Via Regia

This three-part project brings together the interdisciplinary artistic collective fachbetrieb rita grechen from Dresden with the group of artists MFK Bochum along the ancient trade route the Via Regia. Both groups invite the public to experience actions, interventions and performances at a variety of locations: digitally during the ‘NO SPEED NO LIMIT’ cycle journey along the Via Regia with fachbetrieb rita grechen, live in the park at Ringlokschuppen Ruhr for the ‘SOFT PERFORMANCE WELCOME PARTY’ to celebrate the cyclists’ arrival in Mülheim an der Ruhr, and finally in Cologne at Gremberg woods by the A4 mortorway for MFK Bochum’s performance ‘SONIC HIGHWAY’.

fachbetrieb rita grechen
Via Regia: NO SPEED NO LIMIT
interactive cycle tour
livestream from 5.6., exact times at impulsefestival.de

Esra and Heit cycle from East to West, from Görlitz to Mühlheim an der Ruhr and on to Cologne, over 900 kilometres along the Via Regia. They get lost in landscapes and cities, search for and fail to find each other and meet other characters along the way. ‘NO SPEED NO LIMIT’ is a staged cycle tour along the historic trade route that made a substantial contribution to the exchange of goods and ideas in the Middle Ages between cities such as Frankfurt am Main, Cologne, Erfurt, Leipzig and Görlitz. There are sections of the tour where the public can cycle along – and everything is streamed live. The protagonists Esra and Heit make regular stops to rest and eat, let their tired legs recover and think out loud. ‘NO SPEED NO LIMIT’ is a portrait of Germany between East and West, a road movie by bike, a

fachbetrieb rita grechen
Via Regia: SOFT PERFORMANCE WELCOME PARTY
Park at Ringlokschuppen Ruhr, Mülheim an der Ruhr
21.6., 15:00
-> Ticket shop

A meal, a celebration, a travel report, a concert, an arrival with heavy legs after a long journey.

MFK Bochum
Via Regia: SONIC HIGHWAY
Gremberg woods by the A4 motorway, Cologne
29.6., 15:00
The ‘Easyeasy’ bar in the Gremberger Wäldchen is open from 13:00.
Please register at anmeldung@impulsefestival.de. You will then receive the GPS data by e-mail.

‘SONIC HIGHWAY’, the third and final part of the Via Regia project, is set at a location that has already been long contested by irreconcilable plans for mobility and urban development: Gremberg woods. Soon preparations will begin on its southern side to extend the A4 motorway from six to eight lanes. The group MFK Bochum has been on the road since 2020, without a car. They linger on foot at the sides of motorways from the Ruhr region to Slovakia and encounter polyphonic contradictions and realities along Europe’s ever more congested roads. Now they will make a stop in what is left of Cologne’s oldest natural forest and invite you to take a seat in a place where they are guests themselves. A bar will be open, fachbetrieb rita grechen’s cycling delegation will arrive from Saxony and the last internal combustion engines will cut through the peaceful events of a Sunday afternoon.