Together but different – Intergenerational Encounters in the Arts

The climate crisis, Covid-19 and demographic change: many social transformation processes of our time are discussed as generational conflicts. So there is a need for discussion between younger and older people. However, many children and young people grow up at a great distance from their grandparents. In only six percent of households do over-65s live together with younger people. When the opportunities for everyday contact between the generations dwindle, arranged encounters are needed. With joint art, dance, theater, media and other cultural projects, cultural education offers a wide range of opportunities to promote intergenerational dialogue. In this issue of Kulturräume+, we therefore focus on intergenerational cultural education. Scholarly articles by Miriam Haller on generational distinctions in cultural education, by Julia Franz, Claudia Kühn and Annette Scheunpflug on the intergenerational transmission of cultural knowledge in rural areas and by Mendina Scholte-Reh on “Social Granfluencers” open the discussion. Articles about the intergenerational activities of the Lesebürger*innen in Münsterland, about the Children’s Opera Cologne, which connects people with dementia and children through music, and about the theater  project “A Question of Age” provide insights into practice. All of them encourage people to learn with, from and about each other in cultural projects and to challenge mutual prejudices in the process. A photo series shows the creative ways in which Irishman Enda Burke spent the lockdown in his childhood home. He presents his parents in an ironic and shrill way.