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International
artists address
the transformation
of the
Emscher Valley

making of ...

Football in the Ruhr is more than just the big names: Schalke 04, Borussia Dortmund and VFL Bochum. Nowhere else in Germany are there so many clubs. Boys and girls train together in the youth section of VfR Bottrop-Ebel. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Thomas Gerwin collects sounds at the Emscher waste water treatment plant in Bottrop-Welheim. © Etta Gerdes

Film maker Stefan Fendrich joins the team at the Bottrop-Welheim water treatment plant to collect material for the project videos. © Etta Gerdes

A lake in waiting: Dortmund Hörde waiting for the water. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Gilles Aubry interviews Sabrina Hilgert (Musical Director) and Uwe Giesenar (Chairman) of the Blau-Weiss Oberhausen 1957 e.V. marching band. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Self-explanatory: Sign in the pumping station. © Pablo Faber

Field recording at the water treatment plant. Thomas Gerwin at work. © Etta Gerdes

Neighbourhood manager Thomas Schwarzer in conversation with Karl-Heinz Blomann: During a tour of the Emscher, the people involved in the RiverSound project visited Bottrop-Ebel, gaining insights into the renewal project on their walk. © Etta Gerdes

Gilles Aubry during sound recordings at the St. Matthias Catholic Kindergarten in Bottrop-Ebel: A small boy is astounded by his own voice. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

A sound excursion through the Emscher valley: Swiss composer Gilles Aubry listens to Christa Ostgathe at a memory training session for senior citizens at the Matthiashaus in Bottrop-Ebel. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Dortmund-Evinger Bach: The pump room becomes a sound chamber. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Around the turn of the last century, construction of the “Prosper Colony” - the miners’ settlement which gave rise to the district of Ebel - started near the Emscher. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Theo Bleckmann, Sven Nowoczyn, Hyun Jin Kim, Karl-Heinz Blomann, Stefan Fendrich, Patrick Praschma, Pablo Faber (left to right): Group photo after the session at the Evinger Bach pumping station. © Ulrike Kaßler

Karl-Heinz Blomann during audio recordings at the Emscher waste water treatment plant in Bottrop-Welheim. © Etta Gerdes

Emergency shower facilities at the Emscher waste water treatment plant in Bottrop. © Pablo Faber

Field Recording im Klärwerk. Thomas Gerwin (li.) und Karl-Heinz Blomann bei der Arbeit. © Etta Gerdes

The construction works at the Phoenix site: There is still considerable excavation work to be done before the Phoenix See is flooded. The skyline of Hörde can be seen in the background. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Relaxing after a concentrated recording session at the Dortmund-Evinger Bach pumping station: Karl-Heinz Blomann and New York-based voice artist Theo Bleckmann. © Pablo Faber

In spite of extensive purification, the Emscher water is still not fit to drink. Sign at the treatment plant site in Bottrop. © Pablo Faber

Visit to Rudi Zacharek, who presents his short film on the steel innovation in Dortmund Hörde. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Phoenix See display board: Still a long way to go. An attractive lakeside idyll for the future. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Dancer Hyun Jin Kim explores the site of the waste water treatment plant in Bottrop, which is closed to the public. The result: fascinating “sound sculptures” for FlussKlang:RiverSound 2010. © Pablo Faber

Seagulls are permanent visitors at the water treatment plant site in Bottrop, providing a constant sound backdrop. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Indispensable: The recording equipment. © Etta Gerdes

The engine room at the Dortmund-Evinger Bach pumping station with paintings by Norbert Tadeusz. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Film Maker Patrik Praschma captures the recordings at the waste water treatmeant plant in Bottrop. © Etta Gerdes

Digestion tanks at the Emscher waste water treatment plant in Bottrop. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Alfons Falke, foundry worker at Phoenix for many years, shares his reminiscences with Thomas Gerwin and Karl-Heinz Blomann. © Etta Gerdes

This building at the Phoenix construction site provided the title for one of the RiverSound productions in 2010: “Little wounds need plasters too”. © Gilles Aubry

Karl-Heinz Blomann and Thomas Gerwin at the Phoenix site in Dortmund-Hörde. © Etta Gerdes

Recordings are made for the RiverSound productions at the memory training session for senior citizens: Gilles Aubry makes recordings in the morning at the Matthiashaus in Bottrop-Ebel. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Man, machines and recording equipment: Karl-Heinz Blomann at the Emscher waste water treatment plant in Bottrop-Welheim. © Etta Gerdes

Lending colour to an urban district: Distribution boxes in Bottrop-Ebel. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

A little house with garden behind the dike: Not at the North Sea, but in Bottrop-Ebel. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

The youth coach of VfR Bottrop-Ebel. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Acoustic events cast their shadows before: Recording in Bottrop-Ebel. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

The composers transform sewage sludge into sound. © Etta Gerdes

The Blau-Weiss Oberhausen 1957 e.V. marching band rehearses at the Alstaden school. Gilles Aubry and Karl-Heinz Blomann made recordings and inspired the musicians led by Sabrina Hilgert to improvise. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

View of the windows of the engine room at the Dortmund-Evinger Bach pumping station, where the RiverSound performances for ExtraSchicht 2010 took place. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

For ExtraSchicht, the pumping station is transformed into a “cathedral of water”. © Pablo Faber

On the Emscher island in Bottrop-Ebel: Neighbourhood manager Thomas Schwarzer, Gilles Aubry, Karl-Heinz Blomann (left to right). © Etta Gerdes

The composers in the lounge of the Arosa Hotel in Essen-Rüttenscheid. Left to right: Karl-Heinz Blomann, Thomas Gerwin and Gilles Aubry. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Bottrop-Ebel on the Emscher island: The Emscher, railway bridge and pipelines form a graphical arrangement in the picture. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Recording at the pumping station: Karl-Heinz Blomann and Thomas Gerwin. © Pablo Faber

No lake in sight: Considerable excavation work is still required before the Phoenix site in Dortmund Hörde can be flooded. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Typical old miner’s house in the Ebel district of Bottrop - built in the early 20th century. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

During recording at the Phoenix site in Dortmund Hörde the team met Rudi Zacharek, who has been documenting the transformation of the urban district in film for several decades (from left: Stefan Fendrich, Rudi Zacharek, Karl-Heinz Blomann). © Etta Gerdes

A vision in text and pictures: The display board provides information on the plans for the Phoenix See and the Emscher to local residents and visitors. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Karl-Heinz Blomann explains to Thomas Gerwin what happens at the Dortmund-Evinger Bach pumping station. © Etta Gerdes

Every old miner’s house in the Prosper Colony at Bottrop’s Ebel district has a small garden. © Karl-Heinz Blomann

Thomas Schwarzer, responsible for urban renewal in Bottrop-Ebel, explains the special features of this district on the Emscher island to Karl-Heinz Blomann. © Etta Gerdes

Goalkeeper training: Looking after tomorrow’s players at VfR Bottrop-Ebel. © Karl-Heinz Blomannn

„sound sculptures“ – Dancer Hyun Jin Kim and Karl-Heinz Blomann during an improvisation at the pumping station. © Pablo Faber

Ear protectors can be useful at the waste water treatment plant. © Etta Gerdes

Sound recording at the Dortmund-Evinger Bach pumping station. Saxophonist Karl-Heinz Blomann and percussionist Thomas Gerwin in a rhythmical dialogue. © Pablo Faber