How much too little is enough?
How much having is being?
How much more is enough?
In 2017, the already fourth edition of the biennial City-Leaks Urban Art Festival is primarily concerned with the sharing city, the "Sharing Cities". For almost an entire month, the age-old question that already troubled the inhabitants of Uruk will be examined under the influence of contemporary demands: What makes a city livable? How do we want to live?
Under the sword of Damocles of increasing scarcity of resources, the postmodern city has to deal with new demands and changes. The increasing technologization of private and public space is transforming our cities into digital smart cities, ensuring that our ritualized movements within the city are fundamentally changed. Commons are experiencing a new order between the market, the administration and the citizens under a continuous privatization, while environmental protection, which is concerned with the radiation of our livelihood, has to assert itself against a consumption that nobody wants to follow anymore.
In order to intensify the dialogue between artists, cultural workers, city administrators, citizens and scientists, an academy will be the focus of this year's festival. As part of the festival headquarters, it will occupy a location in September that could hardly be more symbolic of the urban community: Ebertplatz in Cologne's Nordstadt district.
