Twelve children aged between nine and 13 explored these questions at the end of last year as part of a project run by the Volkshochschule in cooperation with the children's commissioner of the city of Salzgitter and Wohnbau.
From Wednesday, February 13 to Wednesday, April 24, the young artists' creative interpretations of their impressions can be seen in an exhibition at the Brücke meeting place in Lebenstedt am Fredenberg.
The children involved in the project were out and about with their fingers on the map, on foot and by bus, exploring the city with a camera and a keen eye. Using their imagination and colored pencils, they created original pictures from the photos. The exhibition shows insights and impressions of the genesis and results of this project.
Sylvia Fiedler, the city's children and families officer, and Petra Stürmer, a qualified social education worker at Wohnbau, thought that children, with their unbiased and spontaneous view of the city, would be the perfect ambassadors to promote Salzgitter's child and family-friendly image and its attractiveness.
This gave rise to the idea of going on a voyage of discovery through the city together with boys and girls. The city's Volkshochschule then opened up the opportunity to implement this long-cherished project with the TalentCAMPus concept.
The first project day took the participants to the town hall in Lebenstedt. After a view of the city from the roof of the town hall and a short presentation about Salzgitter, the girls and boys marked places they already knew and places they wanted to get to know on a map of the city. The next step was to learn methods and techniques for capturing their favorite places in pictures. To do this, they spent a day at the city of Salzgitter's Medienzentrum in the old village in Lebenstedt. With a list of tasks relating to photography and the Medienzentrum's tablets, the children set off for the pirate playground at Salzgittersee.
After this photo tour and a few city tours, the photos of favorite places became templates for painted pictures. The tools of the trade were colored pencils. Under the guidance of graphic designer Melanie Schöckel, the first motifs were added to the photos, such as flowers, pennant chains, animals and park benches.
The more places in the city were discovered, the greater the number of motifs and drawings became. The children declared the knight's castle playground and the pirate playground to be clear favorites. They also found Salder Castle, the thermal brine baths and the canal with the steelworks fascinating. For the young artists, the work on the postcard motifs ended with the "City Explorer Diploma" and many new impressions of their home town.
Eight motifs were created as part of the project and are now being turned into postcards by graphic designer Peter Weichert, who also designed the Salzgitter logo. Their printing is being prepared in cooperation with the WIS tourist information office.