The Frankfurt LAB
Since it was founded in 2009, Frankfurt LAB has established itself as a vital performance and producing space for contemporary performing arts and music in the Rhine-Main region. The aim of its five partner institutions Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company, Ensemble Modern, Hessian Theatre Academy, Frankfurt University for Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK) and Künstler:innenhaus Mousonturm is to connect the work of internationally renowned ensembles with supporting emerging artists and to encourage a productive exchange between dance, choreography, performance, theatre and music. Frankfurt LAB offers the ideal conditions for this: with facilities of a high technical standard and in a protected setting, artists can rehearse and show their work completely flexibly in a 650 m² stage area and on a 226 m² studio stage.
Frankfurt LAB provides space for ground-breaking international guest performances, acts as a centre for large-scale festivals and as a starting point for extraordinary cooperation and research projects at the interface of art, science and society. At the same time, it sees itself as a laboratory for future aesthetic developments: As a workplace and stage for students, it integrates education and training into a professional environment from the very beginning. With its residency programme and the HTA Postgraduate Grant, Frankfurt LAB also actively supports emerging artists and ties qualified artists to the region.
The biennial F°LAB Festival for Performing Arts offers a brilliant insight into the aesthetic range of Frankfurt LAB’s programming. The festival brings together numerous new artistic projects within the interdisciplinary network of its partner institutions, explores new collaborations and partnerships with other organizations, and uses participatory formats to engage with locals and initiatives from the neighborhood.
The Frankfurt LAB is located in the “Kommunikationsfabrik” in Frankfurt’s Gallus district, in a creative and vibrant neighborhood with other cultural institutions. Its long-term future lies on the “Kulturcampus Bockenheim.”
BOARD
Dr. Philipp Schulte (Chair) – Managing Director Hessischen Theaterakademie
Annika Glose (Co-Chair) – Managing Director Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company
Christian Fausch – Artistic Management and Managing Director Ensemble Modern
Marcus Droß – Artistic and Managing Director Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm
Prof. Elmar Fulda – President HfMDK
Gefördert durch:
Kooperationspartner*innen:
PARTNER INSTITUTIONS
The programming at the Frankfurt LAB is done by its partner institutions:
The Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company is a contemporary dance ensemble under the artistic direction of Ioannis Mandafounis. The ensemble brings together creative individuals with a range of experiences and backgrounds. The company regularly invites guest choreographers. It develops, presents and communicates dance with the intention of bringing people together, inspiring them and fueling their enthusiasm for dance. The Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company emerged from Ballett Frankfurt. It is the company-in-residence at two performance venues: HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts in Dresden and the Bockenheimer Depot in Frankfurt am Main. The company uses the Frankfurt LAB for rehearsals and for the performance of original works by ensemble members.
The Ensemble Modern is one of the leading current music formations in the world. Founded in 1980 and at home in Frankfurt am Main, 18 soloists currently determine the activities of this democratically organized ensemble. The musicians decide on artistic projects, partnerships with other artists and all financial matters. Its aesthetic spectrum includes musical theatre works, dance and multimedia projects, chamber music, ensemble and orchestral concerts. At the Frankfurt LAB, it rehearses with large casts, organizes cultural education projects and festivals — such as the “cresc Biennale for Current Music” — as well as collaborative initiatives like the “Akademie Musiktheater heute.”
At the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK), the only university for the performing arts and their mediation in Hesse, around 938 students from over 50 nations study in 28 degree programs. A focus lies on contemporary art. The special quality of education at the HfMDK is characterized by the intensive personal artistic and academic supervision of students, the combination of theory and practice and the wide variety of projects and collaborations. The Frankfurt LAB is used extensively for rehearsals and performances of study projects and students’ independent work. Interdisciplinary projects, such as those funded through “Kunstpakt”, are also carried out at the Frankfurt LAB.
Under the umbrella of Hessian Theatre Academy (HTA), all universities in Hessen that offer theatre-related programs as well as the region’s municipal and state theatres have come together in a study and production network. Diverse cross connections between both practical and theoretical disciplines, as well as between partners, are opening up new opportunities for students to prepare themselves for the complexity of an artistic career and to create first professional works. Through conferences and summer courses, the HTA fosters further professional development. It is a co-founder of the Frankfurt LAB, where it offers students a space to develop new artistic formats and aesthetics. At the intersection between student projects and professional practice, the Frankfurt LAB enables students to work mostly independently and, through the Emerging Artists program and the HTA Postgraduate Grant for Artistic Research, continues to support artists in the first few years following their graduation.
The Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm was founded in 1988 as one of the first independent production houses in Germany and is now internationally recognized as one of the most important production centers for independent theater in Germany. Year-round, it offers a program of contemporary theater, dance, and music in the historic tower of a former soap factory. As an “artists’ house”, it places recurring exchanges with creative artists, groups and collectives working in the contemporary independent sector in German-speaking, European and extra-European territories at the heart of its programming and productions. At the Frankfurt LAB the Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm presents large international guest performances as well as festivals, such as the “Tanzfestival Rhein-Main.“
SPONSORS & SUPPORTERS
The Hessische Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Forschung, Kunst und Kultur and the City of Frankfurt am Main are supporting Frankfurt LAB through a multi-annual funding. This support ensures the continuity of Frankfurt LAB and recognizes its importance in the region.
We would also like to thank several foundations, which support Frankfurt LAB and its programs: Crespo Foundation, Stiftung Polytechnische Gesellschaft Frankfurt am Main and Adolf und Luisa Haeuser Stiftung für Kunst und Kulturpflege. They are ensuring the ongoing and successful operation of our work.
Moreover, we would like to thank the Stabstelle Inklusion of the City of Frankfurt for making the Frankfurt LAB more accessible, the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain for its support of the F°LAB Festival and the KfW Stiftung for international artist residencies as part of „Frankfurt Moves!“.
For the support of volunteers as part of a Bundesfreiwilligendienst / Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr Kultur, we wish to thank the Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Hessen-Tühringen.
BECOME A PATRON
The non-profit organisation Frankfurt LAB e. V. is dependent on additional contributors
Should you be interested in making a donation, please get in touch:
Frankfurt LAB / Jenny Flügge
Tel +49 (0)69 – 739 416 93
fluegge(at)frankfurt-lab.de
We look forward to hearing from you!
Account
Frankfurter Sparkasse
IBAN DE73 5005 0201 0200 4313 82
BIC HELADEF1822
For donations over EUR 200 we may to issue a donation receipt.
