The New Arts Ruhr is a whole network of different players. Here you can find out who else is behind the NKR alongside artists and cultural workers. The project offices Urban Arts and New Circus are central when it comes to network and support to the local scenes. The New Arts Advisory Board guides the program. The expert jury selects the projects to be funded. The Ministry of Culture and Science shapes the framework conditions for cultural diversity in the Ruhr region and beyond.
These are the players of New Arts Ruhr
Who we are, what we do
Project Offices
New Circus Project Office
What is the New Circus Project Office?
The project office is a coordination center for New Circus in the Ruhr region. It has a great network in the German-speaking scene and beyond. The office is your point of contact if you work in the field of New Circus or if you are interested or have questions.
What does the New Circus Project Office do?
The project office is expanding the New Circus network in the Ruhr region. It organizes network meetings for various cultural players, for artists, for venues, sometimes for their connections. The project office is also the point of contact when it comes to the international New Circus and can help you with all kinds of questions in this context.
The New Circus Project Office organizes further training: the physical, technical and artistic skills of artists and young talents can be further developed here.
The project office has a broad advisory profile, advising artists on project development, funding opportunities and applications. Municipal institutions can seek advice on events and issues relating to the culture-driven development of urban society. Production and performance venues can find answers to questions relating to the production and programming of the vibrant sector at the project office.
The New Circus Project Office is in close contact with universities and colleges that teach in the field of New Circus. These include, for example, the Folkwang University in Essen, which offers courses in scenic research, theater studies and physical theater, and art colleges in Stockholm and Rotterdam, which each offer a "Circus Art" course.
Who is behind the New Circus Project Office?
Carolin Hensel-Lippold, Axel Hupertz and Jenny Patschovsky form the New Circus Project Office.
How can I get in touch?
You can reach the project office by e-mail, telephone or contact form. You can find email addresses, numbers and the form here:
https://neuerzirkus.ruhr/kontakt/
Further links:
https://neuerzirkus.ruhr/
https://www.instagram.com/neuerzirkus/
Urban Arts Project Office
What is the Urban Arts project office?
The project office is a location and coordination center for urban arts in the Ruhr region. The office takes care of the needs of the scenes, it connects, advises, makes possible and promotes ideas and projects of the independent scene in and around the Ruhr region. Cultural events and formats for further education and training take place in the premises in Wanne-Eickel.
What does the Urban Arts project office do?
The urban arts project office is a network: it is a hub for the sub-scenes of urban arts. The urban arts project office offers artists the opportunity to connect with the scenes and find a productive environment and, if necessary, mediates in projects.
The project office is a venue and platform - it is open Monday to Wednesday between 10 am and 5 pm. During opening hours, there is always at least one person from the project office available for discussions and questions. The space will be continuously established as an event venue in 2024, it can be used as a project space for presentations, performances, exhibitions, readings or panel discussions - also for your formats! It is also free of charge.
The urban arts project office offers further education and training. The target group includes professional artists and those who want to become one.
The urban arts project office is a contact point for advice - for example, it advises on project funding from the NKR, helps with applications for project concepts and project descriptions or cost and financing plans. You are also in the right place for questions relating to the development of the artistic profile, supra-regional networking or other issues.
You can find information on the project office's current activities and events in our events calendar.
Who is behind the Urban Arts project office?
Elikem Anyigba (rap, music), Emil Imdahl (street art, graffiti) and Ates Kaykilar (urban dance) form the urban arts project office.
How can I get in touch?
You can reach the project office by email, phone or Instagram. You can find email addresses, numbers and the address here
https://www.pottporus.de/projektbuero-urbanartsruhr
How do I find the Urban Arts project office?
Address:
Hauptstraße 290
44649 Herne
Opening hours:
Monday to Wednesday 10:00 - 17:00 and by appointment
Further links:
https://www.pottporus.de/projektbuero-urbanartsruhr
https://www.instagram.com/projektbuero_urban_arts/
Photo credits: Project office Urban Arts
The Jury
Photo credits: Patrick Williams Seebacher
Takao Baba
Takao Baba is a choreographer and dancer. The roots of his work lie in urban dance, which he combines with the expressive forms of contemporary dance. As a dancer, he has worked for many international artists such as Spice Girls, Jamelia and SClub7.
Since 2003 he has concentrated on the field of contemporary dance theater. In 2003, Takao Baba founded the dance company E-Motion, which regularly develops dance theater productions. In 2008, it was the first urban dance company to be invited to the German Dance Platform with the production "2nd ID". The children's production "Boys don't dance" was invited to the Augenblick Mal and Westwind Festival. Since 2010, he has also worked as a choreographer for Urbanatix, a project that brings young street art talents and international artists together on an annual basis. Takao Baba is co-founder of the Dance Unity platform, which organizes Germany's most important urban dance events "Funkin' Stylez " and "Juste Debout" in cooperation with tanzhaus nrw. In 2018, he curated the "Urban Dance" section of the international tanzmesse nrw.
Takao Baba performed as a dancer in Robert Wilson's production of "The Jungle Book" at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus. In the 2020/21 theatre season, he worked with director Roger Vontobel on the choreography for the production "Das Rheingold. Another Story" by Feridun Zaimoglu and Günter Senkel. In the 2023/24 season, he staged "Time to Shine", a dance and theater spectacle for hearing, hearing-impaired and deaf people, at the Junges Schauspiel and developed the choreography for "Glaube, Liebe, Fußball" directed by Peter Jordan and Leonhard Koppelmann.
At Zurich Opera House, he choreographed the opera "Amerika" based on Roman Haubenstock Ramati under the direction of Sebastian Baumgarten.
Dr. Philipp Bojahr
Dr. Philipp Bojahr is currently a curator at the Siegerland Museum in the Oberen Schloss. In addition to the exhibition concept, he is responsible for the focus on multimedia mediation. He also researches and teaches in this field as a postdoctoral researcher at the Cologne Game Lab at Cologne University of Applied Sciences. His research interests include game studies, platform studies, digital museology, memory studies and decolonial studies, for which he designs and manages various projects - such as “Hören, Sehen, Sinnstiften” for the Siegerlandmuseum or “Höhlenerlebniszentrum VR” for the TH Köln. His publications include numerous works in the aforementioned fields. He is a member of the AG Games in the Association for Media Studies and a founding member of the research initiatives GamesCoop and X-Mem.
Photo credits: Meinrad Hofer
Silke Grabinger
Silke SILK Grabinger is a performance artist whose work and concepts combine urban and contemporary dance with performative art and robotics. A particular focus is on the critical examination of social phenomena, artistic paradigms and the function and position of the audience.
In her youth, she first came into contact with the dance form Breaking and achieved solo success as "b-girl SILK" or in changing teams internationally in a variety of competitions. She promoted hip hop culture through the "B-Girl Circle" project. After deforming in the Cirque du Soleil production "LOVE", she created her first solo dance piece "[SLIK]" with Pilottanzt in 2008.
In 2021 she opened KLISCOPE. KLISCOPE is a former chapel that is a creative space for new experiments and visions. She is currently a Phd Candidate at the University of Art and Design Linz (AT) in exchange with Deakin University of Melbourne (AUS), Coventry University (UK) and Johannes Kepler University (AT) on the topic of robotics & performance in the context of media art and AI. Since 2018 she has been working with robotics in cooperation with ARS Electronica, Creative Robotics and the JKU.
Photo credits: Vanessa Weber
Frederik Hahn
Frederik Hahn, aka. Torch, was heavily involved in the introduction and expansion of the art movements "Style Writing" and "Impact Impressionism" in Baden-Württemberg in the early 1980s and in the founding of the Heidelberg local group of the (EGU) Euro Graffiti Union. Since then, he has created over 300 works in public spaces in Haiti, NYC, Israel and Europe. He has also collaborated as an artist and curator with the Kunstverein Heidelberg (1989/1997/2004), Von der Heydt Museum Wuppertal (2011), Metropolink Festival für Urban Arts Heidelberg (2015), ZKM Karlsruhe (2008), Arthaus Bergkamen (2023).
Frederik Hahn has been responsible for the conception and realization of various workshops with children and young people in art, literature, dance and music. He has worked with various schools, associations, institutions, churches and foundations on the topics of hip hop, graffiti, racism and empowerment. As an influential musician Torch, he has played over 2000 international concerts and shows.
Photo credits: Gianluca Quaranta
Alexandra Henn
Alexandra Henn is a German-French cultural manager. After completing her master's degree in cultural and media management at the FU Berlin and in Barcelona, she worked both in the institutional sector and in the independent scene (mainly spoken and puppet theater). After four years at the Institut français (Office for Theater and Dance), she discovered her passion for contemporary circus and joined Chamäleon Berlin, where she has been a consultant to the artistic director and project manager since 2017.
In the Federal Association of Contemporary Circus (BUZZ), she is involved in the cultural-political networking working group and the organizers' forum. She supports artists as a mentor and has been appointed to several juries.
Vladimir Ivkovic
Vladimir Ivkovic is a major player on the European club and festival scene. After his 20-year residency at the Salon des Amateurs in Düsseldorf, he proved that he feels just as comfortable in famous nightclubs such as De School (Amsterdam) or Berghain (Berlin). His DJ tours have taken him to Canada, Asia, Australia, Brazil, Colombia and the USA.
Ivkovic's music focuses on dark and often psychedelic sounds. Ivkovic regularly provides musical contributions for Noods Radio, Kiosk Radio or Oddity Radio, to name but a few. He is currently the music editor of a weekly program "Zaum" on Rovr.live.
Vladimir Ivkovic is label manager of Desolat and operator of Offen Music. He is also currently a lecturer at the Institute of Pataphysics in Todmorden.
In 2024, the readers of the renowned GROOVE magazine voted him 29th out of 100 DJs of the year 2023 and his label Offen Music 18th out of 50 labels of the year 2023.
Photo credits: Peter Wolff
Nazanin Noori
Nazanin Noori is an Berlin based artist. Her interdisciplinary work encompasses sound art, composition, live and lecture performance, installation, directing and writing.
Noori's work explores the fusion of sound, space, sculpture and post-dramatic poetry, focusing on atmospheric narratives.
In 2016, she began developing compositions for theater and art film. Her debut album 'FARCE' was released by the label enmossed. Her 54-minute sound work 'HAAL' premiered in 2021 as part of the Berliner Festspiele exhibition 'The Sun Machine Is Coming Down' at the ICC and was subsequently published by Deutschlandfunk Kultur. Nazanin Noori was artist-in-residence at the Junge Akademie der Künste and Callie's. Nazanin Noori's sound and room installations have been shown at EIGEN + ART Lab, Akademie der Künste and as part of Transmediale.
Her performances have been staged at Villa Massimo, Berghain, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Schauspielhaus Zürich, La Gaîté Lyrique, as part of CTM and at ICA, among others. Her theater works have been performed at the Deutsches Theater, the Berliner Ensemble and Schauspiel Hannover. Her sound scenarios have been presented on various radio stations in Africa, Asia, America and Europe, including Mutant Radio, Deep House Tehran and Refuge Worldwide, where she has held a residency since 2021.
Stefanie Reichart
Stefanie Reichart worked at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus from 2007 to 2011. In the year 2011, she joined Ruhr Tourismus GmbH, where she managed a European funding project for the RuhrKunstMuseen and the culture department. Since 2018, she has been head of the
Culture, Sport and Industrial Culture at the Ruhr Regional Association. The department's task is to position the Ruhr metropolis as an important cultural and sporting location through events, networks and to help shape the region as an attractive, cosmopolitan and urban living space. In addition, the department is responsible for the Regionalverband Ruhr and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia on the sustainability concept for the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010. Since 2022, she has been one of the two managing directors of Manifesta 16 Ruhr gGmbH.
Gordan Savičić
Gordan Savičić is a media artist whose work explores the effects of digital culture(s) in various media. His artistic research deals with the visualization of invisible infrastructures, datification and digital interventions in online and offline life. He has received awards and honorary mentions for group and solo works at various media art festivals, including transmediale Berlin, Rhizome New York and Ars Electronica Linz. Gordan Savičić currently holds an apprenticeship in Lucerne.
We are also...
The New Arts Advisory Board
An advisory board made up of creative minds from the various scenes in the Ruhr region is available to guide the project. The participants of the 2023 advisory board include
Vesela Stanoeva-Broer, artist, scenographer, Dortmund
Matthias Krentzek, co-founder of the Places virtual reality festival, Gelsenkirchen
Jenny Patschovsky, Chairwoman of the Federal Association of Contemporary Circus, founder of Atemzug, Cologne
Christian Eggert, owner of the agency DACAPO Kultur Offensiv!, initiator of Urbanatix & Open Space, Bochum
Frieda Frost, breakdancer, doctoral student at the Institute for Dance and Movement Culture at the Cologne Sport University
Zekai Fenerci, artistic director of Pottporus e.V. and Renegade, Herne
Ahmet Sisman, DJ, music manager, event organizer, Third Space, Essen
Inga Marie Sponheuer, cultural manager and agent for diversity development, Bochum
Michael Eickhoff, Academy for Theater & Digitality, Dortmund
Sabeth Dannenberg, artist, Bochum
Annika Pacyna, co-founder of the RKNKT Festival, DJ Bochum
Ursula Meyer, artist, scenographer and event organizer, Essen
Fabian Saveedra-Lara, curator, head of the medienwerk.nrw office, Dortmund
Aaron Stratmann, interdisciplinary artist, event management, Ruhr region
The Ministry of Culture and Science (MKW)
The Ministry of Culture and Science shapes the framework conditions for cultural diversity and scientific excellence in North Rhine-Westphalia. Ina Brandes has been the Minister of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia since June 29, 2022. Further information on funding programs and the ministry can be found at www.mkw.nrw
Cooperations
Ruhr Regional Association (RVR)
The 480 employees of the Ruhr Regional Association (RVR) are competent and experienced in regional planning and regional development, in the management of infrastructure projects such as the Industrial Heritage Route and Emscher Landscape Park, in the planning and expansion of the regional cycle path network and in the maintenance and development of forest and green spaces. At the heart of the RVR's legal mandate is the well-being of the Ruhr metropolis - as a networker, coordinator, initiator, service provider or project sponsor. You can find more information about the association at www.rvr.ruhr
