Walking In a City by Selen Solak & Mustafa Sevinç

Soft, plush toys—meant to be touched and cuddled—appear friendly and playful, yet they stand in stark contrast to the city of Chemnitz. The city center is dominated by a huge monument to Karl Marx; today, however, the city is also known as a hotspot for neo-Nazi groups.

While living and working there, Selen Solak and Mustafa Sevinç kept noticing these toys, mostly inside cars or hanging from motorbikes and bicycles. This contrast felt unsettling, especially from the perspective of immigrants navigating such a tense and politically charged atmosphere. Another layer of strangeness emerges when these vehicles are read as potential means of escape.

The zine asks whether we can rethink this former East German city through its monument, its soft toys, its vehicles, and the act of walking itself.

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