Ruhr Views
A Savings Banks Finance Group photography project
SANAA Building / Photo: Savings Banks Finance Group
What is so special about today's Ruhr? How has it changed? Where are the most interesting spots? Eleven outstanding German photographers are preparing new artistic documentary photos especially for "Ruhr Views" that will be displayed from April 24 to October 24, 2010, in the SANAA Building at the Zollverein World Heritage Site.
Smoking chimney stacks and the heavy industry of the past play no role at all here. The project focuses on new views of the present-day Ruhr reality. We can expect some quite extraordinary images, as the eleven participants are the internationally recognized documentary photographers Hilla Becher, Laurenz Berges, Joachim Brohm, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Andreas Gursky, Jitka Hanzlová, Candida Höfer, Matthias Koch, Elisabeth Neudörfl, Jörg Sasse and Thomas Struth.
The curator of the exhibition is Thomas Weski, Professor of "Cultures of the Curatorial" at the University of Graphic Design and Book Art in Leipzig. The precondition for being invited to take part in the project, sponsored as part of RUHR.2010 by the Savings Bank Finance Group, was that the photographers had to have either a personal or professional connection with the Ruhr area. The selection of photographers from different generations and schools ensures a broader field of vision.
A bilingual publication is to accompany the exhibition and will list the works, present the artists and place the project in a historical context. There will also be a supporting programme of events for "Ruhr Views" featuring, amongst others, artists from the Folkwang University in Essen.
April 24 - October 24, 2010
Every day 10:00-19:00
SANAA Building, Essen
Partners: Folkwang University of Arts, Ruhr Museum
Exclusive sponsor for photography: Savings Banks Finance Group
You can find further information (in German) at
www.sparkasse.de/ruhr2010