Angelika Waniek
Mitreisende Ehefrau

From 1980 to 1986 and beyond, families from Plauen and elsewhere lived temporarily in Tanzania, almost 7000 kilometers away. The textile workers were employed at the textile combine in Mbeya, and their relatives accompanied them. In August, the Leipzig performance artist Angelika Waniek will work on her current "Mitreisende Ehefrau" project as part of the "TANZPAKT in residence" program in Chemnitz, supported by Taupunkt e.V. at the Off-Bühne Komplex. She is concerned with the reverberations of the German colonial period (1884-1918) in the Saxon textile industry. She wants to approach the topic via file research and interviews. "As the GDR's Joint Venture with Tanzania shows, connections still existed decades later," Waniek said. "The interconnections are the basis of my research on female labor, decolonialism, industrial culture, archives and counter-narratives."

CALL! Anyone with info and/or photos of the exchange with Tanzania can contact Taupunkt e.V., Zietenstraße 32 in 09130 Chemnitz, Germany, at kontakt@taupunkt-chemnitz.de or by mail. The talks will take place as of now.

Workshop: "In the Archive - Instructions for Tomorrow" | August 10, 2-5 p.m.

The workshop traces the stories in history: The focus is on the transfer of knowledge about the life and work of workers inside the textile industry in Saxony. On the basis of files, documents, press releases, but also stories, songs and non-stories, the question of how knowledge and skills were and are passed on will be explored together. In the workshop, the participants will look at and analyze photos from textile factories in Chemnitz and Tanzania. Through image analysis and personal narration, we will then move into the collective. What do we learn about the knowledge and life of the textile workers? We will share our different approaches to history(s) with each other in order to be able to relate to each other - and to learn from each other.

This free workshop is for people with an interest in history and stories. No previous knowledge is necessary. Please register at kontakt@taupunkt-chemnitz.de (max. 15 participants).

Angelika Waniek is a performer and lives in Leipzig. She works transdisciplinarily and processually. Her artistic work is characterized by an interest in political perspectives on performative and visual practices. She constantly seeks out situations in which she works collaboratively and in networks. She works at the intersection of knowledge and experience transfer, exposing potentials of collective action.

Taupunkt e.V. was founded in 2013 and consists of theater makers and enthusiasts. The theater association, which focuses on experimental theater, stages guest performances, co-productions and its own productions in the off-stage complex and public spaces in the future cultural capital of Chemnitz. In workshops and theater pedagogical projects, they bring artists from different backgrounds into exchange with local actors, educational institutions and lay people. Many of the actors from the association have been active in the cultural sector in Chemnitz for a long time. There are numerous contacts to local event and festival organizers (Der Rahmen ist Programm, Tage der jüdischen Kultur...), to the free scene on a local as well as on a national and European level, especially to the Czech Republic, Slovenia, France and Finland.

The Off-Bühne Komplex is a former church in the backyard of Zietenstraße 32 and offers space for 75 spectators as well as a professional infrastructure. It is located on the Sonnenberg in an exciting environment, a socially disadvantaged neighborhood with many socio- and subcultural offerings, and directly on the creative axis that is to be created by 2025. The Vereun is familiar with the support of artists, and not just through its participation in the flausen+ residency program.