With the Ruhr Ding trilogy, Urbane Künste Ruhr conceived a new exhibition format for the region under the artistic direction of Britta Peters. As a travelling biennial, Ruhr Ding connected four cities in the centre, north and south of the Ruhr area between 2019 and 2023. Almost exclusively site- and context-specific projects were shown, which were linked by a thematic bracket. With Ruhr Ding: Territorien, Urbane Künste Ruhr showed 22 art projects in the cities of Bochum, Dortmund, Essen and Oberhausen in 2019. Starting from the Ruhr area as a region shaped by territorial issues in the narrower sense and the accompanying phenomena of increasing globalisation in the broader sense, the exhibition dealt with the relationship between identity and territories. The second edition of the Ruhr Ding in 2021 was dedicated to the topic of climate in all its facets, from man-made climate change to dealing with the current social climate. The projects were shown in the cities of Recklinghausen, Herne, Gelsenkirchen and at Silbersee II in Haltern am See. The Ruhr Ding: Schlaf concluded the trilogy in 2023 and shifted the focus from questions about the environment and surroundings to the human body itself and its need for sleep as a universal commonality. Against the backdrop of neoliberal economies, the increasing flexibilisation of working environments, the technological and digital measurability of bodies and the drastic experiences of the coronavirus pandemic, the exhibition of 22 works reflected on the question of how we want to live. The Ruhr Ding: Schlaf took place in the cities of Mülheim an der Ruhr, Essen, Witten and Gelsenkirchen-Erle.