Herne

Since 1968, the city of Herne, often referred to as the geographical centre of the Ruhr area, has boasted a large motorway junction linking the A42 and A43 autobahns. Less well known is the history museum. The Heimatmuseum Unser Fritz is strongly committed to researching and presenting local contemporary history. As part of Ruhr Ding: Klima, its Curator-in-chief Ralf Piorr, together with Katrin Lieske, have mounted a special exhibition there, Automobilism. Urban Spaces in Transition. This presents a firm historical foundation for examining the all-pervasive transport of people and goods in the Ruhr region, and at the same time highlights urban development links to other project sites: the mid-1970s residential towers at the Kreuzkirche, where a multi-channel installation inspired by experiences of the pandemic will be on view in a penthouse; and a filmic research around the former McDonald's branch in Herne’s city centre. While these works can be roughly associated with the question of social climate, a sculptural installation in the railway station, made of found materials, is dedicated to the consequences of illegal gold mining in the Venezuelan Amazonia—and thus to the other side of our affluent society.