They are not only interested in pleasing, but they want to attract attention at any price. They have something to say, and anyone who walks through the Metropole Ruhr with open eyes will discover the urban arts and their messages on walls, squares, street signs or green strips - and suddenly gray space becomes colorful. Graffiti, sticker art, urban knitting, guerrilla gardening and adbusting as well as performances in public spaces turn the street into a work of art. Hip hop also has its origin there. Its history has deep roots in the Ruhr region. Not surprising for a place known for its relentless directness and the clash of so many different cultures. Right there one can find the stuff that rap is made of. And so Creutzfeld & Jakob, the RAG (Ruhrpott AG), Fard, Snaga, Pillath, KC Rebell, Manuellsen or Majoe - to name just a few of the best known rappers - are from Witten, Bochum, Gladbeck, Gelsenkirchen, Essen, Mülheim/Ruhr or Duisburg. So what are you waiting for? The Ruhr area is a good place for your urban art.

Techno is more than beats and basses. Electronic music stands for a lifestyle in which tolerance and acceptance set the tone. Since the 1990s, the scene's followers have been conquering their spaces in the Ruhr region. Gradually, a vibrant club culture took shape. One of the most popular places was the Old Daddy in Dortmund. The Tarm Center turned Bochum into a disco world city, and megastars of techno such as Juan Atkins, Sven Väth and Westbam played at Planet Bochum. The Mudia Art or the Soundgarden were legendary and left big footprints. Festivals like the Juicy Beats or the Paluma Open Air step in and keep the electronic beat shaking. The Rotunde, the Goethe Bunker, the Delta or the Tresor West continue to honor the club tradition of the Metropole Ruhr today. Let's hear what record plays in your head when you think of synchronizing electronic music with the epic industrial backdrop of the Ruhr!

The works of the digital arts are also electronic, but in a different way. It's not easy to describe all the things that fall under this categoryin a few words. Perhaps the key question is: How can digitality, which so decisively determines everyday life, be artistically investigated with its own means? That sounds like the New Arts. The artwork is often a technical experiment. Sometimes also a digital product that can be experienced, perhaps even grasped, in the analog world. The Academy for Theatre and Digitality in Dortmund is the place to be for tech-savvy creatives from the performing arts who seek advanced training in the digital arts. The New Arts Ruhr funding program helps the metropolis reach the next level - and every one of you who is digitally creative benefits from it. There are plans for even more training centers and courses of study dedicated to artificial intelligence and digital cultures in the Ruhr. Festivals and projects such as NEW NOW, Next Level - Festival for Games or Page21 is already going deal with creative approaches to the digital arts in the coming summer.

Fresh among Neue Künste Ruhr is the New Circus. In addition to classical circus and acrobatic disciplines, it often makes use of various existing forms of artistic expression. Acting, dance, music, visual arts and new media - all these are elements at the interface of which the performers of the New circus perform their tightrope act. However, it is no longer about the big spectacle, the "wows" and "ohhs" or taking the audience's breath away. The traditional circus techniques and transgressions to other art forms serve as a means of expression for a new message. Are you one of the artists who "speak" this formal language fluently? Then you are more than welcome in the Metropole Ruhr on its large playground for artistic experiments!