Mapping Stories - Maps, Territories, Stories - Nikola Dicke

Nikola Dicke interviewed contemporary witnesses from eight places in the Coesfeld district about their personal experiences with the territorial reform. She turned their stories into animated films using mixed-media technology - combined with historical district maps from her father, who was a surveyor for the old district of Lüdinghausen. At public screenings and storytelling cafés in the eight towns, the films stimulated new conversations and continued to grow with each encounter. Finally, the unique film cartography of the territorial reform was presented at Vischering Castle.

Project location: Coesfeld district

© Münsterland e.V./Philipp Fölting
© Münsterland e.V./Philipp Fölting
© Münsterland e.V./Philipp Fölting

SCHEDULE

October/November 24: Research, interviews
December 24 to February 25: Drawing maps and creating animated films
Spring 25: Mapping Stories tour: public screenings followed by an open talk in the storytelling café
April 25: Incorporating the other stories into the animated films
Sat, 3 to Thu, 8 May 25: Final presentation "Mapping Stories" | Burg Vischering, Lüdinghausen
Thu, 8 May, 6 pm: Finissage as part of the presentation week | Burg Vischering, Lüdinghausen

"My aim is to make the life stories of contemporary witnesses visible and accessible through animated films projected in public spaces." - Nikola Dicke

THE ARTIST

Nikola Dicke, born in 1971, experienced the regional reform in Münsterland as a child. Two years after the reform, her family moved from Lüdinghausen to Coesfeld. She studied fine art in Münster and has been working as a freelance artist since 2006. Her focus is on light drawings, which she always associates with places and their stories. Dicke has received numerous art awards and scholarships for her work, including the DA KunstKommunikation scholarship from the Kunsthaus Kloster Gravenhorst (2009). After almost 10 years as a research assistant for art/art education at the University of Osnabrück alongside her artistic work, she moved to the University of Bremen in 2023 as a lecturer in art studies, film studies and art education.

FURTHER "SIGN CHANGE" PROJECTS