Urbane Künste Ruhr
Open Call: Zu Gast im Healing Complex
Due date: 05. January 2024
Urbane Künste Ruhr invites
artists who are interested in working with local networks and public meeting places to take part in a three-month residency
for the upcoming 2024 season. The residency is part of the Healing Complex project. Two positions will be allocated for the
residency. Interested artists can apply individually or jointly; applications from collectives are also very welcome.
About the Healing Complex
Since June 3, 2022, Urbane Künste Ruhr has
been running the project Healing Complex (2018–ongoing) in Gelsenkirchen, which was initiated by the artist Irena Haiduk based
on the model of antique building complexes that combined art and healing. Irena Haiduk's artistic practice links the symbolic
capital of the art field with real economies, which is particularly relevant in a post-industrial region such as the Ruhr
area. The economic cycle of the Healing Complex is not about ownership, but about use and working on a common exchange economy.
To this end, Irena Haiduk has redesigned the interior of the former church, which was closed in 2007 and profaned in 2014.
The Healing Complex is therefore also a model for the conversion of vacant churches, which could be filled with new life as
abandoned buildings in many cities.
The long-term project creates a meeting place in the former working-class district
of Gelsenkirchen-Erle. A dense program of workshops and events provides playful, practical and theoretical impulses for a
diverse community. In the second phase of the project, from March to September 2023, the idea of building an economy for the
Healing Complex based on the underground network structures of mushroom mycelia emerged: the Myconomie, to promote productive
neighbourly coexistence, but also as an informal learning space where knowledge and experience can be shared. After the winter
break, we are following up on this phase with an guest artist residency and at the same time
giving space to new ideas.
