The international contemporary art festival “Ruhrtriennale” (Ruhrtriennale) started in Bochum, taking place in cities in the Ruhr region of Germany. Former industrial sites are used as stages: mining complexes that have become monuments, metallurgical factories and other sites associated with this region’s rich industrial past. The main artistic feature of the festival is the creation of interdisciplinary productions that combine painting, music, theater.
The current artistic director of the “Ruhr Triennale” Barbara Frey (Barbara Frey) is certain that without culture, dialogue within society or between countries is impossible. “We’ve become slaves to social media that sets the pace that no one else can keep up,” she notes. According to Fry, sometimes the only space where we can think and slow down is the space of culture: when we sit in a theater, when we look at an installation, when we empathize during a show, turning off our cell phones. And the biggest festival in Germany’s biggest federal state (in North Rhine-Westphalia) is the perfect place to get in touch with culture.
The Ruhr Triennale turns 20 this season. The festival was held for the first time in 2002, and this season it will be held from August 11 to September 18: more than 30 productions and projects for all tastes, five world premieres. One of the most brilliant artifacts of the current art forum is the installation “The Huddle” by the famous Berlin artist Katja Aufleger (Katja Aufleger): the “crowd” of excavators is placed in a triangle, they threaten each other, but at the same time that they are trying to conduct a dialogue.
Katya Aufleger in front of her work
The festival opened on the night of 11 September with the premiere of the musical performance “I go where there are only shadows” (“Ich geh unter lauter Schatten” – see title photo) at the festival’s main venue – at the Jahrhunderthalle in Bochum, in the past — an early 20th century power plant . The festival also takes place at the former “Zolverein” coal mine in Essen, the “Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord”, the former “Zwekel” mine in Gladbeck and elsewhere.
Source: DW
Lori Barajas is an accomplished journalist, known for her insightful and thought-provoking writing on economy. She currently works as a writer at 247 news reel. With a passion for understanding the economy, Lori’s writing delves deep into the financial issues that matter most, providing readers with a unique perspective on current events.