General Public

General Public was a collectively organized project space for artistic, cross-genre presentations and discussions. Founded in 2005, the space at Schönhauser Allee 167c was used by up to 10 artists and cultural practitioners at times as an open and experimental platform for exhibitions, performances, discussion events, concerts, film screenings, workshops, and lectures. At the end of 2013, the building underwent a complete renovation, and the rent increase ultimately marked the end of General Public. This publication tells the story of this place and, at the same time, that of an entire scene of alternative spaces in Berlin’s Mitte district. Decimated by gentrification and displacement, this scene already seems like a thing of the past today and, for that very reason, calls for reflection and contextualization.
The book combines documentary material with accounts from those involved, as well as accompanying commentary from authors who relate the history of the project space to the city and local spatial policy and discuss the role of alternative spaces as a counter-narrative to the commodified city.

With contributions by Naomi Hennig, Fred Dewey, Annette Maechtel, Ines Schaber, and a conversation with General Public members Oliver Baurhenn, Alice Cannava, Jeremiah Day, Ursula Böckler, and Georg Graw, Cristina Gómez Barrio and Wolfgang Mayer, Heimo Lattner, Cornelia Lund & Holger Lund, Doreen Mende, Shintaro Miyazaki, Marie-José Ourtilane, Sara Pereira, Jan Rohlf, Michael Schultze, and Remco Schuurbiers.