Collaboration

Gessnerallee is a centre for contemporary performative arts and cooperates with local, national and international artists in the fields of research, production, presentation and touring. We are interested in working with experienced artists, emerging artists and newcomers. We see ourselves as hosts, collaborators and enablers, and in our decisions we emphasise the importance of making both sustainable, long-term collaborations and short-term projects possible.

Our focus is on working with artists who are characterised by a high degree of reflection on social and/or aesthetic issues, who have a need to further develop their artistic and aesthetic practice, who are happy to take risks and at the same time are sensitive to diversity and inclusion-related topics and issues.

Artistic work is always a process that goes hand in hand with decisions in favour of a certain aesthetic, a certain form, a certain theme - and thus leaves out other possibilities. Within the field of tension between the demand for openness and the necessity of omission, the ability to empathise, generosity, the joy of sharing and making transparent decisions are important components of good collaboration for us. A further focal point for us is the constant examination of the question of for whom we produce artistic works and how we can make the stay in our spaces as accessible, pleasant and stimulating as possible for a diverse audience. We therefore welcome the willingness to consider the visitor's perspective, interest in the creative use of forms of access (such as audio description, sign language, relaxed performance, multilingual surtitles, etc.) and collaboration on the design of communication materials.

Programme decisions

The new programme team for Gessnerallee's theatre, dance, performance and music programme is made up of the artistic and managing co-directors (Kathrin Veser, Miriam Walther), dramaturgy (Isabel Gatzke, Noa Winter) and music curation (Year-to-Date). The curatorial processes are supported by two permanent agents for diversity (Manuel Gerst, Ramona Unterberg), as well as two production managers (Jonas Gillmann, Anja Mayer) and the technical director (Piotr Rybkowski).

New funding situation

Due to the new funding situation in the city of Zurich, the allocation processes for production funds are changing. Since 2024, Gessnerallee has been able to award production funds that previously had to be applied for from the city directly to the artists. This enables both long-term collaborations and short-term projects. We support artists with research, production, presentation, touring and also with larger projects and small try-outs.

Artists with a work focus in Zurich

Artists who see themselves as part of the Zurich artist community and are interested in long-term or short-term collaboration and are planning research, projects, labs, etc. in the 24/25 season were able to present their plans to us for the first time in autumn 2023; decisions were communicated to the artists by the end of November 2023. As the 24/25 season is already very full, we can only enter into collaborations with a few other artists for this period.

Making contact

We recommend that artists who are interested in a collaboration contact the programme group by email at least two weeks before submitting material so that we can check whether a collaboration is possible in principle and thus avoid unnecessary work on the artistic side.

If so, the submitted material should consist of

• a letter of motivation describing why a collaboration with the Gessnerallee is desired,

• an approximately two-page outline of the project over a maximum of two years (research, stage projects, new formats),

• possible cooperation partners,

• possible offers regarding inclusion and accessibility,

• a budget outline including the desired Gessnerallee contribution,

• a CV,

• if possible, links to past work.

Contact

If you have any project suggestions or questions, please write to the programme group (Isabel Gatzke, Kathrin Veser, Miriam Walther, Noa Winter) at programm@gessnerallee.ch. We will get back to you if we are interested.