New Citizens' Will campaign - Chryssa Tsampazi

Chryssa Tsampazi researched the 1974 protest movement "Aktion Bürgerwille", which opposed the territorial reform with words, manifestos and actions. After intensive research in archives and conversations with contemporary witnesses, she brought the protests of the time into the public space as performances - allowing the voices and personal experiences of that time to have an impact in the present.

The focus was on the concept of the echo - as an artistic means, but also as a metaphor: What remains of political movements in the collective memory? What still resonates in the present? The performance sees itself as a kind of bridge between then and now, between what has been forgotten and what can be heard again.

Project location: Münster

Performance "Aktion Bürgerwille neu"
© Christoph Steinweg/Chryssa Tsampazi Studio

Action! Citizen! Will!
Three strong words, put together a message from the past.
Break the word down. Just say: ac... Then: ...tion. Then Bür..., ...ger, Wil..., ...le...
You are now part of the choir. Even if you are alone.
Even if you whisper. The past hears you. So does the future.

Ausschnitte aus den Aktionen und Manifesten der Aktion Bürgerwillen
© Chryssa Tsampazi
Aktion Bürgerwillen neu in Hiltrup
© Münsterland e.V./Philipp Fölting
© Ibbenbürener Volkszeitung

October/November 24: Research, discussions, networking
December 24 to April 25: Development of the reenactment
Fri. 9 May, 5 pm: Performance as part of the presentation week | Münster-Hiltrup pedestrian zone

For better planning, we would be pleased to receive your registration.

"Reenactments are a performative and cultural time machine. [...] The project is intended to make history physically tangible and at the same time serve as a platform for a reference between past and present." - Chryssa Tsampazi

THE ARTIST

Chryssa Tsampazi was born in 1975 in Rheine, in the middle of the final phase of the regional reform. She studied acting and performance in Athens, Chicago and Berlin. Her work is based on spoken performances and "testimonial actions" in which she interacts with the audience. Tsampazi regularly presents her work nationally and internationally in exhibitions and performances, including in Vienna, Athens, Jersualem and Berlin. The artist now lives and works in Berlin.