Mülheim an der Ruhr

It is perhaps presumptuous to believe that the spirit of a city is decisively shaped by the personality of an artist who lives or has lived there. All the same, in the case of the filmmaker Werner Nekes, who passed away in 2017, it is hard not to acknowledge that he, and his collection of 25,000 optical toys from before the invention of film, influenced other artists in and around Mülheim an der Ruhr. Among his notable companions were Christoph Schlingensief, a native of neighbouring Oberhausen, and Helge Schneider, who still lives in Mülheim. The love for old cultural techniques also links the various associations that founded the socio-cultural art centre Makroscope in central Mülheim, including its Museum für Fotokopie (Photocopy Museum). At the meantime a playful approach to the medium of film and projection is closely linked to dreaming, which is why it plays a central role for Ruhr Ding: Schlaf.

Furthermore, the city of Mülheim an der Ruhr, with its 170,000 inhabitants, is known for its particularly wide gap between rich and poor. Plenty of millionaires live in the idyllic residential areas along the River Ruhr, whereas the city itself has long been subjected to a budget freeze as well as having all the usual problems of Ruhr cities to contend with. The river flows through the middle of the city, and its excursion boats and industrial harbour give Mülheim a special atmosphere.