Amt für Urbane Korrekturen/Office for Urban Corrections

Collaboration with Vera Drebusch
A series of workshops and interventions in Mümmelmannsberg, Hamburg

The Office for Urban Corrections is on the move in the city, questioning the status quo cast in concrete and carved in stone, and calling it out.
The Office invites residents to join in the correction: marking the terrible and scribbling improvemts.
The Office is here for you; you know what is missing and what is excessive, and the Office approves your intervention.
The Office gives the city back to you, in the nowhere land between graffiti and official acceptance letters.

Intervention

By invitation of the Mümmelmannsberg District School, we created a series of interventions and workshops to investigate the relationship of the people of Mümmelmannsberg to their home district. The project involved workshops with multiple classes of students and an intervention in the district center.

Vera Drebusch and Florian Egermann wearing matching white futuristic full-body jumpsuits with black geometric lines and text patterns, standing in front of a building with map-like posters in the background.

Uniforms

Person wearing a white futuristic full-body jumpsuit with black geometric lines and text patterns, and a hood covering the head. — Uniform with an all-over print of the map of Mümmelmannsberg

For our intervention, we designed special uniforms with a stylized map of Mümmelmannsberg, we wrapped ourselves in the place we were engaging in. We asked people for places that are important to them, and to show us their location on the rollup banner or our bodies.

Workshop

Workshop designed to make students question what makes their environment special. It was striking that Mümmelmannsberg, seen by many outsiders as a run-down-place, was described by the students as cozy, safe and comfortable.

Three white sashes with gold text "Mensch Mümmel," "Mister Mümmel," and "Miss Mümmel," a pink digital camera, and two printed photo strips on a table. — We posed the question: What makes **you** Mister Mümmel, Miss Mümmel or Human Mümmel? Why do you identify with this place, and what makes you a champion for it?

A hand-drawn map with various colored regions marked. Blue areas are at the top left and center, red outlines surround a section towards the bottom left, orange fills in an area in the bottom right, and green is scribbled in smaller sections at the lower left and upper right. — Students were invited to draw important places on the maps we prepared

A close-up of handwritten notes on paper. The top part shows "Fupweg" and "Schule" with a heart symbol. Below, written in red crayon, is the phrase "Peace and Harm." Smaller text underneath reads: "Warum bist du Miss/Mister/Mensch Mümmel" — Why are you Mister/Mrs/Human Mümmel?

A bulletin board display case with a bright yellow background featuring a map and various drawings. The display is titled "Kunstwerk der Woche" (Artwork of the Week). A banner across the middle reads "Mensch Mümmel." Several smaller papers and drawings are pinned to the board on the right side. The display is set against a dark blue wall. — Presentation of the workshop results in the school bulletin.

A woman wearing a white jacket points to a location on a map while a young girl with a bicycle looks on attentively. — People of all ages pointed out places most relevant to them

Two people pointing at large vertical maps displayed outdoors. One person on the left is seated in a black jacket, carrying a backpack, and holding a bag of groceries. The other person on the right is wearing a white outfit with a printed pattern that resembles the map, and yellow sneakers. They are both focused on different areas of the maps, which are detailed with streets and various geographic features.

In collaboration with the Mümmelmannsberg District School (Art Profile of the 11th + 12th Grade) & the Mümmelmannsberg Libraries. Many thanks to: Lino Gieseke (Head of Fine Arts Department)