Who we are

HELLERAU, built in 1911 as a festival theatre and educational institution for music and rhythm according to the visions of the pioneer of modern architecture Heinrich Tessenow and the music teacher Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, developed into a laboratory of artistic modernity within an eventful history.

HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts is today one of the most important centres for contemporary art in Germany and Europe.

HELLERAU acts as an interdisciplinary co-production and guest performance house and offers contemporary arts dance, music, theatre, performance, media art and visual arts spaces for production and presentation.

HELLERAU initiates and promotes debates on art and society with thematic focuses, festivals and audience formats.

HELLERAU cooperates with other cultural partners regionally, nationally and internationally and is involved in numerous networks.

HELLERAU is a stage by the state capital Dresden and a member of The Alliance of International Production Houses.

From the 2018/19 season onwards, the artistic director Carena Schlewitt will shape the fortunes of the house and, together with the HELLERAU team, will set the program with many artists and about 350 events per season. 

The Alliance of International Production Houses’ committment to non-discrimination

The international production houses in the alliance are united by an unwavering commitment to the values of freedom, human rights, democracy, the rule of law, and tolerance. This means we reject all forms of discrimination, including racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, antigypsyism, ableism, sexism, queerphobia, and classism.

The production houses regard themselves as locations of diversity where people with different backgrounds, interests, beliefs, expectations, and social statuses can interact. Each of these member institutions sees itself as a place where diversity can thrive and where people with a wide-ranging array of biographies, interests, beliefs, expectations and social backgrounds can come together to engage in artistic exchange, expression and performance. One of the AIPH’s most significant social responsibilities is to ensure that each one of our member institutions is sensitive to discrimination of all kinds, regardless of a person’s origin, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, disability, religion, culture, residence status, age, class, appearance or any other affiliation and attribution.

The members of the AIPH hereby declare their commitment to pursuing active and preventive measures designed to fight against all types of discrimination. We urge and encourage our employees, cooperation partners, artistic and technical staff, administrative and production teams, guests and audiences to contribute to a culture of mutual respect and an atmosphere of inclusion in the spirit of human solidarity. The AIPH also promises to take immediate action to address any discrimination-related incidents without hesitation as soon as they become known.

Furthermore, the AIPH commits itself to appointing trusted individuals to function as confidantes and advisors to any individuals who have experienced or witnessed discrimination. We commit to training the employees at our institutions in practices that are critical of discrimination. We commit to engaging in an active fight against sexual harassment, the abuse of power and all forms of bullying. We commit to the pursuit of justice in all cases of social and individual discrimination. We commit to uncovering and exposing institutional discrimination in our structures and processes and working to reduce these by means of effective change. We commit to addressing structural discrimination by way of critical self- appraisals in both the artistic and discursive realm. And, finally, we see these efforts as part of an ongoing task that calls for a constant process of critical self-examination and applied action.

March 2020
(reviewed in February 2024)

Forum Freies Theater Düsseldorf 
HAU Hebbel am Ufer Berlin
HELLERAU – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste
Künstlerhaus Mousonturm Frankfurt am Main
Kampnagel
PACT Zollverein Essen
Tanzhaus NRW Düsseldorf 

The Alliance of International Production Houses is supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.