We are delighted to introduce Manifesta 16 Ruhr’s Honorary Committee. It has the role not only to strengthen our presence in the region, but to build meaningful connections and bring the vision of Manifesta 16 Ruhr closer to the communities we aim to engage with. Each member serves as a representative of the same democratic and liberal societal principles that guide Manifesta and has widespread standing in their field of work. Their commitment across the fields of politics, education, culture and business enables us to develop our social and cultural vision, build strong partnerships across the Ruhr Area and realise the ambitions of Manifesta 16 Ruhr.

Below please find the statements of three members of our Honorary Committee:

“In the Ruhr region, we know what change means. We have shown how former industrial buildings, for instance, can be transformed into places of community that carry our cultural heritage into the future. I hope that Manifesta 16 will provide the impetus for the Ruhr region to discover vacant churches as new spaces for neighbourly interaction and dialogue. Our democracy and our society need places like these that foster cohesion – in this way, empty churches can become new spaces for the future. As a resident of Duisburg, I am therefore particularly delighted to be able to support Manifesta 16 Ruhr as an honorary ambassador.”

The 16th edition of Manifesta returns to Germany, unfolding in the Ruhr Area — a region whose layered history of industrial rise, decline, and transformation deeply resonates with Polish audiences, not least through the enduring legacy of the so-called “Ruhr Poles.” The modernist churches erected after World War II, made possible in part by the labour of this community and now reactivated as Manifesta venues, stand as powerful symbols of social renewal and contemporary reflection in times of uncertainty. I am particularly pleased that Anda Rottenberg, closely connected with Manifesta since its inception, has been appointed Co-Creative Mediator. Together with co-curator Krzysztof Kościuczuk, she has invited an exceptional group of Polish artists whose works engage with the past, interpret the present, and imaginatively re-envision the future.

"The Ruhr region is the part of Germany where ongoing structural change and an exceptionally dense network of cultural venues, both large and small, are exemplarily manifested as a joint achievement of locals and immigrants.
MANIFESTA 16 offers a particularly good opportunity to discover both – and not just for visitors from all over the world."