Mapping Commons – Interdisciplinary Teaching and Research Project in the Master’s Program at UdK Berlin
Master’s Program in Theater Education & Art in Context
Ute Schlegel-Pinkert & Kristina Leko & Vera Hofmann & Pauline Warneboldt & Georg Sichardt
The number of participants is very limited. Please send a brief letter of motivation to k.leko_ @udk-berlin.de. 

About
Mapping Commons is an interdisciplinary and experimental course designed and taught in collaboration with colleagues from theater education and Art in Context. The course centers on several field trips during which we will focus on mapping commons within art and cultural initiatives in Brandenburg. The course combines artistic, academic, and practice-based approaches and examines the commons and commoning as central concepts of contemporary cultural practice. Contextualization: In social art practice, the communal aspect—or the concept of the commons—serves as the primary impetus for artistic practice. Interdisciplinary social and artistic practices have long engaged with themes such as alternative economies, currencies, and the creation of communal spaces. In doing so, they generate not only symbolic representations but also concrete spaces and infrastructures for social change, which are to be understood as common and communal goods.

In this context, communities are built and/or strengthened, and networks and forms of knowledge are developed. Notable projects of this kind typically emerge in urban settings, such as Project Row Houses in Houston (since 1993, Rick Lowe) or the Rebuild Foundation in Chicago (since 2009, Theaster Gates), which have transformed abandoned residential buildings into social, cultural, and artistic spaces. Another early and influential example of commons-based art practice is the Hamburg-based Park Fiction project (since 1994); Berlin has also had a vibrant, commons-oriented urban practice since the 1980s. In light of environmental crises, however, a greater focus on rural areas also seems sensible. Projects such as Grizedale Arts in the British Lake District or the international collective Myvillages work with village communities on the collective use of land, knowledge, and social infrastructure. Furthermore, initiatives such as Campo Adentro in Spain combine artistic research with agriculture and issues of communal land use. Art is understood here as a social practice that mobilizes community resources, strengthens local economies, and reimagines rural spaces as sites of collective creation. The Society of New Commissioning Bodies pursues an approach, particularly in rural areas of Germany, in which art in public spaces is commissioned by citizens to contribute, as a common good, to the revitalization of structurally weak regions.

Course Requirements: Independent reading and research; active participation in three preparatory sessions and the field trips; preparation of a presentation on the results of one’s own artistic research as part of a public symposium at the UdK in October 2026.

Literature:
Hofmann, V., Euler, J., Zurmühlen, L., & Helfrich, S. (2022). Commoning Art – Die transformativen Potenziale von Commons in der Kunst. Transcript Verlag. Lowe, R. (2017). Social sculpture and community engagement: The case of Project Row Houses. Art Journal, 76(2), 36–49. ARCH+. (2018). An Atlas of Commoning: Places of Collective Production. Archplus Verlag. Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons. 

Time & Dates
Fridays, 13:30 - 17 Uhr, weekly from 17.4.2026, Bundesallee 1-10, room 204 u.n.V., zzgl. all-day excursions.

Additional Dates & Excursions:

April 24, 2026: Preparation 1 (BU, Room 203): Introduction to Commoning Art, beginning of pattern formation (patterns of commoning), economic activity, social interaction, governance. To what extent do we practice commoning in the seminar?
May 8, 2026: Preparation 2 (BU, Room 336): Barbara Caveng, a contribution by a community artist, development of a pattern for the research
May 22, 2026: First trip: Götz e.V.
May 29, 2026: Mid-term review Berlin (BU, Room 336): Review of the sample survey
June 12, 2026: Second trip: Gerswalde Großer Garten
June 26, 2026: Third trip: LandRausch and Hohenofen, with overnight stay (16 euros per night per person), 3 events over the weekend (Saturday: exhibition)
July 10, 2026: Fourth trip: Haus des Wandels Steinhöfel
July 17, 2026: Evaluation: extended session in Room 340 BU

Credits
4 SWS, 4 ECTS