KatzenwedelwieseDE
Die Katzenwedelwiese is a small orchard and meadow in Beiertheim-Bulach in Karlsruhe. It became part of the organisational structure of ZKM | Centre for Art and Media in 2019, initiated by artist Stéphane Verlet-Bottéro as part of the exhibition project Critical Zones.
The Katzenwedelwiese is since been used as a public space by ZKM, local residents and groups for land-based practices, community activities, and art & interspecies learning. The meadow is leased, managed and maintained by ZKM, which provides paid time to employees who choose to work the land.
The usership and stewardship of the meadow is shared with residents, the municipality (Liegenschaftsamt), the Bulach and Beiertheim Citizens' Association, artists and a growing ecosystem of individuals, groups, organisations and initiatives. Artist and programmes at ZKM regularly take place on the meadow, and are also feeding back into exhibitions at the ZKM, which is a 15 minute walk away.
In 2025 Kathrin from Myvillages was invited to develop a new drinks series to make the co-usership and interdependent economies between the meadow and the museum more visible. Kathrin is using Company Drinks - which is also part of the Arte Util Archive at ZKM - as a starting point.
A first co-developed communal drink will be launched in November 2026. It is enabled by local, seasonal and more-than-capitalist practices. The new drinks series is called "Gemeine Getränke", referencing Ivan Illich's "Recht auf Gemeinheit" (right to commonness).
| Region | Baden-Württemberg |
|---|---|
| Local partners |
|
| Population | No permanent human population |
| Common fruit, vegetables, animals | apple, the tail of a cat |
| Tradition | Streuobstwiese |
| Scent | grass |
| Distances from Katzenwedelwiese | Distances |
| Coordinators | Kathrin BöhmMira Hirtz |
“Gemeine Getränke” are a first iteration of Company Drinks in Germany, and common-ing or gemein-schaffen are the economic principle.
The invitation came from Alistair Hudson, a long term collaborator of Myvillages (from early days at Grizedale Arts to more recent support of Company Drinks) who – in his new role as in his new role as director of ZKM - took the Arte Util Archive with him. London based Company Drinks is in this archive, and instead just showing it as a remote example of arte util practice elsewhere, the idea was to create a local version of Company Drinks in Karlsruhe, anchored in the many and more-than-human aspects of the Katzenwedelwiese.
The name is influences by Ivan Illich’s 1982 book “Recht auf Gemeinheit” (English: “The Right to Commonness“, and he explains beautifully the etymological development of the word “gemein” as it reflects a complex semantic shift from “in common” and"shared by all" to "low-quality". “mean” and finally "evil".
#GemeineGetränke is developed by Kathrin and Shaun from CompanyDrinks, working with ZKM and Katzenwedelwiese, part of Myvillages’ RSOE, partnering with HfG Karlsruhe, and collaborating with Burgerverein Bulach and Streuobstwiese Initiative Karlsruhe.
| Region | Baden-Württemberg |
|---|---|
| Local partners |
|
| Population | No permanent human population |
| Common fruit, vegetables, animals | apple, the tail of a cat |
| Tradition | Streuobstwiese |
| Scent | grass |
| Distances from Katzenwedelwiese | Distances |
| Coordinators | Kathrin BöhmMira Hirtz |