This map can only offer a subjective selection of places to visit. The Ruhr Area is famed for its industrial heritage. Less well known, perhaps, is the richness of its cultural legacy, which grew up from the wealth produced by its industry and has been built on and expanded ever since. Particularly close to our hearts is the attempt to bring the extraordinarily rich artistic and architectural production of the 1950s and 1960s into active dialogue with the present. Nowhere in the world can compare with North Rhine-Westphalia, as a whole, with its 60 substantial museums of Modern and Contemporary Art, three art academies (including the celebrated Düsseldorf Academy), its numerous studio spaces and every type of amenity supporting new generations of creative individuals. Building on the success of the 2010 celebrations of the Ruhr Region as European Capital of Culture, I invite you to explore the area in a new spirit of adventure during Manifesta 16 Ruhr.

— Robert Fleck