In Dresden–Johannstadt opened the temporary exhibition House of Colors . An empty tower block at the Nicolaistraße is open to the public as a free street art gallery; the temporary use is scheduled to continue until the end of November, and admission is free.
More than 70 artists from Germany and abroad have transformed 20 empty flats. Walls, ceilings and floors have been painted, covered with materials or altered sculpturally, while some rooms have been remodelled as installations. The works range from large-scale images to pointed interventions in small bathrooms. One participating artist describes his approach with the words “I’m bombing the bathroom” – a deliberate allusion to terms from the graffitiscene.
The project is run by the cultural education association House of Urban Culture, which is delivering it together with the housing co-operative WG Aufbau Dresden eG and local partners. The accompanying programme includes guided tours, workshops and events about the history of hip-hop and graffiti in Dresden. According to the organisers, the artistic works will be documented before the building is demolished using 360-degree photography documented and archived digitally.
The format is explicitly conceived as temporary use ahead of a planned demolition According to the planning authorities, the buildings date from the 1960s and are due to be demolished in late 2026 or early 2027. Decisions about the future use of the site rest with the owners and the relevant city committees. Those responsible for the project emphasise that the House of Colors is intended to prompt public discussion of housing and cultures of remembrance in prefabricated tower blocks, and to make dialogue between artists, local residents and the local authority visible.
The exhibition is part of a series of neighbourhood-focused cultural initiatives in Dresden that temporarily open up vacant buildings and put them to artistic use. In Johannstadt, the subject is being followed particularly closely in view of the forthcoming demolition. The organisers say that access has been arranged to minimise barriers; specific opening times and admission information will be announced on site and through the project’s channels. No information is currently available on possible extensions beyond the end of November.
With the opening, the artistic part of the project is complete and the exhibition phase has begun. The organisers draw a clear distinction between the present, as documented — the walk-through gallery in the prefabricated block — and the demolition plans, the next step in the hands of the owners and the city.
Editor: Celestina Fuentes (Article created with AI assistance).
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