Manifesta 16 Ruhr

Manifesta 16 Ruhr — Europe's Art Biennale Visits the Pott

Manifesta is Europe's only travelling art biennale — held every two years in a new location, always where societal upheavals raise new questions. In 2026, the biennale celebrates its 30th anniversary and comes to the Ruhr Area for the first time: Manifesta 16 Ruhr will take place from June 21 to October 4, 2026, in Gelsenkirchen, Duisburg, Essen, and Bochum. The patron is Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The main office is located at Virchowstraße 2 in Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf, in the former St. Josef church.

Concept — 12 Churches as Spaces for Encounter

The central concept of Manifesta 16 is the repurposing of 12 deconsecrated post-war churches in the Ruhr Area. These places of worship, built in the 1950s and 60s for the working families of the Ruhr, often stand empty today or are used only sporadically. Manifesta 16 transforms them into places of encounter: exhibition spaces, discussion forums, performance stages, workshops. Four of the twelve churches are located in Gelsenkirchen, with others in Duisburg, Essen, and Bochum.

Artists

Over 150 artists from 33 countries are invited. Established figures like Mona Hatoum, Katharina Fritsch, and Luc Tuymans are featured alongside emerging voices from Eastern Europe, North Africa, Scandinavia, and the Middle East. Many works are site-specific — created in response to the respective church, its history, its community, and the surrounding Ruhr district. It is explicitly not just a showcase of works, but an attempt to address local societal issues through art.

Theme — Coexistence in Post-Industrial Spaces

The overarching theme of the biennale is coexistence in post-industrial spaces. The Ruhr Area is a prime location for this: structural change, migration, renaturation, identity after the coal phase-out, new neighborhoods. The curatorial teams, including Henry Meyric Hughes, René Block, and Josep Bohigas, are developing the program in close cooperation with local foundations, the Brost Foundation, and the city administrations.

Education and Mediation Programme

Alongside the exhibitions, an extensive educational program is running: guided walks between the churches, school activities, a "School of Weaving" (symbolizing the intertwining of societal threads), workshops for adults and families. Each of the 12 churches has its own mediators who explain the works and moderate discussions.

Gelsenkirchen — the Capital of the Biennale

Gelsenkirchen is the organizational and conceptual center of Manifesta 16. Four of the 12 sites are located here, including the former St. Josef church in Ückendorf (headquarters) and other churches in Bismarck, Buer, and Schalke. Gelsenkirchen, with around 260,000 inhabitants, is one of the cities most affected by structural change — making the biennale a strong political statement.

Opening and Travel

The official opening ceremony will take place on June 20, 2026, at the Zollverein Coal Mine in Essen, a UNESCO World Heritage industrial monument. From June 21, all 12 sites will be open — free admission. A Manifesta shuttle will connect the locations; alternatively, visitors can easily travel between the four cities by S-Bahn, U-Bahn, and regional train.