On the subject: What are we still waiting for?
We cannot afford to wait any longer. Instead, we must become active, we must create spaces for encounters, for debate, for shared experiences. The Szeniale wants to be and can become such a space. A laboratory for social interaction. A place where we can test how living together can succeed. A festival that is not just consumed, but co-created.
Szeniale 26 will also bring art forms together again – not as isolated disciplines, but as mutually enriching forms of expression. We don’t want borders between the arts, just as we don’t want borders between people.
Freedom and responsibility, equality and diversity, solidarity and individuality – we need to strike a productive balance between these apparent opposites. Art can help us do this because it does not resolve contradictions, but endures them and makes them fruitful.
The visual arts …
… teaches us to look closely. It shows us perspectives that we overlook in everyday life.
When we stand in front of a work of art that irritates or touches us, windows open in our minds. As a society, we need these windows more than ever. Because where political discourse freezes in slogans, art can make nuances visible and allow for complexity.
Anyone who follows the idea of transforming the leitmotif into a contribution is kindly and expectantly invited to submit an application for an artistic project for SZENIALE 26.
The SZENIALE sees itself as a network that transcends local borders in order to create networks, realize cooperation across city boundaries and bundle impulses from the Ruhr area (and NRW) and allow them to flow into artistic energy
Application deadline: December 15, 2025