European Capital of Culture: the Ruhr celebrates

Fotograf büyültme (© RUHR.2010) Smoking chimneys and mines, coal and steel: for many decades these were the symbols of the Ruhr, Germany’s largest industrial belt. With 53 cities and around 5.3 million inhabitants, the third largest conurbation in Europe will be showing its new face as European Capital of Culture in 2010.

Under the title “RUHR.2010” the region will be presenting itself for the first time as European Capital of Culture and offering a twelve-month programme with some 300 projects and 2,500 events under the motto “Change through Culture – Culture through Change”. The programme focuses on three guiding themes: mythology, metropolis and Europe. “We want to make the Ruhr mythology comprehensible, shape a new metropolis and move Europe,” says Oliver Scheytt, managing director of “RUHR.2010”, as he explains the basic concept. Movement will be created by awealth of artistic and cultural events which fall into six programme areas: images, theatre, music, language, creative economy and festivals. The aim of the programme is to illustrate the history of change in the region and show how the people in the Ruhr live and work. Fotograf büyültme (© Ruhr.2010)

The year of the European Capital of Culture “RUHR.2010” begins on January 9. Right at the start of the year two museums, the newly built famous Folkwang Museum in Essen and the new Ruhr Museum at the Zollverein Mine, will provide proof of the Ruhr’s ability to change. The Ruhr will be celebrating the biggest festival on July 18, when 60 kilometres of tables stretching from Dortmund to Duisburg will unite the inhabitants of the whole region at a banquet of the cultures, nationalities and generations. In addition to this over 1700 artists’ groups and cultural associations are taking part in the “TWINS” project which involves the over 150 towns twinned with places in the Ruhr.

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