Ruhr Ding – Art in the Public Spaces of the Ruhr Region’s Industrial Landscape

»Ruhr Ding« is the new exhibition format that Urbane Künste Ruhr has called into life for the Ruhr region. It gave the International Visitors Programme cause to invite six art experts, museum directors and curators from 4th to 8th June to explore art in the public spaces of the region’s industrial landscape.

The guests from Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Greece, Mexico and Slovenia viewed the artistic works in public spaces in Bochum, Dortmund, Essen and Oberhausen – placed there as part of the »RUHR DING: Territories« exhibition – and followed guided tours.

There were discussions with Britta Peters, artistic director of Urbane Künste Ruhr, Christina Danick, curatorial assistant, and Dr Vera Battis-Reese, director of Kultur Ruhr GmbH, in Bochum.

A visit to Museum Insel Hombroich, including the Raketenstation and the Langen Foundation in Neuss, was extended to include tours of its current exhibitions as well as hold conversations with the director of Museum Insel Hombroich, Frank Boehm, and Tatjana Kimmel, Press and PR, as well as with the Langen Foundation’s project manager, Mara Stock.

In Oberhausen the international group of visitors met with Marijke Lukowicz, curator of the Emscherkunstweg, which will be developed further following the international exhibition project »Emscherkunst« since 2019.

A conversation with the artistic director of the Hartware MedienKunstverein (HMKV) Dr Inke Arns, took the guests to Dortmund, where they visited HMKV’s »Der Alt-Right-Komplex — Über Rechtspopulismus im Netz« exhibition at Dortmund U.