Faces in HELLERAU - Jule Fuchs, Head of Audience Development, #2 - 2024

In the "Faces" series, we introduce people who work in front of or behind the scenes at HELLERAU to ensure that everything runs smoothly and that our guests feel at home.

How long have you been working at HELLERAU and what are your tasks?

I've been working as Head of Audience Development, Cultural Education and Networks at HELLERAU since the beginning of the 2023/24 season. My role is as complex and varied as the name of my job description sounds. I would describe myself as a cultural mediator who takes care of the relationship between art and the audience. What does that mean in concrete terms for my job? Asking questions, entering into dialogue, opening up spaces and discourse, learning, unlearning, listening and shaping. For me, it's important: what are we as an institution and what relationship do we have to our neighbourhood, to urban society or, thinking more broadly, to the world? Who is our audience and who is not? So I enquire about needs and try to translate these into our theatre operations together with my colleagues. This happens in different, mostly participatory formats, e.g. in introductory events, follow-up discussions or workshops that are created in collaboration between the audience and art.

What plans do you have for the near future?

We are working on implementing formats that have a longer-term effect, i.e. an education programme that takes place regularly and reliably. By strengthening formats such as the workshop series "HELLERAUmoves", we want to expand and consolidate the programme for people interested in dance. We also want to strengthen the area of inclusion and transgenerational work. For me, it's about being open and remaining so even in these uncertain times. I want HELLERAU to remain a place where anything can happen, because people who love what they do come together here. That is a strength that I hope will remain in the near future. The quote from the great René Pollesch - "Throw away your ego and celebrate what you love" - inspires me in what I do.

What do you particularly like about HELLERAU?

HELLERAU for me, is a place of unexplored potential and many possibilities. Many different things come together here that strengthen each other. On the one hand, there are the diverse art disciplines and their creators, but also the city's diverse people and communities. Then there is the intertwining of the location with its history. For me, HELLERAU is a place of wonderful diversity, and I really enjoy that.

What has been your most impressive experience in HELLERAU so far?

From an artistic perspective, Boris Nikitin's "Versuch über das Schweigen", "mind the rage" by the go plastic company and Gob Squad's "Western Society" were absolute highlights for me. They combine everything I like about art: the use of space, attentive interaction with and among each other, good sound and an accessible concept with the question: what does this actually have to do with me? So for me, all experiences at HELLERAU that allow for a form of encounter are impressive - no matter what this may look like.

What do you wish HELLERAU for the future?

I hope that HELLERAU remains a place for the public and functions as a large, inviting space for dialogue. A place where cultural participation is possible, which constantly scrutinises itself, continues to develop and never tires of remaining unconventional and courageous.

The interview was conducted by Henrike Ehrhardt and Henriette Roth.