“Why Are You Creative?” Exhibition in Essen

Why Are You Creative? goes Zeche Zollverein

In March 2012 the “Why Are You Creative?”-exhibition was presented at the World Heritage location Zeche Zollverein. Set in the famous SANAA building (which was awarded with the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2010), the exhibition presented the best of more than 400 answers to Hermann Vaske’s question “Why Are You Creative?”.

Hermann Vaske asked some of the greatest artists, some of the world’s most renowned scientists and some of the most important politicians of our time – Mikhail Gorbachev, Damien Hirst, Bono, David Bowie, Steven Spielberg, Salman Rushdie, Sean Penn, Vivienne Westwood, Frank Gehry, Stephen Hawking and even the Dalai Lama.

Their answers are as diverse as the protagonists themselves. It is an exploration into the many facets of creativity: artistic, intellectual, philosophical, political and scientific.

The exhibition in the Ruhr Metropolis was part of the “Forum d’Avignon Ruhr 2012”, a think tank dedicated to culture and backed by the UNESCO. Participants included the prime minister of North-Rhine Westphalia Hannelore Kraft, director of Germany’s National Gallery Udo Kittelmann, SPD chairman Sigmar Gabriel and actress Jana Pallaske.

Hermann Vaske and Hannelore Kraft

Hermann Vaske and Hannelore Kraft

Hermann Vaske and Udo Kittelmann

Udo Kittelmann

Hermann Vaske and Sigmar Gabriel

Sigmar Gabriel

Hermann Vaske and Jana Pallaske

Jana Pallaske

Read more about “Why Are You Creative?” on the website of the Forum d’Avignon.