Landscapes of an Ongoing Past

A landscape shapes how we think. It is intertwined with our perception of the reality we live in and it influences our worldview. Although it is an already existing environment, it also emerges from the memories, emotions, and associations we attribute to it. The exhibition Landscapes of an Ongoing Past establishes a dialogue between a major work by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov and a younger generation of artists from former socialist Eastern Europe on the premises of Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Since 2001, The Palace of Projects by the Kabakovs has been installed in the Salzlager (salt warehouse) of the preserved coking plant and industrial processing complex, an impressive site of cultural heritage located in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The two-story, snail shell-like artwork, made of simple wood and linen, holds 61 proposals for a better future and is one of the Kabakovs’ largest permanent installations. In loose correspondence with it, existing as well as newly commissioned artworks by 17 artists explore traces of unrealized utopias, focus on questions of artisanal and industrial production, or reflect on the relationship between architecture and nature. With a view to the post-industrial landscapes of the Ruhr region, Landscapes of an Ongoing Past is dedicated to the state of the present between decay and hope.

The venue itself, the former salt warehouse, has been used for all kinds of events since 2001, especially for theater performances and readings. In these cases, however, The Palace of Projects has operated more like a backdrop, and after more than 20 years, attention to the inner life of the huge installation has unjustifiably waned a little. For the first time, the site-specific exhibition Landscapes of an Ongoing Past brings The Palace of Projects in dialogue with other contemporary visual arts installations while also allowing visitors to enter its interior. The location showcases the rise and fall of industrial visions. It highlights that culture plays a crucial role in remembering and understanding the past while also managing periods of transition, an aspect deeply connected to the current threat to Ukraine – its landscape, its people, and its culture.

With works by: Marta Dyachenko, Uli Golub, Jana Gunstheimer, Nikita Kadan, Zhanna Kadyrova, Nino Kvrivishvili, Yuri Yefanov, Driant Zeneli and a model after Fedir Tetianych (1942-2007) realised by Bögdana Kosmina & Bogdan Tetianych as well as a digital project by Pixelated Realities

In the Cinema Pavilion: Tekla Aslanishvili, Anna Daučíková, Sven Johne, Dana Kavelina, ruїns collective, Emilija Škarnulytė, Borjana Ventzislavova

Artistic director: Britta Peters

Curated by: Alisha Raissa Danscher, Tatiana Kochubinska, Yevheniia Moliar, Britta Peters

Opening hours: Wednesday—Sunday, 12am—7pm. Free admission.

An exhibition conceived by Urbane Künste Ruhr in cooperation with the Zollverein Foundation for the Ruhrtriennale 2024.

The Palace of Projects is owned by the Foundation for the Preservation of Industrial Monuments and Historical Culture (Stiftung Industriedenkmalpflege und Geschichtskultur) and is on permanent loan to the Zollverein Foundation.

Talks on the exhibition with participating artists, curators, and experts will take place around the opening and finissage. All talks will be in English.
Moderation: Natalia Matsenko

Talks, Sunday, August 18
Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hall 7, Gelsenkirchener Str. 181
1–2:30pm
Imagining the Utopian Landscape: Ecology & Architecture
How are past and present utopias intertwined with today’s reality?
With Marta Dyachenko, Julia Lerch Zajączkowska, Yuri Yefanov & Driant Zeneli
3–4:30pm
Caring for Cultural Heritage: Fragility & Preservation
How to care for and preserve cultural heritage?
With Nikita Kadan, Yevheniia Moliar, Alik Kadoum & Britta Peters

Talks, Saturday, September 21
​Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hall 7, Gelsenkirchener Str. 181
1–2:30pm
Weaving Connections: Textile Industry & Crafts
Exploring the entanglements between industrial history, politics, art, and private life.
With Alisha Raissa Danscher, Anna Daučíková, Nino Kvrivishvili & Cate Lartey
3–4:30pm
Landscapes of Now and Tomorrow: Industry & Transformation
The different industrial landscapes of the Ruhr area and the Ukrainian Donbas.
With Tatiana Kochubinska, Kateryna Iakovlenko & Prof. Heinrich Theodor Grütter