Spacelab is a research and co-working space in Essen. It is open to freelance groups, choreographers, dancers and performance artists from Essen and the surrounding area. The space is also the office and headquarters of Polymer DMT / Fang Yun Lo.

© by Lennart Speer
© by Lennart Speer
© by Lennart Speer
© by Lennart Speer
© by Lennart Speer
© by Lennart Speer
© by André Schallenberg
© by Lennart Speer
© by Lennart Speer

Address: Kreuzeskirchstr. 25, 45127 Essen, Germany
Contact / Info: Kati Masami Menze, spacelab@polymerdmt.com

We offer a regular programme of workshops and lectures for members of IG Tanz Essen and interested freelance artists from the region, the Spacelab encounters (2021) und The flow work (2022), as well as festivals and other activities.

2023 will see the continuation of "space|lab is running 23 - one theme, two perspectives". In this series not only artists but also, for example, archivists and urban planners will present their work. IG Tanz Essen would like to bring artists and their concerns together with experts who deal with similar or related topics on a different level.

FRI, 10 FEBRUARY 2023, 19:00 [Start in Kunstraum jETZT, Weberstraße 8, Essen]
Archives - A task for eternity?

  • artistic position: Foteini Papadopoulou is a freelance choreographer. She is particularly interested in the connection between composition and analysis as well as existential questions using the example of escapist banalities and everyday absurdities.
  • Project: Moving Diary - Choreographer Foteini Papadopoulou records the (pandemic) year 2020 with two movements per day.
  • From January 1 to December 31, 2020, Foteini Papadopoulou developed two movements per day. She noted one of them in the movement notation system Kinetography Laban. The second she tried to remember. Without the help of common memory aids of dance practice. What was planned as a niche specific dance and movement research project developed into a special contemporary testimony through Covid-19.
  • MOVEMENT JOURNALS/MOVING JOURNALS - an experiment in processes of transformation and practices of remembering movement.Funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia within the framework of the Individual Artist Funding (IKF), a project of ecce GmbH.

  • Expert position: Dr. Claudia Kauertz completed her studies in Medieval and Modern History, German Studies and Eastern European History at the Universities of Cologne and Göttingen. She then trained for the higher archival service at the Lower Saxony State Archives - Osnabrück State Archives and was a research assistant at the Lower Saxony State Archives - Hanover Main State Archives. From 2011 to 2019, she was head of the archival consulting department at the LVR-Archivberatungs- und Fortbildungszentrum in Pulheim-Brauweiler. Since March 1, 2019, Dr. Kauertz has been head of the Haus der Essener Geschichte/ Stadtarchiv.
  • Haus der Essener Geschichte/Stadtarchiv The Haus der Essener Geschichte/Stadtarchiv with its archive holdings dating back to the late Middle Ages is the central point of contact for the history of the city of Essen as a research, documentation and information center. With its three pillars, the City Archive, the specialized library City & Region and the permanent exhibition "Essen. History of a Major City in the 20th Century", it combines three functions in one institute.

WED, 05 APRIL 2023, 19:00
AI - About Cyborgs, Chatbots and Chthuluzän

WED, 03 MAY, 2023, 19:00
Sounds of our city - noise or sound?

Fri, 02 JUNE, 2023, 19:00
Assembly - How do we want to live together?

© by Toni Brell

space | lab is running

The summer festival of IG Tanz Essen

Timetable

DAY 1: JULY 29, 2022 - to start.

  • 11:00 - 16:00, space | lab [not public] – Internal Sharing of the IG Tanz artists and the space | lab residents with representatives of the art and culture scene NRW. With: Alberto Curci, Marlene Helling, Marie-Lena Kaiser, Josephine Kalies, Gustavo Leite, Fang Yun Lo, Kati Masami Menze, Foteini Papadopoulou, Robert Schulz, Giovanni Zazzera Z Art Dance Company mit Enora Gemin
  • 18:00, Gitterraum – Opening space | lab is running, drinks and food
  • 19:00 - 21:00, Gitterraum – DJ Set

DAY 2: JULY 30, 2022 - we are running.

The coworking space "space | lab" and other public spaces in Essen's City Nord will be transformed through dance, performance, music, film and exhibitions by dance and performance artists from IG Tanz. All works will be made accessible to anyone interested in the form of a guided tour.

To participate in the guided tour please register in advance: spacelab@polymerdmt.com

  • 14:00 START (in the order of the tour)
    • space | lab: “Octupus.” by Pin-Chen Hsu, “Salz ||: im Blut” by Camila Scholtbach, “STAND BY” by Lara Pilloni/ music by Alvaro Severino (video works)
    • Gitterraum: “now we're talking” by Josephine Kalies in collaboration with Kati Masami Menze, Paloma García de Juan, Elisa Spina and Tristan Berger (performative tryout / photo work)
    • Weberplatz: “Frauen.Frieden.Flügel” by Anca Huma (dance performance)
    • Konsumforum 2nd floor: “Untouch” by Alexandra Krutikova and Jan Chris Pollert (dance performance)
    • Gitterraum: experimental concert by Marco Girardin
    • Kopstadtplatz: “Zwei alte Damen” by Claudia Mauerer and Mariela Rossi (street performance)
    • Kunstraum jETZT: “MOVEMENT JOURNALS/MOVING JOURNALS” by Foteini Papadopoulou and Christian Clarke (photo work)
    • former Restaurant Mayflower: “Asia Restaurant” by Polymer DMT/Fang Yun Lo (video installation)
  • 16:45 Picnic at the Weberplatz

DAY 3: JULY 31, 2022 - to finish.

On the last day, the space | lab invites you to film screenings and discussions about choreographers' and dancers' engagement with film.

  • 11:00 - 14:00, space | lab
    • Talk about the video installation "Asia Restaurant" with the artists of Polymer DMT/Fang Yun Lo
    • Film screening "Die Erde ist gewaltig schön, doch sicher ist sie nicht" by SKORONEL RELOADED
    • Film screening "Vale of shadow" by Annalisa Palmieri and Stsiapan Hurski

ADRESSES:
Gitter Raum: Viehofer Pl. 17
Konsumreform: Kopstadtplatz 10
Kunstraum jETZT: I. Weberstr. 8
former Restaurant Mayflower: Weberplatz 3
space | lab: Kreuzeskirchstr. 25

© by Jakob Kielgass
© by Jakob Kielgass
© by Jakob Kielgass
© by Kati Masami Menze
© by Kati Masami Menze
© by Kati Masami Menze
© by Kati Masami Menze

Spacelab partner:

Polymer DMT

Sabina Stücker

IG Tanz Essen

© by Jakob Kielgass
© by Jakob Kielgass
© by Jakob Kielgass

space | lab Events

  • Jun 2 2023

    Versammlung - Wie wollen wir zusammen leben?
    space | lab is running 23
    SpacelabEssen, DE
  • May 3 2023

    Sounds unserer Stadt - Lärm oder Klang?
    space | lab is running 23
    SpacelabEssen, DE
  • Apr 5 2023

    KI - Über Cyborgs, Chatbots und Chthuluzän
    space | lab is running 23
    SpacelabEssen, DE
  • Feb 10 2023

    Archive - Eine Aufgabe für die Ewigkeit?
    space | lab is running 23
    SpacelabEssen, DE
  • Nov 4 2022

    The flow work - dance & writing - workshop with Judith Ayuso
    SpacelabEssen, DE
  • Sep 16 2022

    The flow work - There is always a way: a workshop on freelancing as an artist - with Robert Schulz
    SpacelabEssen, DE
  • Aug 31 2022 - Sep 3 2022

    space | lab @ Agora
    Internationale TanzmesseDüsseldorf, DE
    NRW-ForumDüsseldorf, DE
  • Jul 29 2022 - Jul 31 2022

    space | lab is running - summer festival
    SpacelabEssen, DE
  • Jun 20 2022 - Jul 3 2022

    Residency - Bianca Sere Pulungan
  • Jun 10 2022

    The flow work - Improvisation with principles of Feldenkrais method - with Mu-Yi Kuo
    SpacelabEssen, DE
  • May 23 2022 - Jun 5 2022

    Residency - Josephine Kalies
  • May 9 2022 - May 21 2022

    Residency - Marco Girardin
  • Apr 2 2022

    The flow work - Documentary theatre research workshop - with Fang Yun Lo
    SpacelabEssen, DE
  • Jan 24 2022 - Feb 6 2022

    Residency - Hsiao-Ting Lee
  • Oct 28 2021

    Encounter #6 - Methods of Inclusion for Dance/Performance Art, with Elisa Kneisel
    Online
  • Aug 20 2021 - Aug 22 2021

    the flow work - workshops with Marie-Lena Kaiser, Verena Hahn, Samandhyana Company, Magdalena Öttl and Foteini Papadopoulou
    Maschinenhaus EssenEssen, DE
  • Jul 4 2021

    Encounter #5 - Mobile audio recording techniques for choreographers, with Marius Kirch, Dipl. Audio Engineer
    Online
  • Jun 25 2021

    Encounter #4 - Turning reality into art - techniques of research and interviewing, with Khuê Phạm, ZEITmagazin
    Online
  • May 17 2021

    Encounter #3 - The Art Sector and Sustainability, with Iris Ping-Chi Hung, Taipei
    Online
  • Apr 29 2021

    Encounter #2 - Precarious Art, with Prof. Dr. Bojana Kunst, Frankfurt/M., Gießen
    Online
  • Apr 9 2021

    Meeting on cultural policy - with Muchtar Al-Ghusain, Margrit Lichtschlag
    SpacelabEssen, DE
  • Mar 22 2021

    Encounter #1 - Building a regional artists' network, with Cindy Hammer, Magdalena Weniger / TanzNetzDresden e.V.
    Online
  • Mar 12 2021

    Opening ceremony
    SpacelabEssen, DE

Spacelab is an initiative by Polymer DMT / Fang Yun Lo, in cooperation with IG Tanz Essen and Sabina Stücker Kulturproduktion, supported by BUREAU RITTER/TANZPAKT RECONNECT, which is funded by the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of the NEUSTART KULTUR initiative, and by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia - Spitzenförderung Tanz
.