Engaging in and doing something is an integral part of KunstRaum Goethestrasse xtd’s work towards goals
such as mental health improvement and community building. It is based on the individual participants‘ actions,
about becoming active, and about working together in order to grow together. These kind of processes can
span over varying periods of time. A wonderful example of this is illustrated in the following project, which
was created with the participants of the pro mente OÖ‘s leisure activity programs in the different regions
of Upper Austria. As a follow-up project to a series of cross-regional workshops, and thereby building on
previous relationship work, anyone with a budding belief in their own ability could participate. The participants
were able to engage in unfamiliar activities in known and secure surroundings, as they were accompanied by
their caregivers and were able to take part in the project in their own familiar spaces and rooms.
In different expeditions, set along the different directional points of the compass, participants were encouraged
to discover new things. In doing so, they were empowered to take a stance and assert a position on our planet.
These artistic and creative tours led the participants on an exploration from our reality to their fantasy and back
again. A large selection of drawings, statements, images, compositions and photos were developed and created,
accompanied by interviews and video documentation of the different processes. Altogether, 130 participants
took part in 24 workshops that were held in the six regions of Upper Austria.
The results of these artistic processes were presented to the public in the exhibition space of the KunstRaum
Goethestrasse xtd. The opening of the exhibition brought a number of participants from the different regions together to one place and into a common exchange, furthering interregional cohesion. During the opening, a special
moment of cohesion was experienced as a group, different tests, attempts and experiences were discussed.
In the discussions, the participants’ increase in self-confidence about what they had achieved became tangible.
They were strengthened in their doing and in coming together, they were able to experience their individual self
as part of a larger whole. As a physical memento of the experience, all participants received a folder summarizing
the collaboration, completed with a personally selected photo.
At the same time, the project FILM AB! was launched to present the results in all regions of Upper Austrian.
HIMMELSRICHTUNGEN_ der Film (EN: In Every Direction_the Film) shows the history of the expedition and
the expedition participants, as a story by and about the people who took part. The film offers insights into the
process, combining the artistic results in the cinematic dimension.