On July 2nd, 2021, the iJuLa youth lab in Cologne-Zollstock could finally officially open with an open day: The sun was shining, people came by throughout the day, there was screen printing, live music and live dance on the open stage, collective painting… and from now on there will be regular activities in the space, at least until the end of 2024!

What has happened so far in the iJuLa project:

• About 30 young artists (16 to 27 years old) could be recruited for the iJuLa youth curatorship starting in 2020: They plan offers and events in the space, which are implemented with the support of the project team. Interested people can join the group of curators at any time!
• In July 2020, there was a first weekend workshop with the iJuLa curators; then in October, the 10-day iJuLa Kick-off Academy took place in Heek-Nienborg. Here we deliberated: What kind of space do we want to rent, and what should happen there?
• On December 1st, the first iJuLa space was rented: An old commercial hall in the back of Herthastraße 50 in Cologne-Zollstock. RRCGN team and iJuLa curators put a lot of work into renovating and equipping the space – because of Corona, it went much slower than planned.
• In early 2021, the three-part film series “Let’s talk about Queerness” was released, which is part of the Andy Warhol exhibition and was created in cooperation with the Museum Ludwig; the films can be seen further down this page.
• In July 2021, a ROOTS & ROUTES Peer Coach Academy took place as part of the iJuLa project. 10 young curators and 10 other young artists were supported to train as junior instructors.