Bureau de Change
Partners: The Highrise Project CIC (Leeds, England) and Kulturbühne Neustadt e.V. (Halle, Germany)
Image © Kulturbühne Neustadt
“The Highrise Project (Leeds, UK) and Kulturbühne Neustadt (Halle Neustadt, Germany) will co‑design Bureau de Change, a hybrid, participatory project that treats local stories and knowledge as a form of social currency. Both organisations share values of participation, accessibility and co‑creation, and have built lasting relationships that boost skills, confidence and wellbeing in peripheral, post‑industrial neighbourhoods. The collaboration will test iterative methods for international cultural exchange through mapping and sharing community memories."
The Highrise Project CIC and Kulturbühne Neustadt e.V.
About the partners
The Highrise Project CIC
The Highrise Project was founded by Louise Atkinson and Victoria Kortekaas, in response to our backgrounds in community outreach, participatory art, and our own experiences of living in social housing. Our organisation supports marginalised communities in inner city areas to tell their own stories through art and digital technology. We deliver a range of projects, both from our base underneath Armley Community Hub and Library and across Leeds. We commission local artists to deliver projects, as well as providing volunteering and paid support roles to participants to help them to develop skills and gain experience in the art and community sectors. We believe passionately in the power of art and technology as tools for learning, building confidence, and creating connections between people. At the core of our work is the principle that communities are best placed to understand and communicate their own needs, aligning with an Asset-Based Community Development framework. www.thehighriseproject.co.uk
Kulturbühne Neustadt e.V.
Kulturbühne Neustadt e.V. is a non-profit, independent socio-cultural organisation based in Halle-Neustadt. Our mission is to create open spaces for creativity, learning, and encounter across generations and backgrounds. Through Passage 13, our cultural and media hub, we bring together art, digital media, and social engagement to empower young people, families, and residents to co-create and express their voices. We promote equal access to culture and high-quality non-formal education, media literacy, offering workshops, residencies, and community-led projects that strengthen participation, dialogue, and cultural democracy. Politically and religiously independent, we believe in art as a catalyst for social cohesion and meaningful local change. https://passage13.de
