in search of intensity and poetry.
They study the urban phenomenon,
human and non-human.
They shape the urban landscape
to reflect their desires and passions.
We are sometimes called
flâneurs, photographer-walkers,
psychogeographers, graffiti artists, squatters,
partygoers, skaters, BMXers, urbexers, etc.
We are the urban hikers
who meander at the edges of public and private spaces.
We are the wild botanists
who take care abandoned gardens.
We are the public writers
who record the lost memories of neighborhoods.
We are the campfire musicians
who sing urban legends.
We are the ones who invoke the genius loci.
We are the Society of Urban Wanderers!
Manifesto „German“ in the City Area – Rathaus 29
Unsere Gesellschaft ist grenzüberschreitend
und international und existiert,
seit das städtische Gewebe die Erde bedeckt.
Wir sind ein vertraulicher,
selbstorganisierter Zusammenschluss
von Wanderer·innen, Beobachter·innen
und Interventionist·innen
in der sich verwandelnden Stadt.
Unsere Hauptaktivität besteht darin,
verborgene Erinnerungen aufzudecken, die sich
auf verschiedenen Zeitskalen im Land einnisten.
Unsere Mitglieder sind anonym:
Sie durchstreifen die Stadt auf der Suche
nach Intensität und Poesie.
Sie erforschen urbane, menschliche
und nicht-menschliche Phänomene.
Sie gestalten die Stadtlandschaft
nach ihren Wünschen und Leidenschaften.
Man nennt uns manchmal Flaneur·innen,
Graffitisprayer·innen, Urban Explorer·innen,
Raver·innen, Bmxer·innen,
Skateboarder·innen, Hausbesetzer·innen, etc.
Wir sind die Stadtwanderer·innen, die sich an den Rändern
öffentlicher und privater Räume treiben lassen.
Wir sind die wilden Botaniker·innen,
die verlassene Gärten bewirtschaften.
Wir sind die öffentlichen Schriftsteller·innen,
die die verlorenen Erinnerungen der Stadtviertel aufdecken.
Wir sind die Musiker·innen der Lagerfeuer,
die urbane Legenden singen.
Wir sind diejenigen, die den Geist der Orte beschwören.
Wir sind die Gesellschaft der Stadtwanderer·innen!
Manifesto „French“ in the City Area – Rathaus 33
Transfrontalière et internationale,
notre Société existe depuis
que le tissu urbain a recouvert la planète.
Nous sommes un regroupement
confidentiel et auto-organisé
de marcheur·ses–observateur·rices–interventionnistes
qui évoluent dans la ville en transition.
Notre but est de collecter et transmettre
les histoires oubliées qui se nichent dans le territoire
à différentes échelles de temps.
Nos membres sont des anonymes :
Iels parcourent la ville à la recherche
d’intensité et de poésie.
Iels étudient le phénomène urbain,
humain et non-humain.
Iels façonnent le paysage urbain
à l’image de leurs désirs et de leurs passions.
On nous appelle parfois flâneur·ses,
photographes-marcheur·ses, psychogéographes,
graffeur·ses, squatteur·ses, teufeurses,
skateur·ses, BMXeur·ses, urbexeur·ses, etc.
Nous sommes les randonneur·ses urbain·es
qui dérivent à la lisière des espaces publics et privés.
Nous sommes les botanistes sauvages
qui cultivent les jardins abandonnés.
Nous sommes les écrivain·es publics
qui consignent les mémoires perdues des quartiers.
Nous sommes les musicien·nes des feux de camp
qui chantonnent des légendes urbaines.
Nous sommes celleux qui invoquent l’esprit des lieux.
Nous sommes la Société des arpenteur·ses urbain·es !
Artist Business Card – GESELLSCHAFT DER STADTWANDERER
QR Code – GESELLSCHAFT DER STADTWANDERER
INFOTHEK
Artist: MATHIEU TREMBLIN
Website: http://www.mathieutremblin.com
Website: http://www.demodetouslesjours.eu
Website: http://www.lesfreresripoulain.eu
Website: http://www.tarmacadamcomplex.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathieutremblin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tremblinsays
Twitter: https://x.com/twittOEuvres
Collective: DIE GESELLSCHAFT DER STADTWANDERER
Völklinger Hütte Main Page: https://vagabundler.com/germany/voelklinger-huette
World Cultural Heritage & Art Space: VÖLKLINGER HÜTTE
Annual Event: URBAN ART BIENNALE
Website: https://voelklinger-huette.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WeltkulturerbeVoelklingerHuette
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voelklinger_huette
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kommunikationvh
Photographer: IRXNSCHMOIZ
Hashtag: #irxnschmoiz
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kampagne24
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