Take Back the Economy

In what ways can art be used as an economic practice to highlight alternative, solidarity-based economic models that go beyond capitalist ones?

In this talk, Kathrin Böhm explores art as an economic practice and the economy as a cultural field. She discusses alternative economic forms using projects such as Lumbung, a model of sharing, collective resource use, and solidarity, and Company Drinks, a project that explores informal economies and social relationships. In doing so, she introduces new concepts of value, work, and exchange. In her talk, Kathrin Böhm will argue that the economy is a shared cultural realm, composed of diverse economies, which we all enact, support, and subvert on a daily basis.

The talk coincides with the development of the project “Gemeine Getränke,” a new commission for collectively produced communal beverages, rooted in the multifaceted economic, social, and non-human relationships of the Katzenwedelwiese. The ZKM has been leasing and tending this traditional orchard meadow for several years, and it has thus become part of the ZKM’s organizational fabric. The first “Gemeine Getränk” will be presented at the ZKM in 2026.

This event takes place in collaboration with the HfG, as part of a seminar led by Céline Condorelli, and is part of the lecture series “Spatial Dramaturgies” (Exhibition Design and Scenography).