Landscapes of an Ongoing Past

In the organizer's words:

It is only through the human perspective that nature becomes a landscape into which meanings are inscribed. Past events continue to have an effect; landscapes can embody memories, fears or longings.

Since 2001, the Palace of Projects by the internationally renowned artist couple Ilya & Emilia Kabakov has been installed in the former salt warehouse of the Zollverein coking plant. In loose correspondence with this, the exhibition Landscapes of an Ongoing Past shows historical and contemporary works by artists from the former socialist East of Europe, which look at landscapes that are becoming and passing away. They explore questions of artisanal and industrial production, explore traces of unrealized utopias or reflect on the relationship between architecture and nature. With the work of the representative of the Ukrainian avant-garde Fedir Tetianych († 2007 in Kyiv), the exhibition not only addresses the conditions of artistic production at the time of the Soviet Union, but also juxtaposes the Palace of Projects with another historical design for a futuristic utopia.

With a view to the post-industrial landscapes of the Ruhr region, Landscapes of an Ongoing Past explores the state of the present between decay and hope using all means of art - sometimes seductive, sometimes disturbing.

An exhibition conceived by Urbane Künste Ruhr in cooperation with the Zollverein Foundation for the Ruhrtriennale 2024. The Palace of Projects is the property of the Stiftung Industriedenkmalpflege und Geschichtskultur and is on permanent loan to the Zollverein Foundation.

With works by Marta Dyachenko, Uli Golub, Jana Gunstheimer, Nikita Kadan, Zhanna Kadyrova, Nino Kvrivishvili, Fedir Tetianych, Yuri Yefanov, Driant Zeneli

In the cinema pavilion: Tekla Aslanishvili, Anna Daucikova, Sven Johne, Dana Kavelina, ruїns collective, Emilija Škarnulytė, Borjana Ventzislavova