BOTIN - Das performative Archiv für deine nicht abgeschickte Nachricht
In the organizer's words:
BOTIN - The performative archive for your unsent message
The late-night message to the annoying neighbor. The apology that comes three years too late. The desperate fire letter to find an apartment. Messages that won't let you sleep at night but are never allowed to reach their recipient.
BOTIN gives these messages a place. We sort, categorize and make audible what was previously inaudible. Don't worry: we won't ring your ex-girlfriend's doorbell.
What message have you never sent - perhaps never even formulated? Share it with us: completely anonymously. www.botin.services
Bring what you never got rid of and become a witness, recipient and archivist. Perhaps of a message that is closer to you than you think.
About BOTIN:
From September 11 to 14, 2025, an unusual location on the Cologne wholesale market site will become a stage for what has remained unsaid until now. BOTIN - a mixed-abled production by Un-Label, invites people to submit their never-sent messages anonymously. Messages that are too angry, too vulnerable, written too late or simply never finished will find a space and their first and last stage here.
The performance takes place on the grounds of Cologne's wholesale market - between market stalls, trucks and piles of garbage. This is where the temporary archive for unsent messages will be created. An experienced team of archivists and artistic researchers will receive, sort, interpret and transform each message. In this way, what was previously unheard is made loud. Become the recipient of many different, authentic messages - perhaps even your own or from the person next to you.
Because before visitors are allowed to enter the heart of the archive - the sorting point - their own part of the work begins. Everyday life must be discarded - everything that prevents us from really listening. In a performative act, hastily typed messages, voice memos and one's own story are collectively dismantled. Only this personal archiving process opens the way to the sorting point - and creates space for what is really important: the unheard.
Participate & submit:
You can submit contributions anonymously - via a digital mailbox (www.botin.services). No personal data will be collected or published. The entire process is anonymous. The messages form the source material for the performative archive work.
Dates:
September 11, 2025 I 7.30 pm
September 12, 2025 I 7.30 pm
September 13, 2025 I 7.30 pm I with DGS interpretation
September 14, 2025 I 7.30 pm I with DGS interpretation
Archivists: Karen Bentfeld, Petr Hastik, Justine Hauer, Jonas Relitzki, Vita Zuiderwijk
Interim management of the archive: Philine Velhagen
Venue:
Old auction hall
Cologne Wholesale Market
Market Street 10
50968 Cologne
Accessibility
The Old Auction Hall is located on the Cologne wholesale market site. The hall will be signposted on the dates of visits.
Barrier-free access by public transport
The venue can be reached via the stops Marktstraße (bus lines 132, 133), Bonntor (bus line 106) and Chlodwigplatz (subway lines 15, 16, 17 and bus lines 106, 132, 133, 142). It is 350 m on foot from the Marktstraße stop, 650 m from the Bonntor stop and approx. 1.1 km from Chlodwigplatz. All bus lines are low-floor bus lines.
Barrier-free access by car
There are parking spaces in front of the Alte Versteigerungshalle. The entrance to the wholesale market grounds is via Bischofsweg. There you have to cross a barrier and take a ticket. Parking is free of charge. To navigate to the venue, enter "Alte Versteigerungshalle" on Google Maps to be guided to the building.
Spatial accessibility
The rooms of the Alte Versteigerungshalle are at ground level and accessible for wheelchair users. All seats are at ground level. Wheelchair spaces can be selected flexibly.
There is no wheelchair-accessible toilet in the Alte Versteigerungshalle. A wheelchair-accessible Dixi toilet cubicle is provided.
Contact for accessibility
Please indicate your accessibility requirements when purchasing tickets. If you have any questions about accessibility or other needs and access requirements, please contact us by e-mail at botin@un-label.eu or by telephone on 0221 - 5501544 (working days 10-17 hrs).
Accessibility
Everyone should be able to enjoy their visit to the archive.
The staff of the performative archive therefore use simple, understandable German spoken language as far as possible.
For blind people and people with visual impairments, audio-descriptive elements have been woven into the performative process of the visit.
During their visit, visitors walk short distances through the ground-floor archive. Sufficient seating is provided.
There is a guidance system for people who use a long cane.
Braille is integrated into the interior design of the place for better orientation.
Assistance dogs are very welcome.
For public visits to the archive, assistants are available to move through the premises. A pick-up service from the nearest Marktstraße public transport stop is also available by prior arrangement. Both must be communicated when purchasing tickets.
Some of the visits are translated into sign language.
Visitors can leave and re-enter the archive at any time during their visit.
BOTIN is supported by:
Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media
Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Cultural Office of the City of Cologne
Contact us
Un-Label
Hosterstr. 1-5
50825 Cologne, Germany
Phone +49 (221) - 5501544
Working days between 10-17 o'clock
botin@un-label.eu
www.un-label.eu
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