Die Manifesta und die Kunstgeschichte der „Gastarbeiter:innen"

Manifesta is the only traveling European biennial for contemporary art and culture. Since its first edition in Rotterdam in 1996, it has moved to a new city or region every two years, responding to the specific social issues of each location. Founded after the fall of the Iron Curtain, it was conceived from the outset as a platform for exchange between East and West—a European project aimed at overcoming borders and forging connections. In 2026, Manifesta will celebrate its 30th anniversary.
For its 16th edition, Manifesta is coming to the Ruhr region. From June 21 to October 4, 2026, it will take place in twelve former churches across four cities—Essen, Bochum, Gelsenkirchen, and Duisburg. The focus is on a question that extends far beyond the region: What will become of the postwar churches that now stand empty in many places and are being closed one after another? Under the theme “This is not a church,” the curators view these buildings not as static monuments, but as neighborhood infrastructures: places of encounter, participation, and communal life. Together with residents, artists, and local initiatives, they are being temporarily revitalized. Gürsoy Doğtaş The starting point is the history of the so-called guest workers—a pan-European phenomenon that, in the second half of the 20th century, drew millions of people from Southern Europe and the Mediterranean region to the industrial centers of Western Europe. His focus is primarily on West Germany, with the Ruhr region as the area where this history is particularly deeply embedded. In doing so, he interprets migration history as art history: Among those recruited were also artists whose work has thus far been largely excluded from the art-historical narrative. Making this gap visible—and filling it—is the aim of his curatorial project.

Dr. Gürsoy Doğtaş is a curator and art historian. He works at the intersections of migration history and intersectional queer history. Among other projects, he (co-)curated the exhibitions *There is no there there* at the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt (2024), *Annem işçi – Who Seams the Red Flags?* at the Museum Marta Herford in Herford (2024), and *Gurbette Kalmak / Staying in a Foreign Land* (2023) at the Taxispalais in Innsbruck. He is one of the curators of the European traveling biennial Manifesta, which will take place this summer in the Ruhr region. This fall, the exhibition “Kreuzberg” will open at the Gropius Bau in Berlin, which he is curating together with Patrizia Dander.