From Berlin to Kassel by Roof-Boat

paused

A decade of collective brainstorming and action has literally shaken the timbers of the pitched roof at ZK/U, and charged it full of energy. Now, for documenta fifteen, ZK/U plans literally to raise the roof and sail off in it to Kassel. For several weeks, the upturned roof becomes a roof-boat, a citizenship, carrying the extended crew through central Germany to Kassel, on the Havel, Weser and Fulda rivers and the Mittelland canal.

The citizenship begins its journey with nothing on board but its crew. Food, fuel, a place to sleep, and a cultural program are sourced from day to day, in cooperation with associations, port and city authorities, companies, artists, and interested members of the public, wherever the roof-boat stops. Dependence on local structures and support is part of the citizenship concept, for it opens the travelers’ eyes to conditions both in small villages and larger cities such as Hannover, Wolfsburg, and Braunschweig, and sparks communication.

Not fossil fuel but people power propels the citizenship from Berlin to Kassel. Local community groups and chance passers-by are invited to join the changing crews in paddling, cycling, towing, pushing, and whatever else it takes to keep the roof-boat moving for 650 km. citizenship in this way stands as a symbol of our times, for the roof-boat can progress only when people cooperate!