an international festival for Bochum, Germany
April 26–July 5, 2014
Opening: April 26, 7pm
Deutsches Bergbau-Museum
Am Bergbaumuseum 28
44791 Bochum
Germany
Schauspielhaus Bochum and Urbane Künste Ruhr invite participation in the summer festival DAS DETROIT-PROJEKT, beginning on April 26. On the streets of the city and at twenty locations spread across town, a diverse program of international artists and regional partners will encourage residents not to consider themselves victims, but active participants in the process of industrial transformation. A climax of the festival is the Zukunftsfest (future festival) on June 29.
Featuring the artists and artist collectives: Asalto, A_zofra, basurama, Kristina Buch, Ross Dalziel, Esto no es un solar, Tim Etchells, Hofmann&Lindholm, Michał Januszaniec, Philip Jeck, Christopher Kondek, Christiane Kühl, Robert Kuśmirowski, Ari Benjamin Meyers, modulorbeat, Heather & Ivan Morison, Mirjam Strunk, Ray Vibration, Studio umschichten, Trayectos, and Wojtek Ziemilski
Bochum is facing the biggest paradigm shift in its history. With the closure of the Opel plant, the city of mining and industry is taking the transition to a post-industrial city. For generations, the city was dominated by major industries. But now changes are starting to require new forms of work and employment as well as new forms of education and culture. Bochum has to change profoundly. The city does not want its future to be determined by others, but takes the own future in its own hands.
The summer festival from April 26 to July 5 forms the central event of DAS DETROIT-PROJEKT. Together with European colleagues from other Opel cities, Paul Domela (UK), Marta Keil (Poland), and Alberto Nanclares of basurama (Spain), the curators Katja Aßmann, the artistic directors of Urbane Künste Ruhr, Olaf Kröck and Sabine Reich, managing dramaturges, Schauspielhaus Bochum, selected the participating artists and partners, developing an extensive program for all residents of the city and the region.
DAS DETROIT-PROJEKTseeks to promote strategies that encourage the cities and their residents to not consider themselves victims, but active participants in the process of industrial transformation. The program focuses on participation, creative synergies, unusual approaches, and an encounter with art in public space. Artists, architects, urban planners, and academics from the affected Opel cities will interrogate the changes taking place and explore existing developments.
DAS DETROIT-PROJEKT places a local and regional focus that takes on a decidedly international aspect. Three other Opel locations—Zaragoza (Spain), Ellesmere Port (UK), and Gliwice (Poland)—and thus three European regions provide important inspirations for the art and the debates behind DAS DETROIT-PROJEKT.
Over 20 art projects will be realized in Bochum’s city space. Polish artist Robert Kuśmirowski presents his installation The Cellar in Zeche 1. The Stuttgart-based architectural collective Studio umschichten will initiate the interactive installation Opelation, transforming the materials found at the Opel factory in Bochum into new creations. With All’s well that Ends, UK artists Heather and Ivan Morison create a sculpture that, situated in the midst of Bochum’s city center, invites us to abolish the lines separating art, architecture, and theater. The Spanish architectural group basurama is designing public sites and spaces in collaboration with local initiatives and artists from Bochum. Other projects will include Tim Etchells and Ari Benjamin Meyers as program highlights of the summer festival.
Full program available here.
The works that emerge are very different and widely varied in formal terms. The artists or artist’s collectives chose their own path. Thus, each work stands on its own and needs to be seen as an independent artistic contribution to the project. But they take the current job loss as their starting point. Together, they provide a committed inspiration to embolden the city and its residents to actively shape public life and their future.
The works will be on view at over 20 different locations. In the city center, locations include the Town Hall, the new Exzenterhaus, the Main Station, Freies Kunst Territorium (FKT) in Bochum-Stahlhausen, Brunnenplatz as a guest of HUKultur, and many other locations throughout the city. Admission is mostly free of charge.
Opening weekend
On Saturday, April 26, the festival kicks off at 7pm with a Motown barbecue in front of Deutsches Bergbau-Museum in Bochum. At 9pm, the photography exhibition Mein Bochum – Unsere Zukunft will open and the new light art work How Love Could Be will be switched on in the presence of its creator, British artist Tim Etchells. On Sunday, April 27, the Grüne Bühne (green stage) will open on the square in front of Schauspielhaus Bochum at 11am in cooperation with Gemeinschaftsgarten Bochum e.V. as part of the project n.a.t.u.r.
Zukunftsfest to close the summer festival
To end the festival, on Sunday, June 29, all Bochum residents are invited with guests, friends, and partners to participate in a huge Future Festival. In and around Bochum’s Schauspielhaus, on the streets and on stage, the residents of the city will show their art and their creativity, their commitment and the hopes for the city’s future. Everyone is cordially invited to participate, helping to present Bochum as a city of art, culture, science, and education.
The day prior to the festival, with his work titled Just in Time, just in Sequence, American artist Ari Benjamin Meyers invites the public to experience a composed festival at Bochum’s Schauspielhaus. The composer translates the beat and the rhythm of automobile manufacturing into a unique piece of music and a festival where not only professional musicians but numerous volunteers participate in choruses and orchestras.
A joint project of Urbane Künste Ruhr and Schauspielhaus Bochum.
DAS DETROIT-PROJEKT is funded by Kulturstiftung des Bundes and Kunststiftung NRW.
The photography exhibition Mein Bochum – unsere Zukunft is funded by Stiftung der Sparkasse Bochum zur Förderung von Kultur und Wissenschaft.
With the generous support of Adam Mickiewicz Institut, Center for Culture, Lublin, Polish Institute, Düsseldorf, and AC /E (Acción Cultural Española).
Media partner: K.West
