The postgraduate programme is based on a cooperation between a university and art institutions:
Forschungtheater / FUNDUS THEATER
In the Forschungstheater (Research Theatre) at FUNDUS THEATER children, artists and scientists meet each other as researchers. The artistic approach makes it possible to experience different forms of knowledge as equally valuable: everyday expertise, artistic know-how and scientific findings complement each other. The research is often applied to current social problems and looks at them from the perspective of the imaginary. Thereby the cultural-historical dimension plays an equally important role as the performative experiments with the reality outside the theatre. Cultural work is understood and practised as a chance for collaborative knowledge production by heterogeneous partners. Apart from new insights the research processes circle around desires, experiences and social transformation. The translation and transmission processes across cultural, generational, social, institutional and discursive borders determines the productivity of the Forschungstheater. Forschungstheater projects change the everyday lives of school pupils in Hamburg, become academic and scientific contributions to the respective research discourses and are acknowledged as artistic performances on stages internationally.
HafenCity Universität / Metropoltian Culture
The Bachelor Course „Metropolitan Culture“, which was first introduced by the HafenCity University Hamburg in 2009, explores the cultural dimension of metropolises. This focus makes the course unique in Europe. The combination of theory, practice and project work is central to the course, which is carried out in close co-operation with cultural institutions in Germany and abroad. The exploration of urban perception and narrative, urban everyday life, the visualisation of cities, the history of metropolises, media theory and practice as well as the economy of cities takes place at the interface of theoretical analysis and practice. The aim is on the one hand to include important experiences and impulses of cultural practices into academic research and teaching and on the other hand to feed back academic teaching and research insights into cultural practices. Thus „Metropolitan Culture“ cannot only be seen as „classical“ cultural studies as it also works with different forms of organising, presenting and disseminating knowledge. This academic, artistic and practical approach makes a close co-operation with other cultural institutions necessary – as, for example, with the Forschungstheater / FUNDUS THEATRE and K 3 – Centre for choreography for the postgraduate programme „Assemblies and Participation: Urban Publics and Performance“.
K3 – Centre for Choreography | Tanzplan Hamburg
K3 was established in 2006/2007 as part of Tanzplan Deutschland – an initiative of the Federal Cultural Foundation that ran from 2006 to 2010 – and is funded by the City of Hamburg since 2011. It is an artistically independent institution operating within the organisational framework of Kampnagel. A major focus of K3 is developing and offering various forms of residencies and artistic formats of working that combine artistic research, production und presentation. Promoting and supporting young choreographers and dance professionals in the early stages of their career is a main priority. The centre also offers regular courses and professional training, workshops as well as further learning formats. One of our main focuses lies on projects located at the crossroads of artistic practice – i.e. dance, choreography and performance – and discourse, both on the theory of dance and broader social issues. Our outreach and education programmes aim towards fostering appreciation of dance in people of all ages, for example through a variety of collaborative partnerships with schools and projects by and with teenagers. The three pillars of our work – residencies, classes and training, and dance outreach – moreover form the conceptual foundation for a number of projects in cooperation with academic and cultural institutions running over several years in contexts ranging from local to national and international. In addition, we create platforms for transdisciplinary exchange with other arts and fields of knowledge essential in order to strengthen the standing and the position of contemporary dance and choreography in our society.
