Eröffnung: Stadtsprühen präsentiert: Detective Show X – Stadtglühen 2025

In the organizer's words:

An open-air art trail

Time: August 16 - 17, 2025 / Curators on site: 12:00-20:00 hrs
Location: Frankenberger Park & Moltkepark in Aachen
Opening: Friday, 15.08.2025, 19:00 hrs

Open workshop for children & young people:
Saturday & Sunday, 15:00, meeting point: former creative house in Moltkepark

Participating artists:
Krista Burger (Arnhem, Netherlands), Klaus Dauven (Eifel), Patricia Yasmine Graf (Aachen), Dave de Leeuw (Maastricht, Netherlands), Kenneth Letsoin (Rotterdam, Netherlands), MC Rosey (Aachen), Ann Messner (New York, USA), Ursula Meyer (Essen), Moses & TapsTM (Germany), Mathieu Tremblin (Strasbourg, France), Benjamin Pablo (Aachen), Nils Vossen (Aachen), Whoups / Océane Cornille (Liège, Belgium)

Curators & Coordination:
Robert Kaltenhäuser
Lene ter Haar

The curators will be on the road on Saturday and Sunday (August 16/17) between 12:00 and 20:00 with their mobile bicycle office and can provide information about the works and the concept at any time.

Concept
Detective Show X is an open-air exhibition in which visitors use clues to locate works of art in Frankenberger Park and Moltkepark. By combining location details, numbers and artists' names on a digital or printed map, the locations of the artworks can be deciphered. The route takes around 60 minutes on foot, depending on your nose.

The idea is inspired (or stolen, it's all about detective work!) by American artist John Fekner, who organized a legendary art event in Gorman Park, New York in 1978 with his original Detective Show. From May 7 to June 30, 1978, visitors were invited to discover the locations of the artworks for themselves using a list of artists' names and a small map. In the months beforehand, around 30 artists such as Gordon Matta-Clark, Richard Artschwager, Karen Shaw and John Fekner had realized works on site themselves. Gorman Park was chosen for a reason; it was one of the first places in New York where street art, graffiti and stencil work could be seen. This legendary underground art event serves as the main inspiration for Detective Show X. Aachen held its first open-air exhibition in the city center back in 1973. We want to build on both events - some things just don't get boring.

The selection of artists is based on the original Detective Show in New York, i.e. positions that can be located in the field of graffiti, street art and unauthorized art in public spaces. But the Detective Show was also an artistic playground in which sculpture, painting and photography were also shown in the park. This joy of experimentation and range will be taken up again in Aachen. Moltkepark is also located on the site of a former goods station. Old tracks can still be found here, so the site is directly linked to the practice of graffiti and artistic interventions in the track bed!

Anyone can take part
The artist duo Krista Burger and Kenneth Letsoin are organizing an open workshop for children and young people on Saturday and Sunday at 15:00. Together we will make flags, partly from old plastic bags collected in the park beforehand.
The meeting point is the former creative house in Moltkepark.
The workshop is free of charge.
Registration is not required.