Recap: Warmup with Manifesta 16 Ruhr

Our series of workshops came to a close in February with the St. Josef Upcycling and Creative Market, where everyone could enjoy the outcome of the collaboration with the local community that had been underway since October 2025.

With the launch of the Manifesta 16 Ruhr Warmup program, we have worked together with local residents and dedicated volunteers to temporary redesign the area in and around the former St. Josef Church in Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf. In monthly upcycling workshops, we first collected materials such as discarded pallets, old wood, and slatted frames, which we then transformed together into tables, benches, soccer goals, and ping-pong tables. The Ückendorf-based initiative BallerZ  joined the programm with a temporary basketball court, inviting people to play together every week.

In our monthly upcycling workshops, creations made from recycled materials were built by people from the neighborhood. Our goal: to develop the space as a genuine gathering place for Ückendorf, not as a pre-designed space imposed from the outside, but as something created with and by the neighborhood.

The event concluded with the Kreativmarkt, when we transformed the church into a lively marketplace for handmade one-of-a-kind items, design, jewelry, upcycling, and visual art from across the Ruhr region. In addition to the diverse artists, Foodsharing Gelsenkirchen and the local animal welfare association (Tierschutzverein) also participated, enriching the day with rescued food and waffles.

The event series was part of the warm-up program for Manifesta 16 Ruhr, the European nomadic biennial taking place in the Ruhr region from June 21 to October 4, 2026. We are very much looking forward to the summer and to seeing what becomes of this space.

Many thanks to all the participants, creatives, and visitors who made these past few months possible!

Find out more about Manifesta 16 RUHR!