BLAUES RAUSCHEN 2026 – Resonance in the open space between breath and algorithm

Since its origin, BLAUES RAUSCHEN has understood itself as a festival that makes processes visible. It focuses on questions resulting from the interplay of sound, technology, society, and space. How is artistic practice changing under digital conditions? What role do the body, materiality, and improvisation play in increasingly algorithmic systems? And how can local contexts be combined with international perspectives?

BLAUES RAUSCHEN 2026 builds on this and takes these questions further. Immediate sound practice is brought to the fore more. Works involving the body, voice, instruments, and collaborative situations encounter acoustic and electronic processes. Different artistic approaches and working methods stand side by side without being leveled.

The festival takes place in the Ruhr area in the cities of Bochum, Dortmund, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Kaarst, Duisburg, and Mülheim. The integration of various festival locations in the Ruhr area is an important sign of the continuing commitment to a supraregional cultural policy.

In recent years, BLAUES RAUSCHEN has established itself as a place of exchange between artists, disciplines, institutions, and audiences. Workshops, discussions, and collaborative formats have been an integral part of the program. This focus will continue in 2026 with a lecture talk entitled “Chemical Calls of Care”, on the material and chemical processes of sound production. The internationally advertised workshop, which has been closely linked to the festival in recent years and has been a central part of the program, unfortunately cannot be realized in 2026 due to the overall tense cultural policy funding situation which is currently affecting many independent and experimental cultural formats.

Current political and social developments are characterized by polarization and narrow-mindedness. BLAUES RAUSCHEN counters this with a space which differences are allowed to exist in and perception does not immediately lead to agreement or rejection.

BLAUES RAUSCHEN deliberately remains open. For friction and contradiction, for blurring and spaces in between. Not everything can be explained immediately. Sound is not understood as a finished product, but as a process.

BLAUES RAUSCHEN 2026 invites you to listen attentively, question familiar categories, and engage with different forms of contemporary sound art.

Karl-Heinz Blomann
Artistic Director