The Bochum-based sculptor Dorothee Bielfeld has asked the organisers of Manifesta 16 Ruhr to remove Nasan Tur’s installation Elevation (2026) from the exhibition, alleging that the piece plagiarises her earlier work Aufrichten (Raising Up) (2010), ArtNews reports.
Bielfeld’s work, created for a 2010 cultural campaign in the Ruhr region, consisted of 29 wooden church pews standing upright. Elevation also features standing church pews that are engraved with anonymous statements collected from the community.
According to ArtNews, a spokesperson for Manifesta 16 stated that the biennial stands by curators Leonie Herweg and René Block, who, ‘without prejudice’, deemed Tur’s work artistically independent.
Manifesta 16 Ruhr is on view in various locations across Duisburg, Essen, Gelsenkirchen and Bochum, through 4 October.
