New Pott

A socio-political enquiry

100 families from 100 different nations give an account of their lives in the Ruhr region (Ruhrpott) of Germany, outlining their perspectives for a new era. The personal experiences and stories of these immigrants offer us a new perception of the area and its cultural and industrial transformations. The intimate insights into different lives, individual living conditions, and the manifold motivations to live in a city in this region help draw a new map of western German, the “New Pott,” which has become a new home for millions of people.

For this rather original artistic project, Düsseldorf artist Mischa Kuball (*1959) interviewed 100 immigrants from different generations over more than a year. The intensity of these encounters is reflected in the publication’s collection of interviews, portraits, and private snapshots of the interlocutors. The analytical comments by cultural scientist Harald Welzer address the social and political questions of social integration and the future of a multinational population in Germany, and dispel the common clichés about the Ruhrpott region.

The publication is part of the series of artists’ projects edited by Christoph Keller and comes with a 16-pages English inlay.