Searching for Now

To mark the opening of the Ruhrtriennale 2011 artists, academics and spiritual teachers come together for a discussion about creative processes, inspiration and creation.

Questions about the responsibility and location of art in a globalized world will be a particular concern. Can religion or spiritual practices provide impetus for artistic processes? What are the images of the world which will determine the images in our future productions, compositions and poems? Is the idea of the universality of art only now beginning to be really true? Where can contemporary art’s social responsibility be seen?

Reflecting on Buddhism may be able to offer some answers: this religion, or better, this way of looking at the world takes many forms and features, all that these have in common is the fundamental moment of fellow-feeling, of compassion and also powerlessness in the face of nature and the environment. The decisive factor in Buddhism – as a non-theistic religion – is not the belief in something (God) but the spiritual practice of meditation.

The idea of emptiness – shunyata – as a central concept of Buddhist thought – is often interpreted negatively in the West, being misunderstood as an abhorrent vacuum. If, however, one grasps emptiness as a ›broad openness‹, as a space to unfold and a possibility of transformation, numerous new creative fields can be discovered – particularly by artists from our own culture.

We invite you to an exchange of ideas, reflection and conversation with Willy Decker, Luk Perceval, Hans Günter Golinski and Michael von Brück.

This will be followed in the foyer of the Jahrhunderthalle by the unrolling of 11 calligraphies of the Zen master Sasaki Gensô Rôshi: calligraphies whose form and content reflect the theme of our season.

The Turbine Hall has no heating. We recommend appropriate clothing for this industrial heritage site.