Mandy Gehrt, Kseniia Shachneva and Isabell Wiehmert have been working for just over a year in the town of Zeitz, which is undergoing structural change. Their extraordinary mission? To act as Bauhaus Agents! As part of the Saxony-Anhalt-based NEB_PROJECT Reallabor ZEKIWA Zeitz (RZZ), they reach out to children and young people in the town, visit schools, lead extracurricular groups, organise project days and weeks, and help organise town events. All with the aim of opening up artistic and creative avenues across generations and fostering a sense of self-efficacy, thereby raising awareness of talents, skills and 'superpowers'. They bring with them the values of the New European Bauhaus – BEAUTIFUL, SUSTAINABLE, TOGETHER – and the conviction that the ideas of the historic Bauhaus point towards the future, both then and now.
"We should always have an event like this here!" That was the conclusion reached by one of the visitors, who had brought her children along to "Big Games. Little Games", the contribution by the Bauhaus Agentinnen to the 4th Zeitz Art Festival. For two days over the penultimate weekend in August, the "Room of Possibilities" in the former main building of the old ZEKIWA pram factory had been transformed into a vast, colourful play area. Children and their parents bustled and swarmed through the vast hall, drawn to stations inviting them to join in, help build and contribute to the creative process – and they were literally on a journey of wonder: to experience just how much play can be found in art.
Anyone who looked closely could see, above all, what the agents had created in Zeitz since taking up their posts just over a year ago on behalf of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, working with children, young people and extracurricular organisations: colourful and tactile play and design elements made from reused and sustainable materials: for example, the ‘Monster Stamp Game’ from the Pestalozzi School, imaginative upcycled objects from Secondary School III, or prototype furniture and spatial elements resulting from the collaboration with, amongst others, the Burgenlandkreis Vocational School in Zeitz. And last but not least, exhibits from the fantastic ‘Don’t Think of Elephants’ project, which was set up in collaboration with the Upsala Circus and provided the theme for this year’s Zeitz ‘Big People’ Circus Carnival. Wild, endearing and, above all, homemade elephant creatures had been created beforehand in hands-on workshops and romped about confidently and exuberantly in the colourful summer city parade. An unforgettably beautiful moment.
Being an agent on behalf of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation – but what exactly does that mean? Working undercover? “No, of course not,” smiles Isabell Wiehmert. “Quite the opposite. We’re out in the open and out and about in the city, particularly among young people, to pass on the ideas of the historic Bauhaus – with its blend of art, crafting and technology – as a shared endeavour – and to develop them further today for the future, in the spirit of the New European Bauhaus (NEB)! It has always been about the courage to experiment, to try things out, to have confidence in one’s own abilities and in the power of community.” Isabell is an art educator; Mandy Gehrt studied art education and fine art; and Kseniia Shachneva, the third member of the trio, is an architect and designer from Russia. They all have extensive experience in socio-cultural and art education projects, including those outside the major cities. Mandy: “With us, children and young people learn that it is possible to actively help shape their own living environment with ideas, imagination and courage – and to see just how much joy and fun this can bring.” The world is constantly changing. And the challenges are great. The key word here is self-efficacy! For the Bauhaus Agents, this translates as ‘superpowers’ – powers that we all possess and want to unleash.
This can be an experience of a lifetime and is particularly significant in a city marked by the economic and social disruptions of the last three decades. A prime example of this is ZEKIWA Zeitz, once Europe’s largest pram factory. Since 2025, its regeneration – in particular the administrative building and grounds, which have stood derelict since the factory’s closure – has been at the heart of Saxony-Anhalt’s largest NEB_PROJECT. Six consortium partners are working on an experimental basis to sustainably revitalise and imbue with new meaning this site, which is almost iconic for the city’s community. And one of the NEB consortium partners in the ‘Reallabor ZEKIWA Zeitz (RZZ)’ is the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation with its Bauhaus agents.
The three of them have managed to find a partner from each type of school for their project. This is because, as early as 2023, the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation carried out three months of preliminary research, during which ideas for the project were developed in collaboration with schools and pupils. This paved the way for them to engage with the city, but the name and mission still cause confusion from time to time. “When they hear the word ‘Bauhaus’, some people immediately think of the hardware store of the same name,” they say with a laugh, “but ‘agent’ – most people think that’s cool” – whether at the Stadtmitte Primary School, the ‘Johann Traugott Weise’ School for Children with Special Educational Needs, Secondary School III, the Pestalozzi School, the Geschwister-Scholl Grammar School or the Vocational School. “And we’re expanding our reach to include future partners,” adds Kseniia, “such as the Kreazentrum, the krimZkrams shop or the adult education centre.”
Constantly and tirelessly, they make their way through the city’s streets with their bulging ‘trolleys’ to the places where they carry out their work. Always on hand: creative, surprising and sustainability-focused ideas for projects made from all manner of diverse materials – be it packaging, bags, bottles or textiles – things that would normally end up in the bin. This is how the woven rug made from scraps of upholstery fabric from the legendary ZEKIWA pram factory came about. Bauhaus agents sharpen our awareness of the challenges of our time.
Small games made from offcuts of wood and cardboard, creating something new from scratch, and homemade balls made from old ZEKIWA fabrics Photo credit: Transmedial
