Along the Mainzer

An interdisciplinary art and culture project on performative urban culture in Frankfurt am Main

The Mainzer Landstraße, at about 8.4 km long the second longest street in Frankfurt, does not necessarily have the best reputation. The busy street is noisy, has some architecturally less than appealing sections to offer, and here and there it also runs through what likes to be called a "social hotspot". But Mainzer is more than just a typical metropolitan arterial street. It is also a reflection of the diversity that is Frankfurt. Urban planning and social contrasts can be experienced here, from the beginning lined with modern bank towers to the more village-like end in the Nied district. And it was precisely this versatility, this clash of contrasts, that inspired the Evangelische Akademie Frankfurt to launch the cultural project "Entlang der Mainzer", which is now being retraced in book form.

50 artists, academics and researchers took part in the interdisciplinary art and culture project, which started on 05 September 2012. At a total of sixteen exhibition venues along the street and in public spaces, there were exhibitions, performances, spatial installations, panel discussions, video installations, dance performances, street art, a pinhole camera performance, a kiosk tour and much more. An ambitious, multifaceted, exciting and surprising project, which is now extensively traced in the book "Entlang der Mainzer".

In addition to introductory texts, the volume presents all performances and works in words and pictures. It is true that the photos of actions such as a dance performance on the open street, of a BlindDate action or of a sculpture garden in Nied can only reproduce a fraction of the actual mood during these projects in small snapshots. Nevertheless, it is precisely in the interplay of the pictures and the accompanying texts that it becomes clear with what ambitions the individual participants approached this art and culture project and how much effort and passion they invested in the realization of their contributions.

For all those who visited parts of this cultural project, this book is a very nice reminder of what they experienced there. And for readers who missed the project, "Entlang der Mainzer" offers a very entertaining, informative, and also exciting way to see a whole new side of one of the city's greatest streets. Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp