City projects

At its core, Tangente is a festival for the residents of the city of St. Pölten; and a festival with the city of St. Pölten. Tangente seeks the participation for a wide variety of the population, wants to strengthen the visibility of existing initiatives and associations and support the formation of new connections, communities and networks. More than two years before the start of the festival, the curators of the Tangente Stadtprojekte (city projects) began to get in touch with the people of the city. In order to create opportunities for participation, they offered spaces for information and discussion.

Together with participants of various ages and social and cultural backgrounds, artists, activists and experts, Magdalena Chowaniec and Muhammet Ali Baş addressed topics such as access to culture, work and education, asylum policy, accessibility and the situation of women* as part of “Neue Freundschaften” (new friendships). In addition, they cooked together, ate togetherand learned from each other in conversation. In this way, new relationships and inclusive spaces for the current society of migration were created in places like the Kulturheim Nord or the Villa on the Glanzstoff grounds.

The “Kulturdialog!” (cultural dialogue) curated by Andreas Fränzl also opened up new spaces for discourse and exchange. In three different cultural institutions in St. Pölten, the topics ranged from the independent scene (Löwinnenhof* / KulturhauptSTART) and urban development issues (Cinema Paradiso) to questions about the accessibility of institutions (Festspielhaus). The connection of the local cultural scene with the Tangente and the promotion of a dialogue about cultural infrastructure as well as challenges and visions in the local art and culture sector were the focus.

Taking up these diverse perspectives and thus giving space to existing structures and local actors remains one of the central tasks of Tangente. The Stadtprojekte have resulted in a variety of programme items for the festival period. At the opening of the festival in May, local artists, collectives, initiatives, educational institutions and many more will be inviting people to the Linzer Straße for performative interventions, talks and lots of utopic perspectives. “Sisters United”, in cooperation with the Haus der Frau St. Pölten, will set an example against violence against women*. At “StadtLandFluss” in the government quarter / cultural district the local scene establishes a new format of cooperation for co-creative ways with institutions of the city, the federal state and Tangente, and offers two days full of music, art and celebrations. In summer, a villa in the Herzogenburger Straße is transformed into a laboratory of existing and future community work for a whole week under the motto “Art of Community”. At the “Visionale”, walls in St. Pölten are designed by youths and young adults. For the festival’s critical editorial team “KREDO” (p. 102), young journalists report on the festival events in a decidedly multi-perspective way. At the “Songwriting Call” (musik.stp)” is being realised in 2024 by Freiraum St. Pölten in cooperation with Tangente. The project invites music makers from the city to create lyrics and songs on the festival themes. Various schools and the Steppenwolf youth centre are part of the process. “Stadt-Galerie” shows an exhibition with local artists in showcases and empty spaces in the city.

These are just a few of the projects that have emerged directly from the Tangente Stadtprojekte. Numerous artists, individuals and stakeholders are involved in many other Tangente projects.

The Tangente Stadtprojekte will be located in the Tangente Festival Centre on Linzer Straße during the festival year 2024 to facilitate contacts, deepen connections and work together – on art and culture, on the present and the future.

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