With Arhun Aksakal, Cosima von Bonin, Stella Flatten, Marlin de Haan, Paula Pedraza, Franziska Pierwoss & Jonas Leifert, Ramona Schacht & Luca Bublik, John Smith, Nesrin Tanç, Alfredo Thiermann, Iris Touliatou, Anna R. Winder

Traces of the Middle Ages, remains of industrial history, postmodern architecture and recreation for local residents all come together in the collaged cityscape of the Duisburg Inner Harbour. That this little brother of Duisburg’s main inland harbour was once Europe’s largest terminal for storing and handling grain is hardly visible today. The harbour canal was redeveloped in the 1990s into a residential and recreation area according to a masterplan designed by the architect Sir Norman Foster in conjunction with the International Building Exhibition Emscher Park, or IBA Emscher Park for short. Also, many institutions focusing on history are located within this relatively small area, including the City Archive Duisburg, the Centre for Commemorative Culture, the State Archive of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Garden of Memories by artist Dani Karavan.

This exhibition presents primarily new sculptural, conceptual, performative, and audio-visual works by international artists who provide a contemporary perspective on the inner harbour while exploring processes of creating, overlaying and failure.

An exhibition by Urbane Künste Ruhr for the Ruhrtriennale 2025
Some projects were developed as part of the programme Zu Gast bei Urbane Künste Ruhr.

Your Visit

The exhibition takes place at different locations within a radius of one kilometre by foot. If you have any questions, our team will be happy to help you at several locations and at the information stand at Schwanenstraße 44 A. Information material is also available on site for your orientation. Download map

By public transport
Tram 901 to the stop Rathaus or bus 933 and 929 to Schwanentor.

By car
Contipark Parkhaus City;
entrance address: Unterstraße 19-21, 47051 Duisburg

Opening hours Kultur- und Stadthistorisches Museum
Wed–Sat 10–17 h
Sun 10–18 h

Performative works in the inner harbour are an essential part of the exhibition. There is also an extensive programme with workshops for children, young people and adults, guided tours and talks.

soft smoke
Performance
Thu–Sun 14–17 h

A candyfloss trolley in Duisburg's Inner Harbour: Passers-by can not only taste grey candy floss here, but also share some stories about the air in the Ruhr region. soft smoke is the result of research into air pollution by Franziska Pierwoss and Jonas Leifert.

Franziska Pierwoss & Jonas Leifert, *soft smoke*, 2025 © Katja Illner

Video

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Booklet

Exhibition booklet

The exhibition Between Creating and Collecting. Exploring Duisburg’s Inner Harbour presents primarily new sculptural, conceptual, performative, and audio-visual works by international artists who provide a contemporary perspective on the inner harbour while exploring processes of creating, overlaying and failure.

View

Artistic Director: Britta Peters
Curators: Alisha Raissa Danscher und Britta Peters

Programme

Related Events

Open Event
Fr., 22.8.25, 13 hView
Activation of the excavation with Stella Flatten
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Open Event
Fr., 22.8.25, 14–15 hView
Marlin de Haan: Practising Apocalypse
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