Projects
Foundation activities in 2023
The foundation pursues both international and national projects. It unites previous, existing and future projects that were carried out before the foundation was established and that follow the foundation’s purpose under one central care and responsibility.
The international projects build bridges between countries, cities and people with the aim of promoting exchange, mutually stimulating and inspiring each other and creating joint activities.
The national projects are intended to strengthen the subculture in Germany and give the younger generations opportunities for self-realization and the realization of their own projects, as well as to strengthen the attractiveness and quality of life of structurally weak regions in Germany.
Foundation activities in 2024
First year of training at the Academy for Subcultural Understanding
Berlin, DE
Foundation activities in 2023
Foundation of the Academy for Subcultural Understanding
Berlin, DE
In the summer of 2023, the Tresor Foundation Berlin founded the Academy of Subcultural Understanding.
Here we work with young people who want to create subcultural spaces in their cities. The aim of the Academy is to support the young generation’s ideas for venues and give participants the tools to (successfully) run these venues.
To make this possible, we offer intensive training in club management to young, dedicated people who are committed to creating and promoting lively, sustainable subcultural spaces. Our research takes place at the intersection of urbanism, community-building and subcultures. As a platform for knowledge exchange, we bring young people and researchers together with local experts to learn from each other – with the common goal of creating long-lasting subcultural spaces.
Student at the Academy of Subcultural Understanding, Photo by Frankie Casillo
The first cohort of students at the Academy of Subcultural Understanding, Photo by Frankie Casillo
Foundation activities in 2022
Next Generation of Cultural Spaces Conference
Berlin, DE – Vinschgau/South Tyrol, IT – Tbilisi, GEO
Funded by the European Culture Foundation, we initiated a ring conference together with partner organizations: Next Generation of Cultural Spaces
The focus was on presenting the new use and conversion of historical spaces. How can they be (re)revitalized through cultural activities to create safe spaces where non-dominant youth culture, queer communities and other marginalized groups in Eastern and Southern Europe can thrive? The conference took place in Berlin, South Tyrol and Tbilisi.
NO WAR!
Berlin, DE
In view of the threat of a Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, we called for a nationwide NO WAR!
The Tresor Foundation’s poster campaign was intended to raise awareness of the difficult political conditions on the edges of Europe and send a signal for peace and understanding, which can arise through culture as well as needing and generating it.
Poster campaign for peace on the outer wall of Kraftwerk Berlin
Poster of the symposium “The Next Generation of Cultural Spaces” in Tbilisi, Georgia
Participants of the Next Generation of Cultural Spaces Conference at Kraftwerk Berlin
Foundation activities in 2021
Deutscher Städtetag
Leipzig, DE
The „Clubs for Germany“ initiative, which we support, was presented at the German Association of Cities in Leipzig on October 28-29, 2021. The initiative promotes the acceptance of the administration towards youth groups and slows down the exodus of young intelligentsia. We call on cities and their administrations to provide young people with spaces that they can manage themselves and use for their own projects. Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Balkan Advanced Music Conference
Balkan Advanced Music Conference
Sarajevo, BIH
The Tresor Foundation was the driving force behind the Balkan Advanced Music Conference near Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was organized around the Hotel Igman, the bombed-out ski jumping hotel built for the 1984 Winter Olympics.
This location was proposed by us as a place for art and culture to achieve social change through international programs.
Press
2024
„Can you strengthen democracy with clubs? Dimitri Hegemann’s Tresor Foundation Academy has convinced me of this. Yesterday I was a lecturer on organizational structures and decision-making processes as part of the 12-week training program, where seven young volunteers from different small towns learn all about how to set up and run a venue
This is exactly what is often lacking in their cities: places of alternative culture and meeting spaces by and for young people. The academy empowers the young creators to build these places themselves. To do this, they learn everything from awareness to contracts – this means self-efficacy, strengthens the local youth scene, creates prospects for staying – and ultimately strengthens democratic structures. More of it!“
Karoline Weber, LinkedIn, April 2024