Project
Community Through Culture
Since July 2025, Berlin Mondiale has been implementing the pilot project “Community Through Culture – Strong Neighborhoods Between Shared Accommodations and Large Housing Estates” in Marzahn-Nord. In collaboration with local partners and cultural education institutions, an open cultural project space has been established in the neighborhood around Otto-Rosenberg-Platz.
At a Glance
Duration: July 2025 – December 2026
Location: Marzahn-Nord, around Otto-Rosenberg-Platz
Target groups: Young refugees and their neighbors
Formats: Art, dance & movement, printmaking workshop
Project organizer: Berlin Mondiale
Funding: Berlin State Commission Against Violence
Since July 2025, we have been implementing the pilot project “Community Through Culture—Strong Neighborhoods Between Shared Accommodations and Large Housing Estates” in Marzahn-Nord. An open cultural project space has been created around Otto-Rosenberg-Platz in collaboration with local partners, artists, and cultural education stakeholders.
The focus is on refugee teens and young adults. Through artistic and creative workshops, they can contribute their own ideas, discover new skills, and create something together with others. It’s not just about art: These programs provide a space for creative expression, exchange, and personal growth.
Background
Marzahn-Nord is part of the Interdepartmental Community Initiative (GI) and has been identified as a community facing particular challenges. Several group housing facilities and emergency shelters are located around Otto-Rosenberg-Platz. More than 500 people live in the group housing facility on Bitterfelder Straße, and another 700 or so live in a nearby emergency shelter for homeless families.
There is a particularly high need for low-threshold cultural and creative programs among adolescents and young adults in precarious housing situations. They face significant pressure: they are expected to integrate into Berlin’s social fabric, yet at the same time struggle with difficult living conditions, social tensions in their communities, and the feeling that they have little control over their own lives. During this sensitive phase of life, when their own identity is developing, young people often reach their limits. The project addresses this through artistic formats. These formats highlight individual strengths, build self-efficacy, and encourage collaborative work. This creates space to reflect on one’s own life situation, develop new ways of taking action, and experience a sense of belonging and mutual support.
Approach
In collaboration with artists and local partners , we create free, accessible programs. Participants contribute their own ideas, help make decisions, and work together to develop new projects. It’s about more than just the artistic outcome: they can try out new skills, discover their strengths, and see firsthand that their ideas can make a difference.
Impact on the Neighborhood
These activities are part of a larger process. At neighborhood festivals and other events, participants come together with other residents, local initiatives, and people involved in cultural education and social engagement.
This allows young people to get to know their neighborhood, showcase their own work, and get actively involved. Cultural programs create spaces for creative expression, interaction, and participation. Participants can discover their living environment and help shape it— placemaking as part of cultural education.
Formats
Since July 2025, various artistic formats have been on site:
Art Workshop With Tahnee Godt · for children up to age 12
In the art workshop, children do crafts, build things, and paint. They develop their own ideas and create their own artwork and tools. Among other things, they make a personalized toolbox for creative projects. The children share their wishes and ideas, learn from one another, and show each other new things.
Move Freely
Dance and Movement Workshop with Akiles · for teens ages 14 and up
"Freibewegen" is all about movement, dance, and experiencing music together. Through dance and movement games, trust-building and coordination exercises, and meditation, the young people get to know their bodies and themselves better. Together, the group develops its own dance choreography.
Printing Workshop With Barbara Klinker and Dorothee Ruge · for mothers
In the printmaking workshop, participants create their own stamps and prints on paper and fabric. Together, they design a large tapestry made of printed and painted textiles. Childcare is provided during the workshops, giving mothers a space to engage in creative work, connect with others, and find some peace and quiet. Together with women from the neighborhood, they can actively help shape their community.
Berlin Mondiale
- Trang Tran – Concept & Strategy
- Pauline Ost – Concept & Coordination
- Martina Del Ben – Network
- Arwa Damerji – Communications
Artists and cultural professionals
- Nara Virgens – Documentary
- Tonina Matamalas – Graphic Recording
- Barbara Klinker – Artist
- Dorothee Ruge – Artist
- Tahnee Godt – Artist
- Akiles – Dancer and Choreographer
Partners and local stakeholders
- Swantje Ritter – German Red Cross / BENN
- Khatia Jojua – Volunteer Childcare
- Nadine Medawar – Volunteer Childcare
- Barbara Böhme –FelixFamily Center
- Karim Kanjo – Teaching Assistant
The project “Community Through Culture – Strong Neighborhoods Between Shared Accommodations and Large Housing Estates” is funded by the Berlin State Commission Against Violence as part of the fund to support victims of politically motivated extremist violence.
The fund supports initiatives that foster connections, strengthen social cohesion, and promote participation—to build a diverse and inclusive Berlin.
