European City of Culture 2010: Essen

While any intrepid international traveler will have already explored the major cultural capitals of London, Paris and Berlin to the max, Essen promises to be a more intriguing prospect. But what cultural diversions will the 2010 City of Culture Essen, representing the Ruhr Valley, the center of Germany’s mining industry, offer?

The cultural celebrations are based around three main themes; mythology, metropolis and Europe, with one of the most intriguing being the LWL Museum of Industry Henrichshütte’s ‘Heroes’ exhibition. Internationally recognizable heroes such as Lara Croft will be displayed alongside famous Ruhr natives and displays of historical artifacts in an installation looking to explore the concept of mythological figures from reality and fantasy; past and present.

While Essen is the site of the City of Culture, the cultural heritage of the entire Ruhr is being feted and explored, and none more so in the ‘Changing Stages’ project, where international artists, curators and directors are massing to develop new perspectives for the performing arts, aiming to create artistic impressions of the Ruhr’s constantly evolving mix of time-honored traditions and modern concepts, and to get crowds thinking about how European culture will develop in the future.

Described by its organizers as “a metropolis in progress”, Essen seems set to burst into our cultural consciousness with a program that suggests it could well usurp today’s cultural centers of Europe.

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by Robin Harrison
Gloobbi Lifestyle
London Correspondent

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