Programme Structure
The bullets of this rubric reflect the programming structure of the European Capital of Culture 2010 "Essen for the Ruhr". Our programme consists of three guiding themes: mythology, metropolis and Europe. These are interwoven into and portrayed by the disciplines and topic areas of image, theatre, music, language, creative industries and festivals. It is through these media that the programme tells our story of change. Taking the Ruhr mythology as our starting point, we want to show the birth of a new metropolis, one capable of moving Europe through art and culture.
Miners' greeting at the Alte Haase mine, Sprockhövel / Photo: Manfred Vollmer
The Ruhr Mythology
What makes us tick? This is the key question underlying the Capital of Culture programme. The cultural identity and the cultural heritage of this conurbation are marked by the Ruhr mythology, by coal and steel, by hard graft and solidarity, by football of course, and above all by the different cultures and religions that co-exist within our bounds. In delving into the Ruhr mythology, RUHR.2010 places the Ruhr Metropolis in a historical context and tells of its roots and its search for the future. / MORE
The Angerpark Landmark, “Tiger & Turtle/Magic Mountain“ / Design: Heike Mutter & Ulrich Genth/Duisburg Office Capital of Culture RUHR.2010
Re-designing the Metropolis
How do we want to live? This is a question which concerns us all. The vision of RUHR.2010 is for the Ruhr region to become a new kind of metropolis. Just like Europe is becoming a unity made up of many countries, the 53 towns and cities with their 5.3 million inhabitants are forming a new entity. Following on from the Emscher Park International Building Exhibition, RUHR.2010 is all about enhancing the quality of life in this polycentric urban agglomeration. RUHR.2010 has encouraged local, national and international designers, planners, architects and artists to think outside the box. Exponents of the fine arts and town planning, landscape gardening and architecture are all collaborating in new ways. The thoroughfares between the towns are to be turned into conduits of inspiring experience. New cultural sites are emerging. And artistic interventions are driving the momentum for change. / MORE
UNESCO World Heritage Site Zollverein Coking Plant Essen / Photo: Manfred Vollmer
Discovering Images
The focus of the RUHR.2010 exhibition programme, which boasts various international art projects, is on historical, contemporary and newly developed images of the Ruhr. The goal is to create a new perception of this metropolis in the making. One way in which this is to be achieved is through the integrated exhibition project "Mapping the Region" by the 20 RuhrArtMuseums augmented by a further 15 photography exhibitions and projects. / MORE
Doris Salcedo: Shibboleth, Tate Modern Gallery, London / Photo: REUTERS/Luke MacGregor
Changing Stages
In collaboration with the festivals, theatres, production facilities and educational institutions of the region, RUHR.2010 has invited artists and curators to investigate how theatre and dance in a modern, urban society can break down the barriers between social classes, generations, languages and cultures. / MORE
Century Hall Bochum / Photo: W.-D. Gericke
Living Music
With three extensive music networks, RUHR.2010 will be mobilising musicians and inhabitants throughout the Ruhr Metropolis. "An Instrument For Every Child" has already donned the mantle of the nation’s largest cultural education initiative. !SING aims at encouraging the most natural of all instruments, the human voice, to express itself in all its facets. And the "Henze Project" brings the entire musical landscape together to create new ways of accessing and engaging with the collected works of the great contemporary composer Hans Werner Henze. / MORE
"Ice", a Ruhrtriennale 2005 production,
photo: Ursula Kaufmann
Exploring Language
Language facilitates experience, yet is just as much influenced by experience. People from more than 170 nations live in the Ruhr Metropolis and more than 100 languages are spoken within its confines. The programme creates space for all forms of literature and all formats of presentation: novels, fairy tales, legends, crime stories, poetry slams, rhyme and prose. / MORE
The Dortmund "U" / Photo: Sonja Werner
Boosting the Creative Industry
The strategy of RUHR.2010 is to pursue cultural and political innovation, particularly within "Boosting the Creative Industry". RUHR.2010 encourages the development of "Creative Quarters" and structures with a long-term impact in all genres of the "Creative Class". And with "2010lab" it has given rise to the first internet and television platform catering for all types of categories and topics for artists and creative minds with online resources. The funding strategies focus on people, markets and the media. / MORE
Loveparade 2007, Essen / Photo: Essen Marketing/Peter Wieler
A Time to Celebrate
The people of the Ruhr Metropolis know how to have a good time, and literally millions of people attend its festivals such as "ExtraShift", "Bochum Total" or the "Loveparade". They celebrate what unites and invigorates the cities between the Ruhr and Lippe rivers. The largest festival will be celebrated on 18 July 2010 when the A40/B1 motorway from Dortmund to Duisburg is to be turned into one long banqueting table bringing together different cultures, nationalities and generations, perhaps giving rise to the emotional moment at which the Ruhr Metropolis becomes truly established. / MORE
Door bells / Photo: mauritius images/imagebroker
Moving Europe
What does our future look like? The European Union is deeply rooted in the Ruhr region, not least because of the major part the Ruhr played in the creation and operation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), forerunner of the European Union. The Ruhr’s experience of 150 years of immigration has imparted to it a vital spark. With TWINS as the largest twin town project in the history of Europe and MELEZ as a festival and laboratory of cultural diversity, RUHR.2010 highlights both sides of European identity: internationality and interculturality. Scientific reflection and looking ahead to future decades are a vital part of the fabric of the Capital of Culture year, the aim being to explore cultural opportunities as an engine for European social development and find effective strategies to enable its realisation. / MORE
