Stadtkuratorin
Leipzig

To mark the 50th anniversary of Grünau, young people from the neighborhood are collaborating with artists Kadir Memis, Ehab Assadi, and Senja K. Brütting to create a large-scale mural on the facade of a prefabricated apartment building at Uranus Street 30. The focus is on the young people’s perspectives on their lives in Grünau Nord—formerly known as Wohnkomplex 7. Public space is intended to be a place where young people, too, can give voice to their ideas and help shape their neighborhood. In this way, the young people’s experiences can resonate and have an impact.

Since March 2026, students in grades 7 through 9 at the Grünau Nord School Center—primarily from the 94th Secondary School—have been developing artistic expressions of their perspectives, identities, and visions of the future as part of an after-school program. Methods from art, calligraphy, dance, spoken word, and design open up different avenues of expression, allowing as many young people as possible to contribute their own themes.

The process is guided by choreographer and performer Senja K. Brütting (Leipzig), who also works as an education specialist focusing on anti-racism work with girls and young women of color. Her work combines spoken word, songwriting, contemporary dance, and dance theater from an intersectional perspective, creating spaces for artistic expression and reflection. Artist and art educator Ehab Assadi (Leipzig), a graduate of the HGB Leipzig with a focus on graphic design, contributes his expertise with an emphasis on playful, collaborative design as well as typography and calligraphy. Since early 2025, he has also been supporting children in their artistic practice as part of the team at KinderKunstPlanet on Jupiterplatz in the neighborhood.

Berlin-based choreographer and artist Kadir “Amigo” Memiş, co-founder of the Flying Steps, combines hip-hop with abstract calligraphy and graffiti. In a workshop, he offers insights into this artistic practice and works with the young people to develop their own forms of expression for the mural.

The finished design created by the young people will be brought to life on the wall by Leipzig-based graffiti artist Bond Truluv, who has already created his own designs in the neighborhood.

The grand opening celebration is scheduled for September 11, 2026, as part of the Grünau Cultural Summer. The participating youth will present their artwork during interactive guided tours and engage in conversation with neighbors, family members, classmates, and visitors. In this way, the project will be experienced as a collaborative effort and firmly rooted in the neighborhood. To mark Grünau’s anniversary, a permanent artwork is being created that gives voice to the ideas of the neighborhood’s youth and translates them into the urban space with artistic excellence.

The UmRäumen association has been active in Grünau since 2024 through the Stadtkuratorin Leipzig program and has collaborated or exchanged ideas with, among others, greater form, the Grünau Nord Library, the neighborhood management and neighborhood council, the Kulturstammtisch, Perspectives, the ARENA, and the KOMM-Haus. This collaboration with greater form and the 94th Secondary School also strengthens creative processes in the neighborhood with broad participation.

Sithara Weeratunga is the curatorial project director. Sithara is a freelance curator, museum consultant, and DJ in Leipzig and Berlin. From a perspective critical of discrimination, she works at the intersection of art, politics, and community. Previously, she worked as a curator at the Museum of Fine Arts in Leipzig, focusing on participatory formats, memory culture, and anti-racist curating.