On the Unspoken & Change
On 1 October, Alina Valerie Weinert, an author and actress, moved into the Altmarkkreis Salzwedel Artists’ and Fellows’ Residence as the new fellow. During her stay, she intends to make the most of the intensive working atmosphere to make significant progress on her first longer prose project. Having published numerous short stories in literary journals and anthologies, she is now turning her attention to a full-length work.
Alina Valerie Weinert was introduced to writing and developed a fascination for characters at an early age through the theatre. At the heart of her planned novel are three women from different generations: 87-year-old Lore Brenner, who has lived for decades on a remote farmstead in a small hamlet, and her granddaughters Romi and Johanna. After completing her academic thesis, Romi leaves the city to join her grandmother in the countryside. There, together with Johanna, she spends a long August, during which family history, the present and memories become increasingly intertwined. A second timeline takes us back to the early 1950s and tells the story of Lore as a young woman. The focus here is on questions of family influences, the unspoken, and the changes that are passed down through the generations.
However, what is left unsaid is also particularly important to her in the novel: the traumas of different generations, which often continue to have an impact behind the scenes.
The time she will spend at the Artists’ and Fellows’ House until the end of the year is intended to enable Weinert to devote herself to this material with the necessary peace and concentration. In doing so, she wishes not only to develop the plot further, but also to explore different narrative possibilities and refine the structure of the manuscript. This intensive writing period is thus intended to mark a decisive step towards her first longer work of prose. If everything goes according to plan, she hopes to have completed the first draft of her novel by the end of the year.
With this residency, Weinert is continuing her long-standing exploration of the intersection between theatre and literature. Her experiences as an actress and theatre scholar also shape her writing: the development of characters, the creation of specific situations and a sensitive approach to language and structure form important starting points for her literary work.
Alina Valerie Weinert believes that stories thrive on listening to the stories of others. She enjoys learning from other people and seeks out dialogue. She does not see herself as a solitary writer, but rather as someone who gains fresh inspiration for her writing through encounters, conversations and different perspectives.
More about Alina Valerie Weinert
Alina Valerie Weinert, born in 1995 and raised in Freiburg im Breisgau, now lives in Berlin. She studied theatre studies and philosophy at the Free University of Berlin and subsequently trained as an actress at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating with a diploma. From 2022 to 2024, she was engaged at theatres in Freiburg, Erlangen and Tübingen. Her literary works have been published in, amongst others, the erostepost literary magazine, *Wortlaut – Zeitschrift für Literatur in Franken* and an anthology of the district of Swabia. In 2024, she was nominated for the erostepost Literary Prize and came third in the 36th Franconian Prize for Young Literature. In 2023, she received the Erlangen Theatre Prize for her original play *Das Neinhorn*, based on the work of Marc-Uwe Kling._@_AMK
28.09.2026
On Bodies and Substances
On Thursday 17 September 2026, the Altmarkkreis Salzwedel District Adult Education Centre hosted an ‘Artists’ Café’ at the Artists’ and Scholarship Holders’ House. There, the visual artist David Behrens, who had been living in Salzwedel since the beginning of July, presented his artistic work to more than 20 interested visitors. His works focus on clothing fabrics and the human body, and the connection between them.
As part of the Artists’ Café, David Behrens offered insights into his ongoing series of works, ‘imprints’. In this series, he transforms denim fabrics into monochrome pictorial surfaces through mechanical and chemical processes – including sanding, bleaching and cyanotype. The fabrics serve simultaneously as a support, a tool and a pigment, operating at the intersection of drawing and painting.
Another key focus of his work is the relationship between the body and clothing. Behrens transfers moulds of human bodies onto textile surfaces. Through the photographic technique of cyanotype, the body, the material and light enter into a direct dialogue. His works raise questions about memory, identity and materiality.
At the Artists’ Café, he spoke about his artistic practice, his working processes, and the ideas and works he produced during his residency. His talk also covered the development of two- and three-dimensional works using various types of clothing fabric, as well as the boundaries between textiles, sculpture and painting. @_AMK
During the studio tour, David Behrens explained his works to the visitors @_Verein
16.08.2026
Concert at the Scholars’ House
As part of the 31st Altmark Music Festival, Sophie-Charlotte Sasse, a musician from Osterburg, performed at the Artists’ and Scholarship Holders’ House in Salzwedel on 20 August 2026. More than 30 guests gathered in the courtyard of the Stipendiatenhaus on this delightful summer evening and were treated to songs and recitations about happiness, hope and love – at times cheerful, at times thoughtful and moving. Works by Hanns-Dieter Hüsch, Mascha Kaléko, Rio Reiser, Max Raabe, Udo Lindenberg and many others were set to music, sung and read by the artist. It was an evening filled with optimism, light-heartedness and quiet poetry.
Sophie-Charlotte Sasse, from Osterburg, studied church music at the Protestant University of Church Music in Halle/Saale from 2009 to 2015 and has been working as a church musician and music teacher in the Altmark region since 2015.
Sophie-Charlotte Sasse at the concert in the courtyard of the scholarship holders’ residence_@_Verein
A large number of guests accepted the invitation to the Altmark Music Festival_@_Verein
19.07.2026
A Connection Between Textiles and the Body
Since early July, visual artist David Behrens has been a guest at the Altmarkkreis Salzwedel Artists’ and Fellowship House. During his stay, which will last several months, he will continue to develop his artistic practice, which explores clothing fabrics and bodies.
At the center of his project is his ongoing series *imprints*. In this series, Behrens explores the material and physical properties of denim fabrics, which he transforms into monochrome pictorial surfaces through mechanical and chemical processes—including sanding, bleaching, and cyanotype. The fabrics function simultaneously as a support, a tool, and paint, operating at the intersection of drawing and painting.
Another focus of his work is an exploration of the relationship between the body and clothing. The starting point for his works are casts of human bodies, whose three-dimensional structures he transfers onto textile surfaces. He achieves this, among other ways, through the photographic technique of cyanotype. Since the textile objects are worn directly on the body during the exposure process, the body, material, and light enter into a direct dialogue and become part of an artistic process
that raises questions about memory, identity, and materiality.
To develop his artworks, he uses the method of prototyping, or as David Behrens explains his approach: “For me, it’s about trying out a lot of things. Every prototype is a step forward—even if it initially looks like a failure. Because it is precisely in failure that the most exciting ideas often lie.”
His residency at the Altmarkkreis Salzwedel Artists’ and Fellows’ House offers David Behrens the opportunity to further develop his material-oriented artistic practice: “For my residency at the Artists’ and Fellows’ House, I bought a sewing machine again. With it, I’m building on my early days studying fashion design and revisiting a medium that has shaped my artistic vision from the very beginning. Using various types of clothing fabrics, I aim to develop both two-dimensional
and three-dimensional works that explore the boundaries between textiles, sculpture, and painting.”
David Behrens (l.) demonstriert Antje Schwesig die Vorgehensweise seiner Arbeiten mit Textilien_@AMK
Im Künstlercafé am 17. September 2026 können Sie erfahren, welche dieser Ideen David Behrens umgesetzt hat. Also, merken Sie sich diese Veranstaltung gern schon einmal in Ihrem Terminkalender vor. @_AMK
Mehr zu David Behrens finden Sie auf seiner Webseite: https://www.david-behrens.de/
13.06.2026
Artists’ Café with Yasuko Yamaguchi
On 18 June 2026, the Altmarkkreis Salzwedel District Adult Education Centre hosted an ‘Artists’ Café’ at the Artists’ and Scholarship Holders’ House. The guest was the Japanese composer Yasuko Yamaguchi, who has been living and working in the Hanseatic city as a scholarship holder since April.
At the end of her three-month residency, the composer offered insights into her current work and presented her artistic projects. The focus was on her compositional cycle “Schattenlicht”, which originated from an encounter with the Italy-based glass artist Oki Izumi. Her fascinating glass sculptures had already inspired Yamaguchi to compose the first part of “Schattenlicht” back in 2022. A second part has since been completed, and during her stay in Salzwedel she worked on the continuation of the piece.
The third part of “Schattenlicht” is being created under the influence of the Altmark region and its unique atmosphere. Inspired by the former division of Germany and by the rivers Jeetze and Dumme, which merge to flow as one, Yamaguchi is developing a composition for accordion and percussion. Both instruments initially appear as independent voices, but as the work progresses they draw ever closer together and eventually enter into an intense musical dialogue.
“For me, music is about shaping time with sounds” says Yasuko Yamaguchi, describing her artistic approach. This idea runs like a common thread through her works, in which sounds, memories, spaces and moods are interwoven in a unique way.
At the Artists’ Café, the composer gave an impressive presentation of her work and offered the audience an inspiring preview of ‘Schattenlicht 3’: she gave an exemplary performance of the piece – which draws on her impressions of her stay in Salzwedel – on the piano. The world premiere, featuring the intended original instruments – accordion and percussion – is already being planned. @AMK
