Seeds & Seats: Pflanzen riechen. Brecht lesen. Sitzen auf dem Horst.

Art historian Alexander Ochs speaks with artist Gabriela Oberkofler and designer Jacob Strobel about the intent behind their collaborative work. Actress and host Beate Düber reads selected texts from Bertolt Brecht’s “Lobgedichte.”

The event takes place at the Lobgedichte site on Brückenstraße in Chemnitz —a location where, since 1972, a sculptural ensemble based on five poems by Bertolt Brecht has shaped the urban landscape and remains one of the most striking works of art in downtown Chemnitz to this day. There, Oberkofler and Strobel’s work ties in with the history of the site and carries it forward into the present

Strobel reinterpreted the classic EW 1192 chair, designed by Horst Heyder in the 1970s and colloquially known as “Horst.” Oberkofler works with (medicinal) plants and runs the Institute for Alternative Agriculture, Contemporary Art, and Life on the Periphery at his family farm in Flaas, South Tyrol. Together, they cleared a section of road at the Lobgedichte site, planted various plants there, and carved words from Bertolt Brecht’s “Lobgedichte” into the backs of the replicated chairs. This creates an interdisciplinary interplay of words and plants in public space.

The walk is part ofthe PURPLE-PATH weekendfromSeptember 11 to 13, 2026, during which numerous guided tours, events, and activities will take place along the Art and Sculpture Trail in Chemnitz and the surrounding region. For more information:purple-path.de.