International Visitors Programme

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International Visitors Programme

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International cultural mediators encounter North Rhine-Westphalia’s art and cultural scene and create lasting transnational networks.

Since 2009, artists, cultural politicians, cultural mediators, journalists and other protagonists from around the world come to North Rhine-Westphalia in the framework of the international visitors programme. Networks are created, international projects developed and transnational cooperation expanded in a personal dialogue with potential partners and international guests. Participants
Internationally acting cultural institutions, creative artists and cultural offices in NRW consult in collaboration with the overseas offices of the Goethe-Institut, embassies and other foreign cultural organisations on the selection of visitors and the composition of the programme. Visitors
Participants in the international visitors programme are curators, artists and creative artists from around the world. They are interested in lasting contacts and future collaboration with protagonists of the art and cultural scene in NRW. They also have command of the English or German language. The visitors are proposed by the partners from the state’s cities and the overseas offices of the Goethe-Institut. Programme
The trip is planned together with the visitors. They generally come to North Rhine-Westphalia for two to five days or tag their visits onto existing stays in the state. Apart from opportunities to exchange ideas with artists, experts and journalists, the programme also offers visits to performances, concerts and exhibitions.

14/10/2026

Recap: North East × North Rhine-Westphalia Hip-Hop Exchange ✨

Different styles, shared experiences, new connections!
In September, Breaking artists from the North East of England and Krump artists from North Rhine-Westphalia came together for the first phase of the NE × NRW Hip-Hop Exchange.

Developed through a partnership between NRW KULTURsekretariat and Arts Council England, with delivery partners Moving Art Management and Urban Arts Theatre Oberhausen, the exchange supports artists from both regions to share knowledge, develop their practice and build lasting creative connections.

The programme included a visit to Theater Oberhausen, home to the Urban Arts Ensemble, as well as workshops, joint sessions and encounters with local artists in Düsseldorf – including a Krump × Breakdance session at Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf.
A highlight of the week was the European Buck Session World Krump Championships at tanzhaus nrw, bringing the artists together with the international Krump community.

Hip-hop culture has always connected people, places and ideas across borders. This exchange offered a chance to put that spirit into practice – sharing knowledge, exploring different approaches to their artform and building new creative connections.

Meet the artists! 🔥
🇬🇧 from North East of England: • Rob Anderson (B-Boy Justice) Justice Badtastecru • Connor Gribben (Gribz) connorblc • Niamh Green (B-Girl NRGY)

🇩🇪 from North Rhine-Westphalia: • Joseph Louis Sitti (Twinn Liveness) Jolouis aka Big Joe 🗣️ • Siryel Chtioui (Princess Wave) siryel__ • David Mayinga (Block) Block

More than a one-off encounter, the exchange is designed to build lasting connections between artists and dance communities in both regions. In 2027, the Krump artists from NRW will travel to the UK for the next phase of the exchange, continuing the dialogue and exploring new opportunities for artistic collaboration, research and touring.

08/10/2026

Our IVP travel bag has made its way to another destination — this time, Ankara, Turkey! 🎒🇹🇷

Semih Ali Aksoy Semih Ali Aksoy joined us in June 2026 for the International Visitors Programme NRW on the occasion of the 42nd Westwind Festival – Theatre Meeting for Young Audiences NRW in Münster. Semih is a Theatre Director, Playwright and Co-Founder of Boş Sahne Boş Sahne , as well as a member of the Executive Board of Kült Kavaklıdere Kült Kavaklıdere .
Together, we experienced several days of performances, discussions and encounters around theatre for young audiences, connecting with artists and cultural professionals from North Rhine-Westphalia and beyond.

The photo was taken in Ankara, where our IVP travel bag has now arrived — a lovely reminder that the connections made during the programme continue beyond the festival itself. ✨

From one destination to the next, our IVP travel bag continues its journey, connecting people, places and ideas across borders. 🌍
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06/10/2026

: TANZRECHERCHE × SPRUNGBRETT ✨

About TANZRECHERCHE × SPRUNGBRETT is a new cooperation between NRW KULTURsekretariat and tanz nrw 27, offering a research grant expressly focused on artistic research rather than production. The programme includes a two-week residency from 26 April – 10 May 2027 in NRW, followed by participation in the tanz nrw 27 festival from 12 – 23 May 2027.

WhoShouldApply? The Open Call is aimed at two groups from the fields of dance, choreography and performance:
🔸 CALL 1: Emerging Artists from NRW – graduates of dance and art universities and/or newcomers to the professional dance scene, with their work and life base in NRW
🔸 CALL 2: International choreographers and dance artists – artists whose place of residence and main area of work is outside Germany
Applications are possible for one to a maximum of two people.

OnOffer 🔸 Research grant of €5,000 per residency 🔸 Two-week residency in Wuppertal or Essen at one of the festival’s partner venues 🔸 Use of venue resources, including spaces and technical equipment, subject to availability 🔸 Dramaturgical advice and organisational support 🔸 Participation in tanz nrw 27, including networking with presenters, artists and professionals 🔸 Travel costs and accommodation costs covered according to the conditions of the call 🔸 Documentation/material budget upon agreement
The residency is expressly not production-related.

ApplicationCriteria 🔸 Artists from NRW: should have realised one to two artistic projects, graduated no more than three years ago, and have their main area of work in NRW 🔸 Artists from abroad: should demonstrate a concrete connection to NRW in their research plans and seek to engage with local contexts and actors 🔸 All applicants must be personally present throughout the entire residency and participate in the festival 
🗓️ Application deadline: 03 November 2026  🔎 Online info sessions: 06./20./27.10.26

Find more info in the link in our bio!
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nrwkultur Photo: c

29/09/2026

🚨REMINDER: two weeks left to submit proposals for the InternationalVisitorsProgramme 2027‼️

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🌍 Call for submissions: International Visitors Programme 2027

International exchange begins with personal encounters. We invite cultural institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) to submit proposals for festivals, events and international guests to be considered in our programme 2027!

The International Visitors Programme, run by the NRW KULTURsekretariat in conjunction with the Ministry for Culture of North Rhine-Westphalia, assembles key players from across the globe working within cultural journalism, cultural mediation and cultural policy, as well as heads of institutions, festival organisers, curators and other multipliers, and connects them with the arts scene in NRW.

💡We are looking forward to your ideas!

Types of visitors’ programmes:
* Event trip: 4 day programme linked to a festival, event or conference.
* Press trip: 3–4 day programme for journalists aimed at media coverage, with both event- and theme-related options.

📅 Submit your proposals by 15 October 2026!

🔗 Find all information about the programme and the application process on our homepage (link in bio!)

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Photo: IVP CircusDanceFestival 2026, photo: Carolin Ritter ©

19/09/2026

🌍 Day 4: The final day of our International Visitors Programme at MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr! ✨
Our final day brought our international participants to Essen!

We began at St. Gertrud, where we joined a guided tour and met participating artist Donja Nasseri. The venue explores the relationship between public space, migration and urban memory, while Nasseri’s multidisciplinary practice engages with tradition and change, histories and narratives of identity and trauma, and questions of colonialism and restitution.
After lunch, we continued to St. Marien, where the MANIFESTA 16 programme explores themes of respect, memory and transformation through sculpture and site-specific installations, with works by Jason Dodge, William Engelen, Katharina Fritsch, Annika Kahrs and Jarosław.
In the evening, we headed to PACT Zollverein for an informal meeting with members of the MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr Artistic Board: Stefan Hilterhaus, Artistic Director of PACT Zollverein; Britta Peters, Artistic Director of Urbane Künste Ruhr; Emilia van Lynden, Deputy Director of the International Foundation Manifesta; and Vera Schöpfer, Director of NRW KULTURsekretariat.
Set within the UNESCO World Heritage Site Zeche Zollverein, PACT Zollverein’s work in dance, performance and interdisciplinary artistic practice provided a fitting setting for our final conversations and exchange.

And just like that, our MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr visitors’ programme comes to an end. Four days, countless encounters and conversations, and many different perspectives on art, architecture, community and the transformation of the Ruhr region. A big thank you to all the artists, curators, institutions and partners who welcomed us along the way — and of course to our wonderful international participants for joining us! ✨

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Photos: c Mina Faljic // Eva Lenhardt

18/09/2026

🌍 Day 3 of our International Visitors Programme at MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr! ✨

A full day in Dortmund! Our first stop was Ev. Stadtkirche Sankt Petri, the starting point for a visit to “Uncanny Shifts”, where we met Britta Peters, Artistic Director, and Alisha Raissa Danscher, Curator, of Urbane Künste Ruhr, as well as Esperanza Rock, Researcher at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB). Spread across several locations around Dortmund’s main railway station, the exhibition brings together sculptural, installation and performative works addressing ecological, social and political realities of the present.

In the afternoon, we met Anael Berkovitz and Julia Schäfer, residency artists of Urbane Künste Ruhr’s “Zu Gast”research residency programme, at Künstler*innenhaus Dortmund. The encounter offered an opportunity to learn more about their artistic practices and their engagement with the social, cultural and historical contexts of the Ruhr.

We then walked to Dortmunder U, where we visited Kunsthalle Dortmund and its current exhibition “INDUSTRIAL: Silk Roads 3000”, meeting Inke Arns, Artistic Director. The exhibition traces global production and transport networks from Asia to Europe, connecting today’s New Silk Roads with the Ruhr region’s transformation from an industrial heartland of coal and steel into a centre of logistics and distribution.
Another day of conversations, encounters and discoveries came to a close over dinner with Inke Arns and Britta Peters — all connected by MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr and the many histories and perspectives shaping the region. ✨
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16/09/2026

🌍 Day 2 of our International Visitors Programme at MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr! ✨

In Düsseldorf, we began at Studio Mischa Kuball GmbH, where we met conceptual artist Mischa Kuball, visiting professor of Public Art / Design Curating at the University of Wuppertal and Kim Kerger from the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia. The meeting offered insights into Kuball’s artistic practice around light, architecture, public space and society, as well as the work and programme of K21.
We then headed to Bochum and continued our MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr journey with a guided tour of Kunstkirche Christ-König, a former church now used as an exhibition space exploring memory, identity and social transformation.
Our next stops were St. Ludgerus, where play, movement and social interaction become new forms of ritual, and St. Anna, where the programme connects industrial heritage, migration and contemporary political realities. Across both venues, our participants explored how former churches can be reimagined as places for encounter, community and artistic experimentation. At St. Ludgerus, the group discovered works by CaboSanRoque with FLEXO ARQUITECTURAand Curro Claret, with creative mediation by Josep Bohigas. At St. Anna, they encountered works by Pedro Cabrita Reis, Kateryna Lysovenko, Pınar Öğrenci, Mykola Ridnyi, Wilhelm Sasnal and Marion Stokes, with creative mediation by Anda Rottenberg and Krzysztof Kosciuczuk.
We ended the day at Jahrhunderthalle Bochum, joining Ruhrtriennale’s “Wunderland” for dinner and a snack. As the central festival hub of the Ruhrtriennale, the pavilion beneath the historic water tower brings together festival audiences, artists and local communities throughout the festival.

Another packed day of encounters, artistic discoveries and conversations — and we’re looking forward to tomorrow! ✨
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Photos: c

16/09/2026

🌍 Day 1: Our International Visitors Programme at MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr has begun! ✨

We are excited to have our six international participants with us for MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr — and what a first day it was. Together, we explored different venues across Gelsenkirchen and Duisburg, discovering how art, architecture, community and local histories come together throughout this edition.
We started the day in Gelsenkirchen with a welcome meeting with Eva Lenhardt, Head of the International Visitors Programme at NRW KULTURsekretariat before meeting Lara Müller, Curatorial Coordinator, Coen Vos, Institutional Engagement Assistant, and Elena Blesa Cábez, Head of Education and Mediation, at the MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr Office.
Our first venue was St. Josef, where we explored the former church and its MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr projects, followed by a visit to St. Bonifatius – Ferdane Satır Tea Garden, where we met curator, art historian and creative mediator Gürsoy Doğtaş and learned more about the venue’s artistic and community-oriented approach.
After lunch we continued to Thomaskirche – Hava Güleç Living Room, meeting Catrin Lorch of Weberei Kai and discovering the church’s transformation into a space for gathering, dialogue and shared cultural experiences.
In the afternoon, we travelled to Duisburg for our final MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr stop of the day: Kulturkirche Liebfrauen, where we met participating artist Emil Walde and explored the relationship between architecture, memory and social transformation.

A full first day of encounters, conversations and discoveries — and only the beginning of our MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr journey! ✨
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03/09/2026

MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr ✨

After an intense summer and a short moment to catch our breath, our next International Visitors Programme is already around the corner! From 14 to 19 September, we’ll be heading to the Ruhr region for MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr.
The takes place every two years in a different host city or region, bringing together contemporary art, culture, architecture and social questions in dialogue with local contexts. This year, MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr unfolds across twelve vacant post-war churches in Duisburg, Essen, Gelsenkirchen and Bochum.
Exploring the architectural, social and historical legacy of these spaces, the biennial looks at questions of transformation, reuse and the future of the Ruhr region.

Our programme will include visits to selected MANIFESTA projects and exhibitions, encounters with the team and artistic advisory board, and meetings with important cultural institutions and initiatives in the region, including , and .

Before the programme begins, we’ll introduce the international professionals joining us — stay tuned! ✨

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Photo: friend (working title), Gülbin Ünlü (photo: Ivan Erofeev) © Manifesta 16 Ruhr

Adresse

Döppersberg 19
Wuppertal
42103

Telefon

+4920269827222

Website

https://www.nrw-kultur.de/programme/internationales-besucherprogramm

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