dortmunder u CENTRE FOR ART AND CREATIVITY

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WELCOME
ULLRICH SIERAU, LORD MAYOR OF THE CITY OF DORTMUND
HANNELORE KRAFT, MINISTER PRESIDENT OF NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA
Dear visitors to and citizens of Dortmund,
the “U”, the emblem of Dortmund which can be seen
from afar and is known far and wide, is a milestone in
the city’s development for its further forward-looking
transformation in urban development and culture.
The Dortmunder U has a lively history and has been
witness to many changes. Over 80 years ago the
U-Tower was built as a storage tower for the Dortmunder
Union Brewery, and certainly by 1968, when
the four-sided, illuminated “U” was put on top, the
tower had become a symbol for the economic
strength of Dortmund’s breweries. Known all over
the Ruhr Metropolis and beyond, it symbolized
the art of brewing and therefore stood, alongside
coal and steel, for one of the three pillars of the
former economic structure in the Ruhr.
When this structure changed the U-Tower once again
became a witness, this time of major changes, that
now find their very visible high point in the tower’s
renovation and conversion. In its role as a new
Centre for Art and Creativity, the Dortmunder U
underlines the city’s, and the region’s, potential for
innovation and the will to change. The revitalizing
of a former industrial building for culture illustrates
the growing significance of Dortmund and
the Ruhr Metropolis as a place for high technology
and science. In addition new leisure destinations
are emerging from this industrial legacy, which are
unique and very attractive to visitors from outside
the city. The Dortmunder U will not only house
creative and scientific projects but also be the new
home for the Museum Ostwall, which will in future
exhibit its col lection of paintings, objects and
photo graphs of the 20th and 21st centuries there.
In this way the U will become the western post of
Dortmund’s “Culture and Museum Mile”. From the
U-Tower, via the planned DFB Museum, the City and
Regional Library, the Museum for Art and Cultural
History, up to the Concert House and the Theatre,
the heart of Dortmund offers a high concentration
of outstanding cultural attractions, all within
walking distance.
So it’s clear that a visit to our city, including the
Dortmunder U, is certainly an experience and well
worth the trip. Enjoy!
Greetings, Ullrich Sierau
The Dortmunder U is both living memory and the future.
The U stands for union, uniqueness, undertaking,
upgraded architecture and urbanity – and all under
one roof.
Whoever comes here will recognize the importance of
the U for Dortmund and the structural change in the
Ruhr and will feel its international charisma. The U is
an attractive site because of its complex composition,
which is crowned by film director Adolf Winkelmann.
Because the U also stands for “Über raschung”–
surprise. On this site, innovative ideas and concepts
are being developed in the field of cultural education
in the digital age; partnerships are being formed between
art, science and creative economy; and spaces
are being created for interdisciplinary, integrated
learning, research and work. In the U many groups
are working together, including the Museum Ostwall,
the Hartware MedienKunstVerein, the Cultural Office
of the City of Dortmund, the Dortmund University of
Applied Sciences and Arts, the TU Dortmund University
and the european centre for creative economy
(ecce). In this way the U represents the best possible
continuation of the European Capital of Culture
RUHR.2010. Its motto “Culture through Change –
Change through Culture” is becoming reality here,
step by step. And so it is right that this new emblem
of the Ruhr is being opened in stages during the
European Capital of Culture Year.
Visitor numbers for the first months after opening
and successful events like the E-Culture Fair 2010,
which took place in Germany for the first time, are
proving the sponsors right. The Land of North Rhine-
Westphalia was one such sponsor. For the U project
we invested not only in bricks and mortar but also
in creative minds and therefore in the region’s future.
Interactive installations such as Exchange Fields
within the frame of ISEA2010 RUHR, 16th International
Symposium on Electronic Art, offer accessible
art and breathe the future.
In all of this it is personally important to me, that the
U is a place where the local creative community can
meet with creative workers from all over the world
– alongside young and old people who are interested
in the U and its varied attractions, and that people
can get to know each other and value each other. For
such meeting points are also always places of inspiration
and communication. They provide momentum.
Something is happening here. U is also for “Unterhaltung”
(entertainment). Therefore it is good, that
there is space under the roof for a colourful mixture
of education, art, economy, science, memory culture
and commerce. After all we want to appeal to all
people, not create an ivory tower for elitists.
I hope that many people experience the U as an impressive
place of past and future and thereby breathe
life into it. I thank all those involved for their cooperation,
their ideas and their untiring commitment
and I wish them all the success that they deserve.