Exhibition: "800 years Bocholt - Europe in the center!"

As is well known, the European city of Bocholt is 800 years old. Reason enough that the Mariengymnasium with the art department takes up the border location of the city, the associated European context and European values. The exhibition will be opened on Wednesday, May 4, at 10 a.m. in the Kunsthaus Bocholt, Osterstraße 69, in the presence of the deputy mayor Mrs. Gudrun Koppers and the principal of the Mariengymnasium, Ruth Sonntag.

The Mariengymnasium Bocholt is North Rhine-Westphalia's European School. "We want to examine European interactions using the concrete example of our own city," says organizer and subject teacher Daglef Seeger, explaining the idea behind the exhibition. The city of Bocholt has been shaped by its border location throughout its history.

Particularly significant cross-border European aspects here are the history of the Anabaptists in the 16th century, the immigration of the Huguenots in the 17th century and economic developments in the textile industry and mechanical engineering.

European contexts in Bocholt

53 students of the EF class reflect artistically and poetically on the European connections of economy and art in our European city Bocholt. In the process, interactively oriented three-dimensional objects are created. For example, a form made of wire mesh is covered with papier-mâché and painted.

Also reliefs from Kapaline plates, as well as drawings, picture and photo cycles create the pupils up-to-date. In addition, with the support of the Bocholt City Museum, references to the three internationally active artists Israhel von Meckenem, Josef Fenneker and Fritz Pitz, who come from Bocholt, are to be taken up.

Cooperation with Euregio-Kunstkreis Bocholt e.V.

The Europe exhibition will be realized with the support of the Euregio-Kunstkreis Bocholt e.V.. With the help of the municipal library of Bocholt and the Fontanekreis Bocholt, the literary figure Ursula Bruns ("Immenhof"), who is connected with Bocholt, as well as the 19th century writer Sir John Radcliffe will be included in an interdisciplinary way.

As a cooperation partner of the Mariengymnasium, the Textilwerk Bocholt supports a work in which fashion dolls wearing clothes from different centuries perceive each other and reflect on the times. The exhibition, shown during Europe Week 2022 at the Kunsthaus Bocholt, is an official program item of the anniversary program. The project is co-supported by Europe Direct Bocholt. The exhibition is financially supported by the state program for the NRW Europe Week.

The exhibition will be on display until Sunday, May 22. Admission is free.