Dozens of artists bring new life to a gigantic former ironworks on UNESCO's world heritage list

VÖLKLINGEN, Germany (AP) — Dozens of urban artists from 17 countries have converged on one of Europe's most important industrial landmarks for a show that takes advantage of the former ironworks' sprawling spaces and aura of abandonment.

At the Völklinger Hütte, or Völklingen Ironworks, the Urban Art Biennale 2026 is getting underway, continuing what has grown into a biennial tradition over the past decade and a half.

“This location is at the core of street art and graffiti art,” said Ralf Beil, the general director of the site, which is open to the public as a museum. “It all began in industrial places like this.”

Artists “love this place and they do works for the Völklinger Hütte, in the Völklinger Hütte, with the Völklinger Hütte,” he said.

This year's show features 50 artists. They include France-based Tomas Lacque, whose installation features a small van, a pile of tires, toys and debris covered in a coat of paint. Standing in a hall where furnaces once worked, it appears to evoke fossil-fueled mobility being covered in ash like Pompeii.

Spanish artist Ampparito has painted the words “no hay nada de valor” (roughly, "There is nothing of value here") in huge white letters on the roof of one of the site's massive sheds — a work best seen from a viewing platform 45 meters (148 feet) above ground level.

Dutch artist Boris Tellegen, better known as Delta, contributed a massive green-and-black wooden sculpture that lights up the interior of the ironworks. French-based collective Vortex-X, who recycle salvaged material, stretched rays of white industrial fabric across one of the building's halls in a work titled “Memory in transit.”

The ironworks spreads over a 6-hectare (nearly 15-acre) site, a maze of chimneys and furnaces in which visitors still encounter ominous industrial-era signs warning of risks such as a “danger of crushing.” They dominate the town of Völklingen, near Germany’s border with France.

They have been on UNESCO’s world heritage list since 1994, recognized as “the only intact example, in the whole of western Europe and North America, of an integrated ironworks that was built and equipped in the 19th and 20th centuries.”

The furnaces have been cold since 1986, when production ended, and the site has been preserved as it was then. But its appearance is much older, as no new installations were added after the mid-1930s.

“It’s so dusty and it’s so old, but it’s beautiful, you know, there’s beauty in decay,” said British artist Remi Rough. “I think what I’ve done makes you kind of just perceive it in a bit of a different way.”

Rough contributed small paintings that he said were meant to be “very clean and clinical,” in contrast to the site.

Danish artist Anders Reventlov said he felt “humble to be able to do something here.”

“As somebody told me ... it was hell to work here,” he said. “Now it’s not hell. It’s like a nice place, people walking around, there are bees, there are beautiful flowers, but yeah, we still remember the history and that’s super important.”

Beil said that organizers “want pieces which are really original for this space and this also is then prohibiting (them) from being commercial."

“This is an installation for the space,” he said. “This is pure art.”

The Biennale opens Saturday and runs until Nov. 15.

Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

The installation "Transit der Erinnerung", Transit of Memory, by artist Vortex-X is on display at the at the former ironworks Voelklinger Huette, World Cultural Heritage Site, as part of the exhibition Urban Art Biennale 2026 in Voelklingen, Germany, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Oliver Dietze/dpa via AP)

Frank Kraemer, exhibition director, stands next to the installation "Affichage Libre" by artist Joachim Romain at the exhibition Urban Art Biennale 2026 at the former ironworks Voelklinger Huette, World Cultural Heritage Site, in Voelklingen, Germany, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Oliver Dietze/dpa via AP)

A woman takes a photo of the installation "Les Silence des Departs" by artist Tomas Lacque at the exhibition Urban Art Biennale 2026 at the former ironworks Voelklinger Huette, World Cultural Heritage Site, in Voelklingen, Germany, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Oliver Dietze/dpa via AP)

The installation "One Beam" by artist Boris Tellegen, is on display at the former ironworks Voelklinger Huette, World Cultural Heritage Site, as part of the exhibition Urban Art Biennale 2026 in Voelklingen, Germany, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Oliver Dietze/dpa via AP)

CINCINNATI (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell left his start Wednesday night against the Cincinnati Reds after an inning because of left groin tightness.

“I felt good all day (then) the second to last pitch of the bullpen, I (felt) a grab,” Snell said. “I threw one more pitch, then ran out to the dugout. I was just kind of talking to myself throughout that first inning. I was going to try to get through five but didn't really have a good shot at doing that.”

Snell allowed a single to Sal Stewart and had one strikeout in the first inning. Stewart was picked off to end the inning. Snell threw 19 pitches, 10 for strikes before leaving the game.

Snell (4-1, 1.86 ERA) began the season on the IL with left shoulder inflammation. He had surgery in May to remove loose bodies and bone spurs from his left elbow.

He has had groin issues in the past. In 2021, he spent time on the injured list with a left adductor strain, missed almost a month in 2022, and had an IL stint in 2024 due to groin strains.

“It doesn't feel as severe as the times we've dealt with this in the past,” Snell said. “I kept pitching on two of them and strained both of them. So for me to stop, that's a first.”

Snell said he'd like to get one more start in the regular season.

“Obviously, happy that he alerted us early to get him out of the game, not make it worse,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think No. 1 is we'll see how he comes in tomorrow, how he feels, get some more treatment. When we get back to LA then we can make that decision.”

The Dodgers used six relievers after Snell exited in a 6- 2 loss to the Reds that prevented them from clinching the NL West. They already have wrapped up a 14th consecutive postseason berth.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell (7) throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)