The management of Manifesta has named the open call for the next edition "This is not a church," to explore the new uses that can be given to the modern and brutalist churches that were built in the Ruhr area after the Second World War. " The churches became a powerful new symbol of democracy, exemplifying civic engagement because they were built with the physical labor of local communities," they say. With the aim of making the Ruhr a place of cultural experimentation to forge a better future, Manifesta 16 will take place in twelve churches in four cities: the Cultural Church of Our Lady (Duisburg); the Church and Art Space of the Holy Spirit and the Churches of St. Gertrude and St. Marc (Joseph) ( Gelsenkirchen); and the Churches of Gethsemane, St. Ludger and St. Anne; and the Art Church of Christ the King (Bochum).
Superblocks in the Ruhr basin
The next edition of the nomadic biennial Manifesta will include repurposing a dozen deconsecrated churches.
Duisburg (Germany)A dazzling, proletarian luxury. The desire to change without fear of going too far: Turkish wedding and party dress shops fill some of the main streets of the Marxloh district in the German city of Duisburg. The journey continues among the shop windows filled with elaborate outfits until reaching the brand-new Duisburg Central Mosque. Inaugurated in 2008, it is the second largest mosque in Germany. Built in a traditional style, with a dome over 20 meters high, it can accommodate 800 men and 400 women. On a Tuesday afternoon, the mosque is practically empty, making it seem even more spectacular. However, some corners of the area are a bit neglected. There is dirt and the occasional abandoned car.
After passing through Barcelona, the next edition of the nomadic biennial Manifesta will be held from June 21 to October 4, 2026, in the Ruhr area, known for its history of mining and the steel industry, whose aftermath has made it one of the leanest regions. It was also one of the most bombed areas during World War II.
The next Manifesta will have a more social character: the Marxloh neighborhood, with a 60% immigrant population, is a reflection of the waves of immigration from countries like Turkey, Greece, and Poland, who moved there to work in the industry, and also of the subsequent crisis resulting from industrial decommissioning and the current crisis. And, in this process, Manifesta's art, architecture, and mediation project can plant a seed to transform the site. And, more specifically, with a project by architect Josep Bohigas, one of the mediators of the upcoming Manifesta, to convert deconsecrated churches into community centers. "When we started looking at maps, we saw that there's actually a very strong image of this territory, which is built not with cities, but with neighborhoods. And, if you look at the map, it's actually these small neighborhoods that are repeated," says Bohigas.
"The neighborhoods were built for the miners, because they had to bring miners from all over the world. They were complete little neighborhoods for their families, for their communities, who came from Poland, Spain, Greece, all over the world. They all have small churches and the halls related to the center. The miners' homes are also breaking up, and these neighborhoods began to disintegrate. So we want to talk about the people, the neighborhoods, and these infrastructures that are being transformed," explains Bohigas.
Improve living conditions
Manifiesta director Hedwig Fidjen's initial idea was to address the new Silk Road, but she changed her mind in the face of the current era of climate crisis, misinformation, polarization, and the "illegal invasion" of Ukraine. "One of the facts that struck us the most is that in the next ten years, across Germany, around 20,000 churches will close. So we asked Josep Bohigas to ask if we could test the idea of superblocks as a model in different cities, to create something that connects us with our neighbors in terms of a more environmentally friendly environment."
The tour guide for Marxloh is Claus Werner Lindner, who is running in the second round of local elections this Sunday for the German Social Democratic Party. The situation isn't easy, because in the first round, the SPD was on the decline, and the Greens even more so, while the far-right AfD party tripled its vote share compared to 2020, reaching 14.5%. The unifying element of work has disappeared in these neighborhoods, and now agents like Lindner are fighting to, as he puts it, "ensure that all groups respect each other."
The pioneering Duisburg North Park
The Director of Tourism for the Ruhr metropolitan area, Axel Biermann, assures us that the area is "an unusual destination, but one where unexpected experiences can be had." One of its greatest treasures is the pioneering Duisburg North Park, the result of naturalizing, without destroying, the former Thyssen foundry, covering nearly 200 hectares. The site, designed by landscape designer Peter Latz, looks like something out of a science fiction movie. In fact, during the visit, you can see three figures dressed as soldiers perched on a colossal structure. However, we must not forget that the Emscher River was an open-air sewer. And that the Ruhr mining region is sinking due to overexploitation. Therefore, the companies that benefited from it pay in perpetuity for pumping to control the groundwater that reaches the former coal mines and prevent them from flooding.
Another milestone in this regard is the equally colossal Zollverein coal mine industrial complex in Essen, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After a costly restoration, it now serves as a performing arts center, among other uses, within a master plan by Pritzker Prize winner Rem Koolhaas.
The hills surrounding these former factories, like many others in the area, are artificial, the result of mining operations. On one of the hills near the Beck Road mine in the city of Bottrop, there is another sign of this desire to regenerate the area. It is a colossal art installation, the Bottrop Tetrahedron, by Darmstadt-based architect Wolfgang Christ and engineer Klaus Bollinger, which functions as a viewing platform and reaches a height of 38 meters. From the top, the surrounding windmills reflect the progressive shift toward renewable energy.
Another highlight of the tour is in the city of Gelsenkirchen. It's the Musiktheater im Revier, a monumental auditorium-theater by architect Werner Ruhnau on Kennedy Square. It opened in 1959, and the fervor in the art world prompted Yves Klein to create murals, along with artists such as Robert Adams and Jean Tinguely. These murals proved fatal: Klein had asked BASF if the material he used to attach his pieces to the walls was toxic. They replied that it was not, but he died a few years later at the age of 34. The cause of death was a heart attack, but forensic examinations revealed he had tissue tissue like that of an 80-year-old. A distinctive feature of the building, in an enviable state, is its glass façade, the result of a desire to give it a spirit of democratic openness typical of the German reconstruction after World War II. The area's post-war artistic ferment, often driven by industrialists, is evident in institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Bochum and the Museum Folkwang in Essen.
The power of football to unite people
In addition to the Musiktheater im Revier, Gelsenkirchen has one of the churches that has moved along the lines proposed by Manifesta. It is the church dedicated to St. Joseph in the Schalke neighborhood. But this is a very unique Josep, because in a stained-glass window he wears football boots and carries a ball. The foundation for which Olivier Kruschinski works wants to turn the fans of Schalke, which currently plays in the German Second Division, into a resource to connect an area that became disjointed with the disappearance of the mining industry. Currently, around 250,000 people live in the heart of the Ruhr, and Kruschinski opens the church to everyone, especially on days when Schalke plays at home, when he can also involve his project with the people who come to Gelsenkirchen to watch football. Specifically, he speaks of creating "integration machines." "Gelsenkirchen is only 150 years old. 160 years ago, only 500 people lived there, a hundred years later, 400,000 people. Work was an integration machine. People from all over the world came here to have a better life for themselves and their children. 150 years ago that was Silicon Valley, it was so cool as digitalization is today," says Kruschinski.