Unheimliche Verschiebungen
Aasgaard & Armstrong, Anushka Chkheidze, Aleksandra Domanović, Kein schöner Archiv, Katrin Mayer, Ari Benjamin Meyers, Hans Ostapenko with MNPL, Ziran Sha Pei, Joanna Piotrowska, Neda Saeedi, sakasaka, Silke Schönfeld, Transsolar, Driant Zeneli and others
An exhibition close to Dortmund main station
Familiar environments are changing, fundamental orders are shifting, and threatening events are recurring: the uncanny could be considered a state that describes the prevailing mood of the present. While committed scientists are trying to find ways out of the crises, feelings of fear and uncertainty are mixed with polemics, denial and rejection in the discourse fuelled by authoritarian voices.
The exhibition Uncanny Shifts uses artistic means to address ecological, social, and political interactions of our time. At locations around Dortmund's main station, sculptural, installative and performative works interact with their surroundings. They encounter a complex present with new inventions, curiosity, prudence, beauty and melancholic analyses.
An exhibition by Urbane Künste Ruhr for the Ruhrtriennale. Some art works were developed as part of the programme Zu Gast bei Urbane Künste Ruhr. The Troubadour von Ari Benjamin Meyers ist eine Koproduktion von Urbane Künste Ruhr mit der Manifesta 16 Ruhr
„My very existence in the world has changed, and trying to reassemble its different pieces puzzles me, to say the least.“
Programme
Meet Kein Schöner Archiv, KDM - Königin der Macht and The Troubadour
23 Aug 2026, 4.30-7 pm
Dietrich-Keuning-Haus, Leopoldstraße 50-58, 44147 Dortmund
Spotlight on the work Negative Gemeinschaft by Kein schöner Archiv, which takes place on both sides of the railway station and brings together different voices and perspectives from Dortmund. Michael Annoff and Nuray Demir will lead a discussion with İpek Gençtürk at the Dietrich-Keuning-Haus, after which KDM – Königin der Macht will deliver a performative sermon. She will then hand over to The Troubadour, performed by Riah Knight.
Multiple Coexistences
City Churches as Open Spaces for Diverse Uses
13 Sept 2026, 4 pm
Ev. Stadtkirche Sankt Petri, Westenhellweg / Petrikirchhof 1, 44137 Dortmund
In this event, the participants Ania Corcilius, Mariette Dölle, Amdrita Jakupi, Britta Peters and Christel Schürmann discuss how churches can open themselves up to new functions and encounters beyond the model of the deconsecrated cultural church. They will examine the potential and challenges of contemporary art exhibitions in church spaces, which in turn bring their own collections and historical contexts to the table. The talk will take place as part of Historic Preservation Day.
Prior to this, at 3 pm, there will be an altar transformation of the so-called Golden Miracle, with an introduction by Dr. Niklas Gliesmann.
Electronic Shifts
Experimental Electronic Music Featuring Anushka Chkheidze, Antonia Alessia Virgina Beeskow, Kerima + Normalmap. and The Troubadour
19.9.2026, 7-11 pm
Ev. Stadtkirche Sankt Petri, Westenhellweg / Petrikirchhof 1, 44137 Dortmund
Poetic sounds, musical explorations, and experimental soundscapes: As part of the Museum Night Dortmund, Urbane Künste Ruhr invites you to a diverse concert programme at the Ev. Stadtkirche Sankt Petri.
The Troubadour
10 Aug to 10 Sept 2026 and 19 Sept 2026
Various locations in the Ruhr Area
The Troubadour, performed by the songwriter and actress Riah Knight, is touring the Ruhr region for a month – from Bochum to Dortmund, from Duisburg to Essen. Revolving around the idea of continuous presence, it is an uninterrupted journey and a musical experiment where conversations, hospitality and shared experiences create an ever growing repertoire of songs, texts and stories.The Troubadour by Ari Benjamin Meyers is a co-production by Urbane Künste Ruhr with Manifesta 16 Ruhr.
Jingyun Li
Die Geschichte der ruhigen Wolke (WIP) - Lecture Performance and Talk
3 and 4 Sept 2026, 6 pm
STADT_RAUM in the Museum of Art and Cultural History Dortmund (MKK), Hansastraße 3, 44137 Dortmund
In this performance, the theater artist Jingyun Li uses autofiction to explore her own biography and, through poetic language, reflects on processes of connection and alienation within traumas passed down across generations.
The work was created as a work-in-progress as part of the programme Zu Gast bei Urbane Künste Ruhr.
Participation in all events is free.
The detailed programme of the exhibition Uncanny Shifts can be found on the Urbane Künste Ruhr website.
Cast
- Artists
- Ellinor Aurora Aasgaard & Zayne Armstrong,
- Anushka Chkheidze,
- Aleksandra Domanović,
- Kein schöner Archiv (Michael Annoff & Nuray Demir),
- Katrin Mayer,
- Ari Benjamin Meyers,
- Hans Ostapenko mit MNPL,
- Ziran Sha Pei,
- Joanna Piotrowska,
- Neda Saeedi,
- sakasaka,
- Silke Schönfeld,
- Transsolar,
- UH HUH HER,
- Driant Zeneli
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- Urbane Künste Ruhr
- Artistic Director, Curator
- Britta Peters
- Curator
- Alisha Raissa Danscher
- Project Lead
- Daniel Klemm
- Project Management
- Sarah Lorbeer
- Technical Direction
- Andreas Eich
- Public Relations
- Sabine Funk (Marketing),
- David Mergelmeyer (Marketing),
- Evelyn Walton (Online Communications)
- Technical Project Manager Ruhrtriennale
- Stefan Göbel
- Technician
- Henning Arend,
- Melanie Bluhm,
- Oliver Rudnick
Visit
Directions
Verschiedene Orte
Westenhellweg / Petrikirchhof 1
44137 Dortmund
