For this episode we’re taking a look at the Manifesta festival and this sixteenth edition of Europe’s nomadic biennial of contemporary art.
For this episode we’re taking a look at the Manifesta festival and this sixteenth edition of Europe’s nomadic biennial of contemporary art. Running from 21 June to 4 October 2026, it unfolds across the entire Ruhr region, taking in the major industrial centres of Bochum, Duisburg, Essen and Gelsenkirchen.
Presented by John Beauchamp and Katarzyna Jagodzińska. In the podcast we hear from Founding Director of Manifesta Hedwig Fijen, who steps down from her post in October 2026, and veteran Polish curator, historian and art critic Anda Rottenberg.
Under the title “This is not a church,” more than one hundred participating artists and collectives have transformed twelve church buildings into spaces for exhibitions, performances, workshops and community life. Only two remain consecrated, with one turned into a lay chapel. The others are closed, unused, in the process of deconsecration or have already been repurposed.
Can Manifesta arts festival save Ruhr churches?
Heritage is central to Manifesta as these churches hold more than architectural value. They carry memories of migration, industrial labour, faith and the rebuilding of communities after war. As their original functions change, the question becomes how to preserve those connections without freezing the buildings in time.
Manifesta explores this through art and participation, inviting people to imagine new uses while engaging with the past. Here, heritage becomes a shared resource: a foundation for belonging, dialogue and collective life. “This is not a church” asks what can change - and what must be remembered - as these places enter their next chapter.
In the podcast we also hear two sonic installations from Manifesta:
Variation on Godspeed in 4/4 Time by William Engelen (Marienkirche, Essen)
Ouranophobia 47051 by Abbas Zahedi (Kulturkirche Liebfrauen, Duisburg)