MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr

Manifesta, the European Nomadic Biennial, is held every two years in a different host city or region. It is an interdisciplinary platform that combines urbanism, architecture, social and political issues, contemporary art and culture with local identities and visions. Manifesta 16 Ruhr will take place from 21st June to 4th October in twelve vacant post-war churches spread across the four host cities: Duisburg, Essen, Gelsenkirchen and Bochum. Through close collaboration with local groups and institutions, Manifesta seeks to address social, political and ecological issues, thereby opening up fresh consideration of both the historical and the contemporary structure of the region.

Manifesta 16 Ruhr focuses on the historical, architectural and social regeneration of the post-war period: during this time as part of the reconstruction effort and because of rapid population growth, numerous churches were built in the modernist and brutalist styles. They became symbols of democratic engagement as they were often built by workers from the local community. Although these post-war churches have left behind an important architectural heritage, the decline in church attendance over the past 30 years has led to many of them being abandoned or used only rarely. The fate of these churches – whether they are to be knocked down, repurposed or left to become derelict – warrants attention. Manifesta 16 Ruhr places itself within this historical and spatially multilayered context.

In addition to visiting selected exhibitions and projects at MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr and meeting with the team, this event trip will also focus on networking with the artistic advisory board of MANIFESTA 16 and other important players and institutions in the Ruhr region. Planned visits include to the Museum Folkwang in Essen, Urbane Künste Ruhr, Ruhrtriennale and other art instituions in North Rhine-Westphalia.