Through Münster by child's hand
audio art project with an integrative primary school class
Münster, 2006
How do elementary school children experience urban space today? As a space of possibilities or as a danger zone, as an obstacle course or a temple of consumption? How do children relate to the history of their city? How can they build a personal relationship to historical places and thus appropriate the city in a new way?
The project wants to encourage children to consider the public space of a city as 'their' space as well. Children are increasingly excluded from public space. They are expected to stay in supervised indoor spaces or fenced-off playgrounds, for their protection and so as not to disturb the smooth flow of traffic and consumption in the adult world. But the places of the grown-ups are often much more attractive to children than the areas defined for them by adults. And last but not least, children have a right to be present in urban space.
The project began with a discovery walk through Münster's city center. The children decided on a place of their choice, which they studied intensively for several weeks before writing a text about it. The results were as varied as the children themselves, ranging from condensed poems to elaborated science fiction, from sober documentation of actual events to free invention of characters and stories.
The stories were recorded in the studio of Citizen Radio. The result is a CD that leads the listeners through Münster by a child's hand - and into a world in which not only living beings, but also houses and street lamps have souls and voices.
Münster from a child's point of view - but not only for children - opens up new perspectives on the city. The resulting radio play was presented to the public in an internal school presentation and broadcasted on Citizen Radio, hosted by a team of children.
