LINDENOW20
KOTEKA Collective introduction
For the LINDENOW art space festival in Leipzig West we're showing works by the artists Madalena Bastos, Christian Berkes, Nicole Burnett, Laura Wellschmiedt and Jolusch - from painting and audio installations to soundscapes and short film.
KOTEKA combines workspace and exhibition venue, bringing together people with different interests.
Opening hours: Fri 5–8 pm · Sat 2–7 pm · Sun 12–5 pm
Christian Berkes — Prison Library
site-specific audio installation (2026)
The walk-in environment in the former basement vault at Georg-Schwarz-Straße 138 explores the meaning of prison libraries for incarcerated individuals and society at large. The work and its materials originate from an artist residency in Krems, Lower Austria, in 2023. The library at the Stein Correctional Facility is located almost within sight of the architecture library of the City of Krems’ Artist-in-Residence program.
About the artist
Christian Berkes works at the intersections between science, art and journalism. He is an urbanist, artist and founder of the publishing project botopress. He has worked for the magazine ARCH+ and the bookshop Pro qm. Today he is knowledge transfer officer and senior curator for program and exhibitions at University of Applied Sciences Potsdam. His recurring work focuses on the possibilities of cooperative design, the history theory, and practice of exhibition formats and questions of (urban) representation. He lives in Leipzig and Berlin.
Jolusch — Soundscape
The genre is electronic, ambient, atmospheric, minimalist—in short, stripped-down. You’ll find out the rest when you come to see Koteka.
Laura Wellschmiedt — “A LOT”
short film, 3:50 min
“A LOT” is an attempt to visualize an inner fight - a muddled sense of disorientation, grief, feeling lost and overwhelmed. My first short film was created in three days as part of “Kino Datsche”, a DIY film festival in Leipzig.
About the artist
I haven’t been living in Leipzig for very long and am still trying to find my place in this city. I don’t know exactly where I’m headed or where I’m supposed to go. All my life, I’ve been "sitting on a fence", searching for something. That has taken me to many beautiful places, and I’ve seen and experienced a lot. I enjoy observing, discovering, and researching. I explore and collect stories, thoughts, and feelings and like ambivalence, think a lot in metaphors and maybe searching for balance. I’m interested in and work with: language(s), (analog) photography, spaces, crafts, (comic) drawings, and moving images. I see my first short film as a kind of prelude to transforming the many ideas, images, thoughts, and feelings in my head into something visible—and daring to show it, to take up space. To rethink the concept of art—which, unfortunately, has been fixed in my mind since school as a “performance,” one that focuses on the viewer’s evaluation rather than on personal expression. This isn’t my first attempt, but it is a new one.
Madalena Bastos — Untitled
mixed paintings
This exhibition is a visual journey through grief, inspired by the tragic accident of someone close. Each painting is a fragment of that pain, translated into forms, colors, and shapes that echo the emotional landscape of change. The work explores how sorrow distorts and transforms perception, using abstract and expressive elements to convey what words cannot. Through this series, I invite viewers to witness the raw, unfiltered reflection of a fight and to find their own emotions mirrored in the canvas.
About the artist
Madalena Bastos is a Portuguese artist who moved to Leipzig about two years ago. With a background in illustration and book editing, as well as extensive experience working with children and the community. She founded Casa Voadora in 2020—a creative studio that combines shop, gallery, art classes, and events. Today, Madalena brings her project beyond Portugal, including to Leipzig, where she hosts workshops and art classes. Now based at the Koteka space, she runs an atelier focused on painting and a new artistic direction that explores more her personal side.
Nicole Burnett — Was ist Kritik? oder?
audio installation (2025)
On denied access, the question of where knowledge is stored, and the price of reading
Philosophical texts are open to discussion, debate, and (self)doubt. Critique is always a part of that process. Logically, philosophy itself—within the framework of epistemology—reflects on the question, “What is critique?” A key figure in this reflection is Michel Foucault (1926–1984).
Nicole Burnett takes up this question, building on Foucault, and asks even further: Who actually has the privilege of access to these topics? What do we define as "work," and how is this definition shaped by our social background? And how—and where—do we store different kinds of knowledge?
We follow her in her search for access to a world with its own set of rules—perhaps also for linear answers, which at first remain elusive. Along the way, she encounters obstacles, barriers, and critical perspectives. And ultimately, she gains access to herself.
Text: Philipp Ahrens
About the artist
Nicole Burnett, born in Rosenheim, has Polish parents. She moved around a lot as a child (Bavaria, Thuringia, Hesse, the U.S. / “8 schools”) and now lives in Leipzig. She grew up in the restaurant industry and completed her studies at the HGB in photography under Joachim Brohm and Dr. Ines Schaber, as well as in performing arts under Isabel Lewis. Her work explores nature, social spaces, architecture, and classicism. In 2025, she and Eddy Salzmann founded KOTEKA, a workspace and event venue in Leipzig.
