Known throughout history as a commercial and cultural center, at the beginning of the 20th century Leipzig became the main center of cotton production and processing in Europe. After the unification of Germany, production was shut down, and in the early 1990s, the premises of the former Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei factory were gradually moved in by smaller craftsmen and artists belonging to the New Leipzig School, a figurative painting movement that continues the artistic heritage of the GDR and is closely related to the Academy of graphics and artistic design of books in Leipzig (HGB).

In addition to its strong tradition of figurative painting, Leipzig has historically been known as the center of printing and publishing, which is still evident today in the fact that graphics, design and photography dominate artistic media. Among the representatives of the New Leipzig School, the painter Neo Rauch stands out, whose work represents a stylistic combination of socialist realism and surrealism and is interpreted as a reflection of the post-communist transition from a socialist to a consumerist capitalist society. The internationally recognized creativity of Neo Rauch has influenced the younger generations of the art scene, whose local base since the mid-2000s is the former Spinnerei industrial plant in the Plagwitz district. The former industrial complex covers 10 hectares and today it is almost completely renovated and forms the center of the local and international art scene with 12 galleries, the non-profit art center Halle 14 and about a hundred permanent artists.

Leipzig currently has 600,000 inhabitants and is considered the fastest growing city in Germany, and in the last few years the media has been declaring it a new cultural and urban center and the “new Berlin” due to its high standard of living and the strengthening of the local and international art scene.