On 20 October 2025, the 10th mikopa of ZEOK took place in cooperation with the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (bpb) as part of the 12th edition of the ‘Politik im Freien Theater’ festival in the Galerie für Zeitgenössiche Kunst (GfZK). We documented the event and created a video.

The audience was invited to enjoy an extensive theatre and event programme based on the festival motto ‘Borders’. mikopa sees itself as a space for possibilities and alliances: borders are made visible, shifted and opened up for new connections. The title of the event, ‘kein-DA-zwischen: Ein multiperspektivischer Dialog’, refers to the importance of the spaces in between.

The annual conferences aim to raise mikopa's profile as a player in social dialogue in eastern Germany, to make participatory public engagement tangible as a counter-model to exclusive public engagement, to strengthen the voices of (post-)migrants, BIPoC and eastern Germans, and to create new alliances between marginalised voices and institutions.

Two gardens border each other, separated by a fence. In one, the rhinoceros tends to his plants and enjoys the breeze and the gentle chirping of birds – wonderful! The colourful elephant family next door is celebrating a fun party and firing up the barbecue. Trrrrrt! Bang! You could set off fireworks to express your joy. And so begins a chain of events that soon escalates, because every action on one side has an effect on the other.

We created the trailer for the puppet theatre play.

The timeless story of two brothers whose sibling love is greater than death: Jonathan and Karl meet again in the fantastic land of Nangijala, where it is always spring. But the idyll is deceptive. On the other side of the mountains, in the Heckenrosental valley, the tyrant Tengil and his sinister soldiers are wreaking havoc. Soon, Cherry Valley is also threatened, and Jonathan and Karl are faced with a difficult decision: they must free Nangijala from Tengil and his dark forces.

With puppets and music, director Jule Kracht adapts Astrid Lindgren's classic children's book, published in 1973, a story of courage and betrayal, love and death, fear and freedom, and the struggle between good and evil.

We created the trailer for the puppet theater play.

In 1983, the “Völle” was opened as the “Völkerfreundschaft” cultural center and taken over by the Leipzig Youth Welfare Office in 1993. After three years of renovation in the 1990s, the building now consists of the following rooms: An event hall with a stage, a foyer that serves as an exhibition space and small event area, a seminar room, a sports hall, and an open leisure center for children and young people.

In order to promote the rental of the premises in the “Völle” to citizens and initiatives, we have produced a promotional film for them.

In Saxony, the integration landscape is in danger: funding is being cut or has already been eliminated. This affects associations and projects that promote integration, migration, and participation. Many are fighting for their existence or have had to give up.

For the political campaign Solidarität statt Kahlschlag, we produced six videos for Instagram, YouTube, and the campaign website, in which six institutions explain why it is now time to act and why support is urgently needed.

All videos can be viewed on Instagram, among other places.

The position paper on the campaign can be found here: www.solidaritaetstattkahlschlag.de.

On 17 and 18 October 2024, the 9th mikopa of the ZEOK took place at the Alte Handelsbörse and the University of Leipzig and was dedicated to the central question of East German and (post)migrant alliances. We documented the event and created a video and a social media reel, as well as documenting the panels.

Under the title ‘Us and the others? On East German & (post)migrant alliances,’ analogies in processes of devaluation and recognition towards East Germans and (post)migrants in Germany were explored and examined, as well as how alliances between the two groups can be built to tackle similar challenges together. The two-day event included workshops, panels, exhibitions, and music.

The annual conferences aim to raise mikopa's profile as a player in social dialogue in East Germany, to make participatory public engagement tangible as a counter-model to exclusive public engagement, to strengthen the voices of (post-)migrants, BIPoC and East Germans, and to create new alliances between marginalised voices and institutions.

In anderen Umstaenden (In different circumstances) is a web documentary. 12 people with learning difficulties talk about their experiences with wanting children and parenthood. And they demand from society: We want different circumstances!

Each protagonist is presented on the accessible website in several films: There is one message, one film with everyday scenes and one longer conversation per person. All the films will be published until the International Day for People with Disabilities on 3 December. We are editing a part of the films.

The BBK Bundesverband has been advocating for social security for visual artists throughout Germany. We produced the film Zukunft Kunst Arbeit – 50 Jahre BBK Bundesverband, which brings together the voices of various stakeholders. They talk about what has already been achieved over the past 50 years and what challenges still need to be overcome in the future. It becomes clear why a federal association that represents the professional interests of visual artists was and is necessary – and what can be achieved through joint commitment.

The BBK Leipzig is the largest artists' association in Leipzig and the Leipzig region. The association promotes the visual arts in the city and region of Leipzig through its commitment to cultural policy. It campaigns for better working conditions and the preservation of the visual arts heritage and works at the interface between artistic work and social commitment.

Together with the BBK Leipzig, we produced an image film that gives an insight into the intensive work of the association.

On 23 and 24 November 2023, the 8th mikopa of the ZEOK took place at the Bibliotheca Albertina and the University of Leipzig under the title ‘Education in East Germany: fair, diverse, post-migrant.’ We documented the event and created a video.

We have long been living in a post-migrant society in which one in three citizens cites migration as a point of reference in their family history. But how do secondary schools, vocational schools, universities and (technical) colleges specifically address social diversity? To what extent is this development reflected in educational institutions – in their content, their structures and at the personnel level? What resources does civil society offer here and what contribution can post-migrant communities make?

The annual conferences aim to raise mikopa's profile as an actor in social dialogue in eastern Germany, to make participatory public engagement tangible as a counter-model to exclusive public engagement, to strengthen the voices of (post-)migrants, BIPoC and eastern Germans, and to create new alliances between marginalised voices and institutions.

Five artists compete against each other to win not only the title The Noise of Germany, but above all the hearts of the listeners. The combatants have shaken the horn of wonder of new music and are trying to win over the audience with excerpts from their favourite pieces.

For the New Music Casting Show initiated by the CRISPR.kollektiv, we produced five video clips integrated into the performance as well as a trailer and a project documentation.

The GEGENkino Festival is an annual international film festival in Leipzig since 2014. Working collectively and driven by cinephile passion, it aims to challenge entrenched viewing habits with unusual perceptions. The presentation of film and video art goes beyond a classical screening.

In 2022, the festival screened the Japanese silent film classic A page of madness, narrated live and set to music by benshi Ichiro Kataoka and pianist Reiko Emura. In the preceding panel discussion, the profession as a benshi was discussed, but also the Kataoka Record Project. Kataoka had given his collection of 3900 Japanese shellac records to the University of Bonn in 2012. The worldwide unique collection includes records from the years 1915 to 1950, mainly from the film and entertainment culture of Japan of those years.

We filmed the panel discussion as well as impressions from the live scoring and created a documentary of the evening.

At the Berufsbildungswerk Leipzig (BBW), young people can try out a profession, prepare for an education or complete an education. The BBW specializes in people with hearing, speech and language or other communication impairments.

For the image film, we accompanied the specialist trainee Katerina Trujillova and the trainee Oliver Beier. They give personal insights into the theoretical and practical training in their specialist areas, into support services and living and leisure activities at BBW Leipzig. The special features of the training become clear and the BBW is presented as an attractive place to learn and live.

For the low-barrier version, we used green screen technology to integrate the sign language interpreter into the video.

The project MUSAIK. Jazz in Fugen took place on 4 September 2021 as a musical prelude to the cultural opening of the historic prayer rooms at the Marktkirche Halle (S.). As part of the ERDF concept for the renovation and upgrading of the Marktkirche Halle, which is an individual monument and cultural heritage site, the approx. 8 square metre rooms, which can be opened to the outside space on both sides of the church, are being reactivated. After the renovation of the Marktkirche in accordance with the preservation order, parallel to or following the building site period, the connection to the urban space will also be sought in the future through cultural formats and building site art. We filmed the musical opening of the event series.

The happening 30 Hours Round Table in cooperation with the Leipzig Women’s Festival brought together social initiatives and citizens on the Leipzig market square on 25 and 26 June 2021 to jointly set an example for social participation and gender justice. Based on the voices of the GDR women's movement of 89/90, the action created a space for remembrance, in which the future was negotiated with each other at the same time.

With the documentation of the event, we have produced a manual on how 30h Round Table works, or could work.

Girls and young women with migration or refugee stories are exposed to multiple discrimination (sexism, racism, classism, etc.), which is why they have to struggle with many challenges in a white-dominated society. SISTERS wants to be contact persons and role models, especially in the rural areas of Saxony and as women of colour who are affected themselves. On the one hand, SISTERS organises empowering actions and, on the other hand, works together with educational professionals.

The video presents the racism-critical work of SISTERS in Saxony, discusses successes and challenges and invites you to become active yourself: SISTERS* presentation film

The Bauhaus Residency enables artists from all over the world to live and work in the historic master houses again. Between 2020-2021, we realized 4 films that accompany the invited artists in residence in their work processes. The films translate the encounters between original Bauhaus ideas and contemporary art into an audiovisual form.

The works created by the artist Sofia Dona and the writer and performer Mara Genschel bring the hidden foundations of everyday life to light: Sofia Dona devoted herself to the relationship between humans and animals, Mara Genschel to the claimed mastery of the historical Bauhaus.

The Bauhaus Residency enables artists from all over the world to live and work in the historic master houses again. Between 2020-2021, we realized 4 films that accompany the invited artists in residence in their work processes. The films translate the encounters between original Bauhaus ideas and contemporary art into an audiovisual form.

For the annual theme Infrastructure, curator Alexis Lowry chose modular, sculptural, and industrially produced objects by artist Charlotte Posenenske as the focus of her work. Writer, philosopher, and literary scholar Hannes Bajohr drew on archival texts to approach the invisible infrastructure of the Masters' Houses.

The Bauhaus Residency enables artists from all over the world to live and work in the historic master houses again. Between 2020-2021, we realized 4 films that accompany the invited artists in residence in their work processes. The films translate the encounters between original Bauhaus ideas and contemporary art into an audiovisual form.

During his residency, the window became a membrane for artist Jan Tichy, photography a communication between inside and outside, past and present. The novelist and playwright Kristof Magnusson dealt with his own working processes in video works.

The Bauhaus Residency enables artists from all over the world to live and work in the historic master houses again. Between 2020-2021, we realized 4 films that accompany the invited artists in residence in their work processes. The films translate the encounters between original Bauhaus ideas and contemporary art into an audiovisual form.

In her work Hausen for Haus Gropius, sculptor Inge Mahn responds to the existing space, working out of it, with it, against it. In her poems, the poet Sujata Bhatt explores the relationship between animals, humans and architecture.

A utopia - what does it actually look like? How can it be imagined, experienced or tested?

For six days, the grassroots-organised congress worked on drafts for a social-ecological utopia. Due to the Corona pandemic, the congress took place mainly online. Besides panel discussions, there was a broad art and cultural programme that creatively asked questions about a just, ecological and feasible future.

We accompanied the congress in its various facets on all days and produced a short documentary, a video for the fundraising campaign and various social media clips.

For the Berlin-based architecture firm TRU Architekten, a film was made in 2020 about the Music Pavilions at the University of the Arts Berlin.

Our audiovisual approach moves between documentary and experimental film and accompanies the daily happenings in and around the buildings from sunrise to sunset.

In the Berufsbildungswerk, young people can try out a profession, prepare for an apprenticeship or complete an apprenticeship. The BBW specialises in people with hearing, speech and language or other communication impairments.

11 different training areas are portrayed in short videos. In each clip, trainees give very personal insights into their field and the special features of training at BBW become clear. The films were partly made with the involvement of the trainees. This gave the young people the opportunity to see themselves as an active and self-confident part of the film. The clips thus leave room for different focal points and yet follow a formal overall concept.

Here you can find the films.

The Werkleitz Festival 2019 in Dessau-Roßlau takes a look at the legacy of the Bauhaus from the perspective of current artistic productions and is inspired by the mutually facing tensions between the concepts of model and ruin.

For the festival, we conceived and produced interview films with the participating artists as well as the festival trailer.