Advertising/Werbung: Get into the car at the weekend, leave Düsseldorf ’s city limits behind and drive to the neighbouring region of the RUHR AREA to enjoy a bit of cultural diversity. ‘Ab in den Pott’ as the locals would say. It is a region that made history due to its heavy industrial manufacturing past. Even though the collieries were closed long ago, the Ruhrgebiet remains acutely alive due to its extremely high population density.
So it comes as no surprise that it has emerged as one of Europe‘s most diverse and rich cultural areas, with Essen, representing the Ruhrgebiet, being declared City of Culture alongside Istanbul in 2010. Theatres, museums, galleries, festivals — visitors are simply spoilt for choice. Here is our list of the best to come for the season 2018/2019.
RUHR KUNST MUSEEN Let’s start with the city of Dortmund and its landmark, the ‘DORTMUNDER U Zentrum für Kunst und Kreativität’ (‘Centre for Art & Creativity’), situated right in the heart of North Rhine-Westphalia. Part of it is the Museum Ostwall, where you can explore the exhibition ‘SchichtWechsel’ (‘Shift changeOver’) from May to August 2018, a creative and artistic exploration of the topic ‘Coal and Mining’. How has the cultural and artistic landscape been influenced by the industrial restructuring of the area? A visit will give answers and fuel your curiosity.
Essen’s FOLKWANG MUSEUM is one of the best known museums of art, including classic Modern Art and photography post 1945. From September to January you will be able to experience works informed by the New Sobriety movement. The exhibition ‘Unheimlich real’ (‘Incredibly realistic’) deals with the magic realism in paintings that came out of Italy in the 1920s. This is the place to discuss art, culture and life. It’s a promise!
LUDWIG GALERIE SCHLOSS OBERHAUSEN is a popular gallery, with emphasis on showing work related to photography, comics and cartoons. From June to September 2018 you can visit an exhibition dedicated to Rolf Kauka and his cult fox-characters Fix and Foxi. Immerse yourself in the world of the German Walt Disney, whose work influenced and shaped the development of comics in the German-speaking world.
RUHR BÜHNEN Schauspielhaus Bochum is the biggest playhouse in the Ruhr area which is no less than 100 years old. The productions are known for their artistic diversity, favouring sociopolitical topics and are famous for bringing highly respected performers to the stage. In November Sandra Hüller, best known through the movie Toni Erdmann, will be on stage as the Amazonian queen Penthesilea in Johan Simons’ new production of Heinrich von Kleist’s classic.
DEUTSCHE OPER AM RHEIN (with its OPERA HOUSE in Düsseldorf and THEATER DUISBURG) is one of Europe’s most influential classical ballet houses. THEATER DUISBURG will be showing one of the best known ballet classics ever, Swan Lake. Martin Schläpfer’s version will be performed later in the year by one of the countries leading ballet companies, crowned Best Dance Company by the magazine ‘tanz’.
Our last stop is Essen, home of the UNESCO world heritage site ZECHE ZOLLVEREIN. The artists’ centre PACT ZOLLVEREIN has emerged as the new stage for fresh new and international productions of dance and performance art. November 2018 will see the wonderful Meg Stuart, who recently received the lifetime award ‘The Golden Lion’ at the Biennale di Venezia, with her work ‘Celestial Sorrow’.
Editor’s choice Special: Ruhr Area
FESTIVALS OF THE REGION
OPEN AIR WERDEN
21st of May 2018
openair-werden.de
TRAUMZEIT FESTIVAL DUISBURG
22 — 24 June 2018
traumzeit-festival.de
JUICY BEATS FESTIVAL DORTMUND
27 — 28 July 2018
juicybeats.net
RUHRTRIENNALE
9 Aug — 23 Sep 2018
ruhrtriennale.de
FOOD & DRINKS
BOCHUM
BADALONA BAR
Cava, cerveza and tapas
badalonabar.de
GOLDKANTE
Bar and platform for music and art
goldkante.org
FIVE
Small but excellent restaurant
five-bochum.de
DÖNNINGHAUS
Legendary “currywurst”
dieechte.de
TRINKHALLE
Beer and vinyl in the Kortländer quarter
FOOD & DRINKS
ESSEN
LE CHAT NOIR
Wine bar and bistro at the Rüttenscheider
le-chat-noir.de
LE FOU
Wine, food, art
facebook.com/LeFouBistro
ZWEIBAR
Café and bar
zweibar.com
FOOD & DRINKS
DUISBURG
MIMI E ROSA
Espresso bar
facebook.com/mimierosa
TIP
Duisburg’s “trendy neighbourhood”, the Dell Quarter
FOOD & DRINKS
OBERHAUSEN
FALSTAFF THEATERKNEIPE
Pub and meeting point for fans of the theatre
falstaff-oberhausen.de
GDANSKA
Restaurant and art café
gdanska.de
FOOD & DRINKS
DORTMUND
BERGMANN BIER KIOSK
Beer brewed according to the old recipe of miners
harte-arbeit-ehrlicher-lohn.de
TYDE STUDIOS
The creative habitat at Dortmund’s harbour
tydestudios.com
UMSCHLAGPLATZ
Container bar with beer garden at Dortmund’s harbor
facebook.com/umschlagplatz6
MANY MORE CULTURAL HIGHLIGHTS: RUHRKUNSTMUSEEN.COM | RUHRBUEHNEN.DE
Text: Theresa Naomi Hund
Production: David Holtkamp
Photography: Jens Wegener (Titelbild), Hans Jürgen Landes, Dirk Rose, Sabrina Weniger, Hans Jörg Michel, Laura Van Severen, Hans Jürgen Landes, Giorgio Pastore, Thomas Wolf
(c) THE DORF 2018
*This article was funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)*
