The participants are: Elena Kiseleva-Arendt, Marion Münzberg, Anne Martin, Friedrich Hensen, and Julienne Jattiot
Zeitz. From August 21 to 30, 2026, the city will once again be all about art—for the fourth time. For ten days, more than 20 venues throughout the city will open their doors, transforming streets, buildings, and courtyards—and inviting visitors to set aside their daily routines for a moment and immerse themselves in art, music, and new encounters. And all of this with free admission to every exhibition and event.
St. Nicholas Church Comes to Life
A highlight of this year’s festival: St. Nicholas Church on Geschwister-Scholl-Straße will once again host events for the first time. Tobias Lehner, Michael Krause, Eva Weymann, Kamilla Czosnyk, Friedrich Hensen, Sebastian Hänel, and Sascha Röhricht will present works and performances in the church, while Fluktuation8, Ginger Hail, Line Bug, and the BigStereoDuo will fill it with live music. On August 26, Heike Geißler, winner of the Klopstock Prize for Literature in Saxony-Anhalt, will give a reading—and on August 30, the closing event of the art festival will seamlessly transition into the opening of “Rhino on Tour” at the Magdeburg Art Museum.
From the Office to the Gallery
The former employment office on Von-Harnack-Straße is once again being transformed into an art gallery: Over 30 artists will be exhibiting in the space—including several from Hexham, UK, members of the Görlitz art association “Streifen,” and names such as Anne Martin, Christa Mayr-Brandl, Christian Gundtoft, Ingrid Klausner, and Yvonne Sprotte. The festivities kick off here on August 21 at 6:00 p.m. with the grand opening of the art festival, followed by performances the next day.
The whole city becomes the backdrop
And that’s not all: The Zeitzone on August-Bebel-Straße, the former Brühl Pharmacy, Marcin Zastrozny’s studio, and the former VEB Bürste—featuring Eckhard Roth and Luzie Die—will also open their doors for the festival. In public spaces, passersby will also encounter the installations “Zwürfel” by Philipp Baumgarten and “Rote Linie” by Michael Krause.
Things really come to life at the Zekiwa Zeitz Real-World Lab: Under the title “Big Games, Little Games,” the Bauhaus agents are transforming the space into a huge interactive playground for children and teens—featuring play objects, masks, and artworks created in collaborative workshops with the art club at the Schule am Schwanenteich and the Children’s and Youth Art Workshop, along with play areas created by other artists and students, as well as an adventure golf course. On August 22, the film about the “Große-Leute-Karneval” by Circus Upsala will also premiere there—directed by Daria Chalikova.
The fun continues at Krimzkrams with a Tabashi workshop, a Repair Café, and an Open Cosplay Studio; at Stadtlabor, Robert Weinkauf will read from *Damals war es Friedrich* in “Simple Language” on August 25. On August 27, the Kunstfest will make its debut at the Brühl Cinema with a short film night featuring Zeitz and Hexham; on August 28, the scene will gather at Salon Zeitz in the Old City Library for networking. On August 29, at the Open Art Festival Posa in Posa Monastery, exhibitions, performances, and theater will merge into a multifaceted dialogue on identity and change—and to wrap things up, there will be a relaxed classical music brunch at Kleiner Rahmen on August 30.