Still-Life A40/B1 – One of Germany's busiest motorways comes to a standstill
Still-Life Key Visual / Image: TAS Emotional Marketing
It's a truly unique setting: As part of the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010, today 60 kilometres of Europe’s busiest motorway – the A40/B1 – are transformed into a stage for different cultures, nations and generations. Residents of and visitors to the Ruhr Metropolis celebrate a unique festival of everyday life and culture on the region’s main traffic artery, the A40/B1 motorway. The world’s longest table with 20,000 tables over a 60-kilometre route represents a meeting place for different cultures, generations and nations – all part of the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010. The entire section of the motorway is blocked for traffic but open to visitors in both directions. The project, which has been planned by the organizers of the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010, is truly one for the record books.
More than 20,000 tables and 40,000 benches have been delivered, unloaded and set up. 60 trucks and 140 forklifts have been in action just to set up the tables. More than 50,000 helpers are involved in Still-Leben Ruhrschnellweg, including 3,000 volunteer emergency staff and 1,000 RUHR.2010 volunteers. Around 3,000 signs provide orientation to visitors. Approximately 100 cooling trucks offer cold drinks and snacks to visitors along the Ruhrschnellweg, and about 3,000 portable toilets are placed along the route. More than 3,500 2-way-radios are used by helpers during set-up and disassembling.
The motto of the event is: "The table is your stage". Anybody can showcase their band, their hobby, their club or their group of friends. While it hasn't been necessary to register, all participants have been asked to come up with a fun programme to show. Today, between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. the visitors can watch the different performances either by walking along the side of the motorway where the tables are placed (the track heading for the city of Duisburg) or ride on anything that has wheels but no engine on the opposite track in the direction of the city of Dortmund.
More colourful facts about the diverse Still-Life project
More than 7,000 groups say "we’re a part of it" after securing their tables via a lottery from table allocations. "The incredible range of contributions clearly proves the Ruhr Metropolis' creative potential," says RUHR.2010 Chairman Fritz Pleitgen. Dancers, singers, actors, sports and cultural clubs present themselves, including foosball players, chess experts and Wikipedia fans. Among the groups putting on a show for the world's longest table are Star Wars fans from across the Ruhr Metropolis who take advantage of the opportunity to hold their monthly meeting on the motorway. Lebenshilfe Duisburg, an organization helping mentally disabled people, holds an art exhibition at its table. Bospo(Ruhr)us – a group of people with German, Turkish and Greek roots with a flair for the culinary - offers delicacies at its table. They have prepared for their day on the A40 in a special way: "We flew to Istanbul to discover that European Capital of Culture as well as some new taste sensations," says Norbert Henze, one of the group"s members. People from all over the globe have signed up for the world's longest table. Groups from the USA and Japan will have the longest journey but crews from countries like Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Poland also take part.
The cities of Duisburg, Oberhausen, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum and Dortmund – all of which are located along the motorway – provide programme offerings in conjunction with the event. The project organizers are also grateful to the North Rhine-Westphalia state Ministry of Construction and Transport, Regionalverbund Ruhr and local and regional police and fire departments for their support in planning and carrying out this complex project.
You can find the latest press photos at: www.ruhr2010.de/en/press-media/fotos-still-leben-ruhrschnellweg
Media contacts:
RUHR.2010 GmbH
Katharina Jarzombek
Phone: +49 (0)201 888 2049
E-mail: katharina.jarzombek@ruhr2010.de
Daniela Ott
Phone: +49 (0)201 888 2096
Email: daniela.ott@ruhr2010.de
Yvonne Lünzmann
TAS Emotional Marketing GmbH
Phone: +49(0)201 84224 36
E-mail: yvonne.luenzmann@ruhr2010.de