Fungi serve humans as food, medicinal or intoxicating agents; they are sedentary like plants, but cannot photosynthesise. Therefore, they have to feed like animals by ingesting organic substances and digesting them through enzymes. In the kingdom of living things, fungi form a category of their own: they are neither plants (Plantae) nor animals (Animalia), but are related to both. As for us humans, communication and cooperation are essential for their organisation: they often live in symbioses formed via the mycelium – the complex, mostly underground network of fungal filaments from which mushrooms can then sprout above ground. The mycelium distributes vital nutrients in the soil and is also called "nature's glue" because it breaks down decaying material and holds it together. At the same time, it creates connections, giving rise to its own economy: they form the social network between the different organisms.
With an economy that is not only metaphorically based on the model of mushroom cultures – myconomy – the Healing Complex will reopen in March 2023. In addition to its own mushroom cultivation, which visitors can cultivate and harvest, the potential of networks will also be explored. Tokens designed by artist Irena Haiduk will serve as currency on site. To expand the myconomy, these tokens will also be available at the other exhibition venues of Ruhr Ding: Schlaf in Mülheim, Witten and Essen. They can be exchanged at the Healing Complex for workshops or participatory activities, the proceeds of which in turn remain with the participants. This circulating economy creates a network of knowledge exchange and cooperation in which experimentation can take place and through which new, reciprocal links are created.
About the project
Since 3rd June 2022, Urbane Künste Ruhr has been running the project Healing Complex (2018-ongoing) in Gelsenkirchen, initiated by artist Irena Haiduk, modelled on ancient healing sites that combined art and healing. In her artistic practice, Haiduk collaborates with art institutions, which in turn can become economic catalysts for the production of paintings, books, texts, films and scenographies, metallurgy, weavings, architecture and garments, thus stimulating the public's imagination.
At the heart of the project, baking as a universal and unifying element between people and cultures: a central oven was used to create a place for joint work and exchange for interested audiences and local residents.
- Website
The website of the Healing Complex contains information on the idea and history of the place, current and past events, as well as interviews and portraits of artists and participants.
- Address
Ehemalige St. Bonifatiuskirche
Cranger Straße 338-342
45891 Gelsenkirchen
Events
Sprachnachrichten übers Schlonsken
Based on their own biographies, Grupa Mauczka addresses questions of belonging and the culture of memory of Polish-German migration history. In their sound work Sprachnachrichten übers Schlonsken, they invite the audience into their reality of Upper Silesian misunderstandings and presents her practice of Verschlonsken. A practice that takes a queer look at family narratives and historical events and shakes up nationalistically conceived borders.
Grupa Mauczka is a collaborative group consisting of Julia Nitschke, Tubi Malcharzik, Natalie Pielok, Cäcilia Wosnitzka, Desiree Kabis and accomplices whose common points of reference are the historical border region of Górny Śląsk / Upper Silesia and the term Post-East.
In a landscape of cushions, visitors are invited to experience the approximately 15-minute audio file of narrative fragments, immersive sound snippets, Dindać and Don Kamisi and metaphorically lie in the moczka, the cooking pot of Upper Silesia.
From 11 am, the sound installation can be visited at the Healing Complex. From 2 pm the artists invite you to Dindać with coffee and Silesian poppy cake.
Season Closing with Sprachnachrichten übers Schlonsken and Mycel Bankett
With a sound installation, shared Dindać with coffee and Silesian poppy cake and the concluding Mycel Bankett, we will bring the season to a close at the Healing Complex.
Healing Complex: Mycel-Bankett (Workshop II)
Continuation of the workshop from 26.8. Previous participation in the Mycel-Bankett (Workshop I) is a prerequisite for participation in the second workshop.
electric mushroom chapel: Soundcollagen aus Synthesizern und Pilzinstrumenten mit Margo Zālīte
With modular synthesizers, Margo Zālīte creates a connection between the electrical impulses of the mushrooms and the music, which she weaves into spherical soundscapes. Mushrooms not only have a healing effect, but their gigantic, subterranean root landscapes are also metaphors for interconnectedness and coexistence when the world threatens to fall apart. The world of mushrooms is a utopian refuge for imagining new forms of community.
As an opera director, Margo sees performance as an artistic way of staging a timeless experience in which the audience can immerse themselves. They are invited to relax and enjoy the sound collage while lying down, sitting or otherwise lingering.
The event will take place as an inclusive Relaxed Performance. This means that special attention will be paid to accessibility to ensure that people with different needs have an enjoyable experience. We provide a relaxed event atmosphere: visitors can come and go at any time, there are alternative seating options, sounds and reactions from visitors are explicitly encouraged.
Accessibility info: www.healingcomplex.net/barrierefreiheit
Healing Complex: Mycel-Bankett (Workshop I)
In this workshop we will work together to make a series of modular tables that come together to form a larger whole. Our partner in the making is the root-like part of mushrooms, the mycelium. We will cultivate the mycelium, shape it and use it as a building material. This process will allow us to observe more closely the relationships between the different organisms. The metaphor of the mycelium network should inspire us: The bigger the network becomes, the bigger the table can be. Our tables will create a mycelium banquet where we will share bread, mushrooms and thoughts about food rituals and sustainable food use.
A workshop always consists of two dates: In the first part we dedicate ourselves to the theory and handling of the material mycelium. Afterwards we will work with it, make moulds for the tables and lay out the substrate. The mycelium will grow in the moulds for 9 days and take shape itself. In the second part of the workshop we will then see the substrate change and make the tables with it.
At the end of the entire workshop series, we will all come together at the self-made tables for a joint "banquet" (probably in mid-September).
Workshop series by and with Ayla Pellicer
Dates (always from 12 pm–4.30 pm):
Saturday, 26.8. and Saturday, 2.9.
Participation by registration (via nt@urbanekuensteruhr.de oder +49 170 37 128 78), maximum number of participants: 10 (children from 12 years and adults)
Healing Complex: Mycel-Bankett (Workshop II)
Continuation of the workshop from 12.8. Previous participation in the Mycel-Bankett (Workshop I) is a prerequisite for participation in the second workshop.
Filmabend im Healing Complex: Köy (2021)
Neno, Saniye and Hêvîn are Kurdish women from three generations. Neno is the director's grandmother. She is the mother of eleven children and commutes between Germany and Turkey. She follows the political events in her home country with a clear attitude. Saniye runs a small neighbourhood café in Berlin and dreams of one day living in her birthplace in Turkey. She realises that she must be willing to take risks if she wants to return to a country of political unrest and crisis. Hêvîn, the youngest protagonist, wants to become an actress and is politically active. But during her studies she does not have much time left for the struggle against the oppression of the Kurdish minority.
Director: Serpil Turhan
Documentary film, 90 min, 12 years and older
Language: German/Kurdish with German subtitles
© Salzgeber
Healing Complex: Mycel-Bankett (Workshop I)
In this workshop we will work together to make a series of modular tables that come together to form a larger whole. Our partner in the making is the root-like part of mushrooms, the mycelium. We will cultivate the mycelium, shape it and use it as a building material. This process will allow us to observe more closely the relationships between the different organisms. The metaphor of the mycelium network should inspire us: The bigger the network becomes, the bigger the table can be. Our tables will create a mycelium banquet where we will share bread, mushrooms and thoughts about food rituals and sustainable food use.
A workshop always consists of two dates: In the first part we dedicate ourselves to the theory and handling of the material mycelium. Afterwards we will work with it, make moulds for the tables and lay out the substrate. The mycelium will grow in the moulds for 9 days and take shape itself. In the second part of the workshop we will then see the substrate change and make the tables with it.
At the end of the entire workshop series, we will all come together at the self-made tables for a joint "banquet" (probably in mid-September).
Workshop series by and with Ayla Pellicer
Dates (always from 12 pm–4.30 pm):
Saturday, 12.8. and Sunday, 20.8.
Saturday, 26.8. and Saturday, 2.9.
Participation by registration (via nt@urbanekuensteruhr.de oder +49 170 37 128 78), maximum number of participants: 10 (children from 12 years and adults)
Filmabend im Healing Complex: Sonne (2022)
A film about young people between social media and self-discovery, a story of rebels.
Director: Kurdwin Ayub
© Neue Visionen
Healing Complex: Mycel-Bankett (Workshop II)
Continuation of the workshop from 27.5. Previous participation in the Mycel-Bankett (Workshop I) is a prerequisite for participation in the second workshop.
Healing Complex: Mycel-Bankett (Workshop I)
In this workshop we will work together to make a series of modular tables that come together to form a larger whole. Our partner in the making is the root-like part of mushrooms, the mycelium. We will cultivate the mycelium, shape it and use it as a building material. This process will allow us to observe more closely the relationships between the different organisms. The metaphor of the mycelium network should inspire us: The bigger the network becomes, the bigger the table can be. Our tables will create a mycelium banquet where we will share bread, mushrooms and thoughts about food rituals and sustainable food use.
A workshop always consists of two dates: In the first part we dedicate ourselves to the theory and handling of the material mycelium. Afterwards we will work with it, make moulds for the tables and lay out the substrate. The mycelium will grow in the moulds for 9 days and take shape itself. In the second part of the workshop we will then see the substrate change and make the tables with it.
At the end of the entire workshop series, we will all come together at the self-made tables for a joint "banquet" (probably in mid-September).
Workshop series by and with Ayla Pellicer
Dates (always from 12 pm–4.30 pm):
Saturday, 27.5. and Sunday, 4.6.
Saturday, 12.8. and Sunday, 20.8.
Saturday, 2.9. and Sunday, 10.9.
Participation by registration (via nt@urbanekuensteruhr.de oder +49 170 37 128 78), maximum number of participants: 10 (children from 12 years and adults)
Healing Complex: Mycel-Bankett
In this workshop we will work together to make a series of modular tables that come together to form a larger whole. Our partner in the making is the root-like part of mushrooms, the mycelium. We will cultivate the mycelium, shape it and use it as a building material. This process will allow us to observe more closely the relationships between the different organisms. The metaphor of the mycelium network should inspire us: The bigger the network becomes, the bigger the table can be. Our tables will create a mycelium banquet where we will share bread, mushrooms and thoughts about food rituals and sustainable food use.
A workshop always consists of two dates: In the first part we dedicate ourselves to the theory and handling of the material mycelium. Afterwards we will work with it, make moulds for the tables and lay out the substrate. The mycelium will grow in the moulds for 9 days and take shape itself. In the second part of the workshop we will then see the substrate change and make the tables with it.
At the end of the entire workshop series, we will all come together at the self-made tables for a joint "banquet" (probably in mid-September).
Workshop series by and with Ayla Pellicer
Dates (always from 12 pm–4.30 pm):
Saturday, 6.5. and Sunday, 14.5. (fully booked)
Saturday, 27.5. and Sunday, 4.6.
Saturday, 12.8. and Sunday, 20.8.
Saturday, 2.9. and Sunday, 10.9.
Participation by registration (via nt@urbanekuensteruhr.de oder +49 170 37 128 78), maximum number of participants: 10 (children from 12 years and adults)
Holiday week for children and teenagers
The Healing Complex is open again and this year we invite you to bake, create and experiment with us. Learn all about the world of mushrooms and create your own games. We look forward to seeing you!
Dates: 11.-14.4.23
Daily from 10am-2pm
For children from 7 years
Registration under
+49 170 37 128 78
nt@urbanekuensteruhr.de
Healing Complex: Re-Opening
On March 25, we will celebrate the reopening of the Healing Complex project initiated by Irena Haiduk with an economy that is not only metaphorically based on the model of mushroom cultures - the myconomy - and cordially invite you to learn more about the cosmos of mushrooms. Starting at 3 pm, visitors will be able to harvest mushrooms themselves. In the afternoon, artist and performer Margo Zālīte invites you to a mushroom tea ceremony followed by a sound performance. Admission is free.
Programme
3 pm: Welcome by Britta Peters, Artistic Director Urbane Künste Ruhr
3.30 pm: The world of mushrooms, introduction to the topic of mushrooms and mushroom cultivation by Clara Schmidt (myko:nect)
4.30 pm: Tea ceremony to the sound of mushrooms fwith Margo Zalite
6 pm: Performance MUSHROOM NANO OPERA by singer Burçin Keskin
From 3pm throughout: Mushroom harvest / DIY workshop
