Cultural development
Here you will find information on the cultural development process of the state capital Mainz.
The state capital of Mainz is a lively cultural and media city with a long and eventful history and numerous unique features. The cultural heritage of the Roman era, the work of Johannes Gutenberg, a rich musical tradition, and public broadcasting institutions such as ZDF and SWR are just some of the pillars on which culture in Mainz is based.
In order to continue to enable a diverse, attractive, and contemporary cultural life in the city in the future, however, the existing structures must be rethought in line with current developments and opportunities and with a view to future social challenges. To this end, after conducting a detailed assessment in the summer of 2016, the Department of Culture initiated a cultural development process and brought in Staccato Kulturberatung from Cologne, which has accompanied the process so far and will continue to moderate it in the future.
The first stage of the process, which is scheduled to last several years, consists of taking a fresh look at culture in Mainz and efficiently networking its various players in order to create greater scope for creativity. The cultural actors, the public, and cultural policy and administration will then work together in the further course of cultural development to develop ideas for sustainable structures that address current circumstances and future needs and enable sustainable positive development, taking financial possibilities into account.
Cultural development is designed as a long-term master plan for culture in Mainz, so that all topics and areas of cultural life are dealt with one after the other in order of their general or specific priority. The concept is open-ended: the focus is not on achieving and working through individual goals, but rather on the process itself and the communication and networking that arises in the process. In order to ensure the highest possible level of transparency, the results of the meetings and working group sessions are continuously documented and made available to all interested parties on this website.
Second meeting of the AG Film | May 04, 2019
The second meeting of the Film Working Group focused on the question of establishing film funding at the state level and what form this would need to take in order to meet the diverse needs of the film industry between conception, production, and cultural heritage.
Dialogue platform "Culture meets politics" | August 31, 2018
After the needs of the major sectors were discussed and formulated in the working groups in 2016 and 2017, the focus of cultural development since summer 2018 has been increasingly on communication: among cultural professionals via the round tables that emerged independently from the working groups, between cultural professionals and the administration, but in future also increasingly between cultural professionals and local politicians. With this in mind, the "Culture Meets Politics" dialogue platform took place for the first time on August 31, 2018, giving cultural professionals the opportunity to talk directly with members of the city council, communicate their needs, and ask questions. The concept is to be continued regularly in the future.
AG Weekend III | August 25 and 26, 2017
After working groups from the fields of music, visual arts, and performing arts had been established, the film working group met for the first time on August 25, 2017, to discuss the situation of film and festival makers in Mainz. The performing arts working group met for the second time on August 26, 2017, at the performance art depot to continue working on the points developed at its last meeting.
AG Weekend II | April 7 and 8, 2017
On April 7, 2017, the "Visual Arts" working group met for the second time at the BBK Gallery in Mainz to work on a concept for an "art house." On April 8, 2017, the Performing Arts Working Group met for the first time to analyze the strengths and opportunities of the Mainz theater scene, existing and future collaborations, and structures.
Second meeting of the Music Working Group | December 2, 2016
On December 2, the Music Working Group met for its second meeting. The agenda included the joint development of a concept for an ideal "concert hall" in the state capital. This was a thought experiment designed to bring together the needs and wishes of the stakeholders, completely detached from the real feasibility of such a concept.
Second meeting of the mission statement working group | December 2, 2016
On the same day, the AG Leitbild (mission statement working group) met for the second time, consolidated the ideas from the first meeting, and discussed the results of a survey conducted by Staccato Kulturberatung among the visitors to the lecture evening.
The meeting was moderated by Staccato Kulturberatung.
Lecture evening "On the way I" | December 1, 2016
At a public event held at Mainz Citadel, Marianne Grosse, Head of Cultural Affairs, together with representatives of the working groups, reported on the working group meetings and presented initial thoughts on the further process, summarizing the first few months of the cultural development process.
The event was moderated by Staccato Kulturberatung.
AG Weekend I | June 17 and 18, 2016
The music and visual arts working groups were invited to their first meetings on the first working group weekend and met for several hours at the Peter Cornelius Conservatory and the Waggonfabrik studio house.
The meeting was moderated by Staccato Kulturberatung.
First meeting of the mission statement working group | May 14, 2016
One day after the public kick-off symposium, the working group on the mission statement met for the first time and discussed initial ideas and approaches for a cultural mission statement for the state capital. The mission statement is to be developed at the beginning of the cultural development process and will guide the process.
The meeting was moderated by Staccato Kulturberatung.
Kick-off symposium | May 13, 2016
With a public kick-off symposium in the council chamber of Mainz City Hall, Head of Cultural Affairs Marianne Grosse, the Cultural Affairs Office, and the Staccato agency officially launched the cultural development process for the state capital in May 2016. The event was attended by Dr. Yasmine Freigang (head of the "Culture in Westphalia" project of the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe, LWL), Dr. Marcus Morr (press and cultural officer for the district of Marburg-Biedenkopf), and Susanne Dengel (cultural scientist and consultant for the cultural and creative industries) were invited as expert speakers and talked about their experiences with concepts and processes of cultural development and the cultural and creative industries.
Further information
Contact us
Address
Culture department
Zitadelle, Bau A
Am 87er Denkmal
55131 Mainz
Postal address
55028 Mainz