Folkwang University of the Arts

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The Folkwang University of the Arts is the central place for artistic training in music, theatre, dance, design, and academic studies. In line with the Folkwang idea of the arts' cross-disciplinary interaction, a plurality of different art forms and disciplines has been united under one roof here since 1927. Folkwangers from the photography, communication design, and industrial design programs have been re-included as of 2007. Today there are Folkwang campus and venues in Essen, Duisburg, Bochum, and Dortmund.
The "Folkwang School of Music, Dance and Speech" was founded in 1927 in 1928, the name of the pre-existing Essen School of Trades and Applied Arts was changed to "Folkwang School of Design." For more than 80 years, the name Folkwang has stood for outstanding artistic teaching, learning, and production – and it has long since become a cultural brand name, far beyond national borders.
Despite our advanced age, we feel younger and livelier than ever. That is due partly to our approx. One thousand six hundred students from almost every country globally, and partly to the more than 300 public events we hold each year – always realized in a fresh and new way on our own eight in-house stages or together with cultural institutions and partners around the region. But it must also be due in part to the constant process of evaluation and the modularisation of our course range: the most recent idea to emerge was (for example) the Folkwang LABs, which have been giving interdisciplinary Folkwang projects a definitive new form as of the 08/09 winter semester.
Last but not least, the Folkwang University of the Arts is impressive on account of its unique historic buildings and the many special people who have always been – and still are – here: Pina Bausch (dancer and choreographer), Armin Rohde and Caroline Eichhorn (actors), Frank Peter Zimmermann (violinist), Lothar Zagrosek (conductor), Hagen Rather (cabaret artist), Timm Rautert (photographer) to name just a few, did their study at the Folkwang. A whole array of significant cultural, scholarly, and creative pathways has been forged here. New highlights are being reached every day – in terms of aesthetics, content, and setting artistic directions for the whole region and the international scene.
The Folkwang University of Arts is a place of interdisciplinary artistic, pedagogical, scientific research, teaching, and practice. We are the leading training center for music, theatre, dance, design, and academic studies in North Rhine Westphalia and firmly anchored in the Ruhr metropolis with our five campuses - Essen-Werden, Essen-Zollverein, Duisburg, Theatre Centre Bochum and Orchestra Centre|NRW in Dortmund. Folkwang University is thus in the heart of one of the largest industrial-cultural centers in Europe. We have a massive impact on the region as a whole, and from there, our network spreads out on a global basis.
The name 'Folkwang' has become synonymous with a unique concept for artistic learning and communication. The foundation of the first Folkwang school in 1927 is due to a vision Karl Ernst Osthaus had over a hundred years ago: he wanted to create interdisciplinary cooperation of the arts and anchor all the arts in the center of a democratic society. Then as now, the Folkwang University of the Arts has been following social realities and has thus helped the arts become a living and breathing factor of society by setting innovative and creative accents, thereby setting pioneering impulses for the future.

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