Brunnenpassage: Art for Everyone!
- contributing to the realization of the human right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community and to enjoy the arts, as enshrined in Article 27 of the United Nations Charter of Human Rights
- fostering active participation by all societal groups, in particular disadvantaged groups, in cultural and artistic activities
- fostering social cohesion by helping to bridge social barriers, reduce tensions, and promote dialogue on an equal footing through the arts
- strengthening inclusive cultural urban development and foster decentralized access to culture
In the City of Vienna, the KunstSozialRaum (ArtSocialSpace) Brunnenpassage (“Art for everyone!”), strives to enable all Vienna’s inhabitants to participate in the arts – in particular people with limited access to education or with low incomes as well as migrants, who are often underrepresented in the traditional arts scene.
Brunnenpassage is a venue located in a street-market where people from different nationalities, of all ages, and from varying socio-cultural backgrounds meet and develop community arts projects together. A core component of the project’s concept is cooperation and networking with “high art” institutions and local community players. The venue’s public presentation is categorized mainly according to genres, with dance, music and storytelling as the cardinal points, while its internal programme design also concentrates on categories like production and performance, workshop projects, mobile projects, projects in schools, research, and advanced training. The space operates daily and offers around 400 events each year. It receives around 22,000 visitors per year, mostly active participants in community art. Admission to all events is free.
Inspired by this good practice, the Stand 129: Kunst- und Kulturraum (an art and culture space) opened its doors 2014 in a different Viennese outdoor market. Similarly to Brunnenpassage, it offers cultural activities for children, teenagers, and adults irrespective of their educational, social-cultural, or ethnic/national backgrounds and free of charge. Alongside its venue, activities take place in the market space or other public spaces around the district and in cooperation with cultural institutions.
The positive impact of Brunnenpassage on the cultural, social, and economic development of the area led to the set-up of the Task Force for Cultural Urban Development by the City of Vienna in 2015. It brings together experts from diverse disciplines and aims to develop new initiatives aimed at giving a boost to cultural activities in locations outside the city centre.
- a steady increase in the number of events organized at Brunnenpassage (approximately 400-440 events per year) and in the area (approximately 100 events/projects per year)
- a steady increase in the number of participants
- establishment of new and deepening of existing cooperation with local communities, art initiatives and NGOs, and Viennese “high art” cultural institutions located in other districts
Brunnenpassage is financed exclusively by public funding from the City of Vienna (municipal departments for cultural affairs and for integration and diversity, and the 16th district of Vienna) and the Arts and Culture Division of the Federal Chancellery.
Brunnenpassage is a project by the Caritas programme of the Archdiocese of Vienna. Set up as a sub-brand of Caritas Vienna, Brunnenpassage can decide autonomously on its cultural activities.