Borderland Ruhr
"Borderline" / Photo: Morguefile
The Ruhr Metropolis with its 53 towns and cities, three governmental districts and two regional associations is criss-crossed by borders and boundaries. 12 artists' associations and two artists’ cooperatives have overcome the frontiers in order to work together on a project which reflects the theme of "borders" in both buildings and in public spaces.
The project therefore aims to provide an experience of the conurbation as a complex human habitat with special aesthetic, social, cultural and historic qualities. At a total of 16 locations in the Ruhr Metropolis, installations, paintings and artistic interventions will reveal the many and varied guises in which the people of the Ruhr encounter borders and boundaries - whether these be geographic, cultural or social in nature.
The search is for refractive faults, blurred lines and whatever lies below the surface of the visible. Because the projects approach the issue from different directions, various story lines develop which, when amalgamated, reflect the identity and wonderful imagery of the living space that is the Ruhr region. Each contribution tells a story with an artistic, historical or sociological background in order to render comprehensible the phenomena that determine life in the Ruhr Metropolis with all its unique attributes. From the sum of the symbols of existence thus acquired, a new mosaic of the region is created, characterised by the essence of urbanism and change, and assembled with its many facets to create an unmistakeable image of the Ruhr Metropolis.
"Borderland Ruhr" traces the boundaries demarking the regional macro and micro structures and sheds light on the marginal situations of urban life. It poses the question as to the significance of technological and social developments by breaking down old structures while at the same time imposing new boundaries. The processes of border-drawing and the boundary change are observed and reflected in a variety of contributions.
As they are brought into the public consciousness, the prospects for cross-border influences grow, although so do the tendencies to create new identities from new borders, causing the process of merging of the cities to be reversed. The subject of "border" is ambivalent and hence traced along contradictory process lines.
March - November 2010
16 locations in the Ruhr Metropolis. Not all dates have yet been confirmed.
Partners: galerie januar, Bochum; the art associations: Kunstverein Bochum; Kunstverein Bochumer Kulturrat; Virtuell-Visuell, Dorsten; Dortmunder Kunstverein; Künstlerhaus Dortmund; Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund; Kunstverein Duisburg; Kunsthaus Essen; Kunstverein Ruhr, Essen; Kunstverein Gelsenkirchen; Förderverein Zeche Unser Fritz 2/3, Herne; Kunstverein Recklinghausen; Kunstverein Schwerte; Arbeitsgemeinschaft deutscher Kunstvereine, Berlin
You can find further information at:
galerie januar, Bochum:
http://galerie-januar-ev.gmxhome.de/index-1024.htm
Kunstverein Bochum:
www.kunstverein-bochum.de
Kunstverein Bochumer Kulturrat:
www.kulturrat-bochum.de
Virtuell-Visuell Dorsten:
www.virtuellvisuell.de
Dortmunder Kunstverein:
www.dortmunder-kunstverein.de
Künstlerhaus Sunderweg, Dortmund:
www.kuenstlerhaus-dortmund.de
Hartware MedienKunstVerein:
www.hmkv.de
Kunstverein Duisburg:
www.kunstverein-weidenweg.de
Künstlerhaus Essen:
www.kunsthaus-essen.de
Kunstverein Ruhr, Essen:
www.kunstvereinruhr.de
Kunstverein Gelsenkirchen:
www.kunstverein-gelsenkirchen.de
Förderverein Unser Fritz, Herne:
www.kuenstlerzeche.de
Kunstverein Recklinghausen:
www.kunstverein-recklinghausen.de
Kunstverein Schwerte:
www.kunstverein-schwerte.de