International Festival Campus

The Ruhrtriennale Festivalcampus creates a space for encounters between creative artists with very different working methods from diverse cultural contexts. As part of our thematic focus on “Communication(s) about Art” students and lecturers from artistic courses across Europe are invited to reflect on and discuss new forms, devise new formats and test their effectiveness.

Ruhrtriennale 2026 invites you to the International Festival Campus: artists and students can look forward to a four-day program curated in cooperation with art academies and universities from all over Europe. 

A participation includes several visits to the festival's performances, installations and exhibitions as well as taking part in a workshop revolving around the topic "Communications about Art", organized and held by lecturers from participating universities. There will also be artist talks, critique discussions and, above all, the opportunity to exchange ideas with international artists and art students from various genres.

The Ruhrtriennale campus program has existed since 2012 and is one of the largest of its kind. It is based on the belief that every aesthetic experience can only achieve sustainability through a lively, critical and committed discourse that extends beyond disciplinary boundaries. The Ruhrtriennale Festival Campus creates space for such encounters: between established artists and newcomers, between the successful avantgarde and subversive experimentation, between artists with very different working methods from different cultural contexts. Where practical experiments meet theoretical reflection – in a scope, radicality and intensity that only an international festival can offer.

• Free admission to selected events of the festival incl. free shuttle service
• Free participation in a workshop, offered by lecturers from European partner universities
• Free accommodation in a hotel (in twin rooms, shared with another participant) in Bochum or Duisburg (depending on the date you are participating in), incl. breakfast and one warm meal per day

Participation fee: 25€

Those interested are to apply until 31 May  2026 with a letter of motivation (one page max.) and CV (if applicable artistic portfolio, five pages max.) to festivalcampus@ruhrtriennale.de

Please indicate which of the three possible time periods you would like to participate in:

• 27. to 30. August in Bochum: incl. pieces by Krzysztof Warlkowski and Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker; in English language
• 3. to 6. September in Duisburg: incl. pieces by Marina Abramović and Christos Papadopoulos; in English language
• 10 to 13. September in Bochum: incl. pieces by Marina Abramović, Lisaboa Houbrechts and Caroline Shaw; in German language

Questions about the program can be addressed to Carla Gesthuisen c.gesthuisen@ruhrtriennale.de. 

The number of spots is limited. The selection will be made by the Festival Campus team.

Application deadline: 31 May 2026. 

Selection of participants and further info: by the end of June 2026

Universitetet i Bergen (Norwegen), Institut für Theaterwissenschaft / Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden / Hessische Theaterakademie / Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt/M. / Universität Hildesheim – Institut für Medien, Theater und Populäre Kultur / The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (China) / Kharkiv University of the Arts (Ukraine) / Kunsthochschule für Medien (KHM) Köln / Uniwersytet Jagielloński (Universität Krakau) / DAMU (Theaterakademie Prag) / Mozarteum Salzburg / Zürcher Hochschule der Künste

Funded by Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung.

The programme for Ukrainian students is being implemented in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Ukraine.