HfG professor Constanze Fischbeck and academic employee Karolina Sobel present their installation Graniczanka at the “Politik im Freien Theater ” festival. The exhibition can be seen from October 17 to 25, 2025** in the gallery of the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig.

The festival, which is organized by the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (bpb), takes place in a different German city every three years. The twelfth edition will take place in Leipzig from October 16 to 25, 2025 under the motto “Borders”. The theme is about drawing and crossing borders in art, society and politics. The aim is to shed light on this complex topic in its many facets, stimulate discussion and promote exchange.

The public can expect a varied program with theater performances, city walks, film screenings, readings, discussions, exhibitions, art projects, concerts and workshops.

About the Graniczanka installation

Areas where the borders of two nations meet are usually regarded as the peripheries of the respective states. The zone of contact between two nation states creates a third space in which the border region itself is experienced and used differently. Graniczanka can be translated from Polish as “border dweller” and is interested in what connects the everyday lives of border residents.

Under the main themes "East. West. Change. - Post-reunification times“ and ”Me. You. We. - Identities“, the installation shows the formal and informal architecture of the German/Polish Neisse border in the situation of the border controls reintroduced on both sides in summer 2025. In addition, the installation ”Graniczanka" invites visitors to participate in the knowledge of the border residents. Four advice stations provide information about bilingual educational institutions, services close to the body, ecological care work and pregnancy advice. How does everyday practice undermine political reality? Where does the political appear in the everyday?

The concept of intimate borders examines how re-bordering processes within the Schengen area, (right-wing) extreme political currents and attacks on reproductive rights influence personal everyday practices of love, ecological care and body-related services. The installation “Graniczanka” is based on the initial research results of the interdisciplinary research group “INTIMATE BORDER(S)”, which has been conducting research on the German/Polish Neisse border since fall 2024. Social scientists work together with artists in an interdisciplinary framework. Qualitative research methods are combined with artistic practices.

Concept and realization: Constanze Fischbeck and Karolina Sobel
Scientific and artistic collaboration: Carolin Schurr, Elisabeth Militz, Mirko Winkel
In collaboration with: Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig

Performative activation by students of the HGB Leipzig:
Robin Becker, Tobias Fabek, Andolie Marguerite, Anna Volodina
Supervision: Anna Zett

INTIMATE BORDER(S) research group:
Ewa Einhorn (University of Gothenburg), Constanze Fischbeck (HfG Karlsruhe), Elisabeth Militz (University of Innsbruck), Carolin Schurr (University of Bern), Karolina Sobel (HfG Karlsruhe), Mirko Winkel (University of Bern)

Opening: Friday, October 17, 2025, 2 pm
Duration: October 17-25, 2025

Opening hours:
Wednesday to Friday: 2-6 pm
Saturday and Sunday: 2-5 pm
Performative activations: Saturday, 18.10., and Friday, 24.10., both 3-6 p.m.

More information:
https://www.bpb.de/pift2025/570344/graniczanka/