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  • MANIFESTA
  • Pre-Biennial
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  • 14 May 2025
    Meet the Manifesta 16 Ruhr Visual Identity
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr

    Manifesta 16 Ruhr proudly presents its new visual identity – the result of an inspiring collaboration with NODE, a design …

  • 29 April 2025
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr announces its urban conceptual framework
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr

    At a press conference organised in Essen, Germany on the 29th of April 2025, Manifesta 16 Ruhr’s director Hedwig Fijen …

  • 27 April 2025
    Join the Manifesta 16 Ruhr Citizen Consultations
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr

    Every two years Manifesta, the European Nomadic Biennial, is organised in a different Host City or Region in Europe. It …

  • 26 March 2025
    Join the Manifesta 16 Ruhr team
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr

    Manifesta continues to redefine the relationship between culture and society, using contemporary art as a catalyst for positive social change …

  • 8 March 2025
    This is not a church: Manifesta 16 Ruhr …
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr

    As part of the pre-biennial research process Manifesta 16 Ruhr organised the interdisciplinary workshop This is not a church: future …

  • 12 February 2025
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr holds first Urban Vision Workshop
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr

    On February 5th, 2025, Manifesta 16 Ruhr held its first Urban Vision Workshop, marking a significant milestone on the path …

  • 2024
  • 11 October 2024
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr 2026 announces urbanist Josep Bohigas …
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr

    Manifesta 16 Ruhr, taking place in 2026 in Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia, has selected the Catalan architect and urbanist Josep Bohigas …

  • 12 February 2024
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr 2026 Job Openings Announced!
    Manifesta 16 Ruhr

    We are thrilled to unveil the first job opportunities for key positions including Education Coordinator, Business Coordinator, and Production Coordinator. …

News, 8 March 2025

This is not a church: Manifesta 16 Ruhr organises student workshops with TU Dortmund

As part of the pre-biennial research process Manifesta 16 Ruhr organised the interdisciplinary workshop This is not a church: future parameters and perimeters of churches in collaboration with the TU Dortmund.

The workshop, facilitated by our First Creative Mediator Josep Bohigas and TU Dortmund Professor Renée Tribble, examined the position of churches within neighbourhoods in the Ruhr Area.

Religious spaces have historically played a vital role in shaping cultural and social life in cities, with churches serving as key landmarks and centres of community identity. Church communities, especially in the past, have done essential social work and cultivated strong ties with neighbourhood residents. In many parts of Europe however, including the Ruhr Area, the importance of churches has significantly declined in recent decades. Many churches have been closed, transformed, dismantled, repurposed – a change that is happening in the centres of neighbourhoods.

TU Dortmund Workshop "This is not a Church," 4-8 March 2025. Video © Manifesta 16 Ruhr / Charlotte Ernst

This is not a church offered the opportunity to examine the current and historical urban fabric of the Ruhr region. Can these former places of worship be seen as infrastructures that foster social cohesion and contribute to new, sustainable development of neighbourhoods in the Ruhr Area?

During the workshop, students visited selected churches in the area, engaging with neighbours and local communities to understand their specific urban and social fabric of the surrounding environment. They met with local experts to gain insights into the history and conditions of the churches, while systematically mapping their findings. Having assessed the locations’ parameters and identified community needs, they developed conceptual proposals to connect these spaces of worship to their environments in a new way.

A big thank you to all students and collaborators for joining us during these days.

Collaborators:
Josepe Bohigas, Manifesta 16 Ruhr First Creative Mediator
Professor Renée Tribble, StädteBauProzesse and TU Dortmund
Lisa Marie-Zander, Projektbüro Hamburg
Sebastian Schlecht, lala Ruhr

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Manifesta Amsterdam Head Office
c/o Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten
Sarphatistraat 470
1018 GW Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel. + 31 (0) 20 672 14 35

Manifesta 16 Ruhr Office
c/o Regionalverband Ruhr
Referat Kultur, Sport und Industriekultur
Gutenbergstraße 47
45128 Essen
Germany

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