NEXT GENERATION - The future of the city

Photo: Schauspiel Essen/Diana Küster

The youngsters will meet in ten forward-looking locations: the Media Bunker in Duisburg-Marxloh, "am Bunker rechts" shop and bar in Essen-Altendorf, youth clubs in north Essen, the UNESCO School in Essen, X-Vision in Bochum-Wattenscheid, trainee workshops at the Opel factory in Bochum, Ruhr University Bochum, Renegade in Herne and a roadshow vehicle on the road between Essen-Werden and Bochum-Stahlhausen.

There the young Capital of Culture citizens will focus on their visions for the future of their Ruhr Metropolis. Working with film-makers, musicians, actors and academics, they will reinvent their cities. For one year, they'll tell each other and us about what moves them and how they want to live in the future. They'll make films, act, start bands or simply rebuild the area in front of their home. They'll discuss what unites them and what divides them. Then, in autumn 2010, they'll all get together for the first time, working with director Nuran David Calis to bring their ideas to the stage of the Schauspielhaus Bochum, thereby transcending the boundaries of their cities, cultures and languages.

NEXT GENERATION describes the panorama of a particularly diverse group of urban youngsters and brings together the Ruhr and its young people to work on a collaborative project.

Performances and events: in the "future workshops" at Schauspiel Essen, at the Schauspielhaus Bochum and throughout the Ruhr Metropolis.

Girls Planet – The girls' band from Essen-Katernberg
June 5, 2010, Heldenbar, free admission
"Mission! Mission! We’ve got to save the planet! Mission! Mission! We’re coming to check out the situation!" The seven girls from Essen-Katernberg have been rehearsing with Berlin electro-pop musician Bernadette La Hengst since the beginning of the year. Aged between 13 and 17, they have written their own songs and lyrics and to date have recorded five tracks in the studio. Now they’ve given a concert in the Heldenbar, where there was also the chance to watch their first video - and enjoy a few trendy extras.

RESPECT : POLITICS – Hip-hop: a talk, a film and to join in
8 June, 7 p.m., Heldenbar
When hip-hop was still a pure underground movement in Germany, politically and musically it seemed rather crude. Has it now lost that edge? Has entry into the charts led to unrefined commercialisation? Or does a politically harder, socially critical style still exist?

- Olad Aden, initiator of "Gangway Beatz Berlin" and "BronxBerlinConnection", reported on his hip-hop projects involving young people in the USA and Berlin.

- TALK: Olad Aden (Berlin), Zekai Fenerci (pottporus, Herne) and Omid Pouryousefi (X-Vision, Bochum) discussed the political accents and forms of expression of hip-hop in Germany today; presented by Christoph Müller-Hofstede.

- FILM: Excerpts from the cult film "Status YO!", which was developed and shot in 2004 within the Berlin hip-hop scene and features artists from the scene. It included "Berlin's best jam".

- TO JOIN IN: Following these events, anyone and everyone was able to take part in a hip-hop workshop directed by dancers and choreographers from pottporus/Renegade from Herne. 

The major NEXT GENERATION Festival of the Future
Saturday, June 12, 2010
St. Anna Church, Oberdorfstr./Sälzerstr., 45143 Essen
A summer festival centring on the NEXT GENERATION venue "am Bunker rechts". All venues of the future came together in Altendorf to showcase selected elements of their work. The performers acted, danced, made music and more on an outdoor stage, displayed photos, showed films and invited people to get involved. During the afternoon, the "Deutschlandrundfahrt" programme on the Deutschlandradio Kultur station broadcasted live from the festival to radios throughout Germany. The topic of the programme was "The future of the city". Starting with the Altendorf district, it examined the change processes that are also of significance to Essen and the Ruhr as a whole, and what role culture plays within them. The NEXT GENERATION show programme continued with food, drink and, to close the event, dancing. From 6 p.m., the festival played host to the "Theatre of the World", teaching all those present new steps and choreographies and getting an entire district up on their feet and dancing during a "bal moderne". 

Première: "Alles außer abhauen" (Everything apart from bunking off)
30 June (première), 2, 4, 5, 6 July 2010, Franz Maag Scrapyard, Altendorferstr. 237, 45143 Essen
Altendorf begins where Ikea ends. Altendorf is where the lights of Limbecker Platz shine at night. For almost half a year, Altendorf's young people explored their district, delving into the past and looking into the future. Working with Ines Habich, they created a play. Here the youngster's biographies were used to develop fictional characters, while the issues facing the district were transposed into scenes and poetic monologues. The performance was held not in a theatre, but among the wrecks of cars, with the ThyssenKrupp building site as a backdrop. The event gave Altendorf's next generation the opportunity to take the stage. 

Das Bergfest – A NEXT GENERATION Get-together
July 3, 2010, Casa, free admission
To celebrate the Night of Youth Culture, the ten NEXT GENERATION venues of the future got together at a "Bergfest" in Casa. Young people from Essen, Bochum, Duisburg and Herne showcased excerpts of their work: entertainment, music, dance, drama and film. There was also an open-mike event and a party as part of the Schauspiel Essen farewell celebration.

The RUHR.2010 anthem by the young musicians from X-Vision can be seen on YouTube.

NEXT GENERATION is a project organised by Schauspiel Essen, Schauspielhaus Bochum (under the directorship of Anselm Weber from summer 2010), the Federal Central Office for Political Education and RUHR.2010. Sponsored by the Minister-President of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Partner: Deutschlandradio Kultur

For further information, please visit: www.next-generation-2010.de