Cultural education archive

From October 2011 to summer 2018, photographer Etta Gerdes carried out the participatory children's and youth project "PiratenGOLD" at the Künstlerhaus Dortmund.
Started as an experimental pilot project, it grew continuously into a lasting contribution to integration and neighborhood development in Dortmund's harbor district.

The basic idea of the project, initiated by Linda Opgen-Rhein and Anett Frontzek, was based on the elaboration of the positive potential in the district, which lies in the need of individuals to help shape their living environment - regardless of nationality, educational background and social status. The one-sided negative image of the Nordstadt should be questioned and brought to a new discourse.

The course leader, Etta Gerdes, worked successfully for seven years with a constant number of 10 to 14 children from the immediate neighborhood. In small steps, she succeeded in using artistic means in the special atmosphere of the Künstlerhaus to create or improve both the children's social behavior and their understanding of creative personal responsibility in participation processes. She accompanied a generation of children into young adulthood and celebrated her farewell in 2018 after seven years.