Manifesta 16 Ruhr Opens Across Four Cities in Twelve Former Churches

Manifesta 16 Ruhr Opens Across Four Cities and Twelve Former Churches

Manifesta 16 Ruhr
June 21 – October 4, 2026
Duisburg, Essen, Bochum & Gelsenkirchen (Germany)

Tomorrow, Manifesta 16 Ruhr opens to the public across four cities in Germany’s Ruhr region, marking the culmination of a long-term process of research, consultation, and collaboration with a number of local actors. Taking place during Manifesta’s 30th anniversary year, this year’s project was developed under the title “This is not a church” in reference of the twelve post-war churches inhabited by the exhibition and turned into sites for culture, art, community encounters and many other forms of activation.

As per tradition since its 12th edition in Palermo, this year’s Manifesta was developed through a dense and extensive pre-biennial research program focused on urban visioning and largely based on citizen consultation processes. The project addresses among others a question of increasing urgency: how can existing neighbourhood infrastructure be reimagined to support new forms of collective life in a time marked by social fragmentation, growing inequality, and political polarisation?

Rather than approaching vacant and underused churches solely as architectural heritage, Manifesta 16 Ruhr explores their potential as civic anchors capable of generating new forms of proximity, participation, and social cohesion. In a region characterised by a polycentric urban structure and a long history of industrial transformation, Manifesta proposes culture as a tool for reclaiming public space and strengthening connections between communities.

The project arrives at a moment when more than 20,000 churches across Germany are expected to become vacant or deconsecrated in the coming decade. Through new artistic commissions, community-led initiatives, and collaborative research, the Biennial presents twelve examples of how these buildings might be reimagined as exhibition spaces, gardens, music halls, art schools, textile workshops, cultural centres, and other forms of platforms for civic engagement.

Extending beyond the main exhibition, Manifesta 16+ activates an additional network of grassroots initiatives across six further cities in the Ruhr Area. Rooted in local knowledge and community-led practices, these projects continue Manifesta’s commitment to long-term engagement and cultural transformation beyond the exhibition format.

Positioning itself as an incubator for change, Manifesta 16 Ruhr investigates how the spatial legacies of industrialisation, modernity, and institutional withdrawal can be repurposed for contemporary forms of collective life. The Ruhr Area is approached as a territory shaped by continuous processes of reinvention, where questions of culture, urbanism, and civic participation remain deeply intertwined. Thirty years after Manifesta’s founding in the aftermath of the Cold War, this edition reflects on Europe as a space of encounter, solidarity, and cultural cooperation at a moment when these values face fundamental challenges across Europe.

The curatorial framework has been developed by an interdisciplinary team of eight Creative Mediators led by architect Josep Bohigas, together with Gürsoy Doğtaş and three intergenerational curatorial tandems: Michael Kurtz & Henry Meyric Hughes, René Block & Leonie Herweg, and Krzysztof Kościuczuk & Anda Rottenberg. This collaborative structure reflects Manifesta’s commitment to dialogue across generations, disciplines, and national contexts.

Manifesta 16 Ruhr brings together 107 participants from more than 25 countries, including 67 newly commissioned works. Germany, Poland, and Turkey are among the most strongly represented countries, reflecting the Ruhr region’s complex histories of migration and cultural presence.

Manifesta 16 will run from June 21 to October 4 and remains free to visit across all twelve venues. Alongside the exhibitions, audiences can participate in a wide-ranging program of talks, workshops, walks, family activities, and community events throughout the fifteen-week duration of the project.

Manifesta 16 Ruhr also marks the final edition of the Biennial under the leadership of Hedwig Fijen, who has guided Manifesta since its founding and whose departure later this year will conclude more than three decades of institutional and curatorial leadership.