Posted on September 18, 2024 by Luca Daberto -
291 million years ago, Chemnitz was located near the equator. Under the increasingly warm and dry climate of the Permian, a subtropical primeval forest grew in a humid oasis, which was buried by the eruption of the Zeisigwald volcano. As a result, the Chemnitz Petrified Forest, which is now being excavated in the middle of the city, captured the life of a distant past in a snapshot.
At present, living conditions on earth are changing again. A species extinction is underway, caused by the rapid warming of the planet as well as other factors significantly influenced by humans. Will the plant world be able to adapt to climate change? And what can we learn from the Earth’s past for its future?
As part of the exhibition NEW ECOLOGIES Gegenwarten II, Ooze (Eva Pfannes and Sylvain Hartenberg) and Marjetica Potrč have dug an artificial crack in the construction hole in front of the Tietz, where petrified trees and their descendants, which still thrive today as living fossils, meet. Do we see in these plants of the hot past the plants of the hot future? What do climatic changes mean for our current plant world, for us humans and our relationship with nature?
Together with Sten Gillner, head of the Chemnitz Botanical Garden, and project partners Ronny Rößler and Ilja Kogan from the Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz, we want to discuss these questions and immerse ourselves in the plant world of prehistoric times and the future. With a greeting from Ooze, we will visit the artwork A Crack in Deep Time | Urzeit-Riss in the Bauloch in front of the Tietz.
Prof. Dr. Ronny Rößler is director of the Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz and has been researching the biology of fossil plants and forests, especially from the Permian period, for decades. In a short lecture, he will introduce the ecosystem of the Permian period.
Dr. Sten Gillner is the director of the Chemnitz Botanical Garden. With his doctorate on urban trees in climate change, as scientific director of the project “Urban trees as climate ambassadors” at the TU Dresden and as a technical advisor to local authorities, he has many years of experience with trees and other plants in climate change. He will report on the challenges they will face in the future.
The evening is free of charge.
Language: German

Posted on September 16, 2024 by Luca Daberto -
With Markus Bader (raumlabor berlin), Christof Oberreuter (Operations Engineer Drinking Water Supply eins Energie), Luise Butzer (Communia e.V.)
Water is life. But where our drinking water comes from and where our wastewater flows to is largely invisible. As part of the art exhibition NEW ECOLOGIES Gegenwarten II, the “Collection Point” sculpture by raumlabor berlin channels rainwater from the historical Red Tower into a light well in the underground car park, making water visible for a brief moment. How important is water to us as a common good? What infrastructure is needed for it? How can water be protected from the climate crisis, privatization and large-scale construction projects?
A guided tour of the eins energie drinking water reservoir will give us an insight into the municipal water supply of the city of Chemnitz.
Afterwards, Markus Bader from raumlabor berlin will present his artistic and urban work, which has repeatedly dealt with water in a playful and yet deeply socially relevant way. Luise Butzer is a sociologist and climate activist. In the VerNetzT project of the Thuringian Water Innovation Cluster, she explored the network of social relationships along the water supply and disposal chain. At Communia e.V., Luise Butzer works on the socialization of energy. In Chemnitz, she will be contributing an input on debates about public water infrastructure.
Participants are invited to take part in discussions about municipal infrastructure and water use.
Registration is required for the guided tour of the drinking water reservoir: Please write to hallo@gegenwarten.info
Language: German
Schedule:
17:00 Guided tour of the water reservoir, Leipziger Str. 104
18:30 Presentation & discussion, Sammelstelle, Roter Turm

Posted on September 9, 2024 by Luca Daberto -
Landscape and its vegetation only appears to be natural, while in fact it’s impacted by power and violence. The Land of Hornkranz in present day Namibia, formerly a German colony, suffered damage after the attack of the Schutztruppe in 1893. But also the colonial entanglements of Chemnitz, its citizens and industrialists are rendered invisible whilst traces of it continue in the city. This workshop invites participants to think together about the effects of colonialism and environmental degradation, emphasizing the importance of decolonial ecological thinking in inspiring new forms of environmental awareness. Participants will be guided through an analysis of how German colonial systems of extraction, land control, and cultural domination started in the late 1800s contributed to biodiversity loss and ecological disturbances in Namibia today while also reflecting the parallel colonial history of Chemnitz. During the workshop theory and technological tools will be presented that have aided in the reconstruction of Forensic Architecture’s investigation of Hornkranz, which is currently on show as an exhibition in Chemnitz. By visiting its sites and traces during a walk through the city we will bring the participation and complicity of Chemnitz in the colonialism of the German Reich.
Mushiva is a Berlin-based Namibian multidisciplinary technologist and artist whose work recasts technology as a new toolfor radical black thought. Mushiva currently works as computational researcher at the investigative agency Forensis / Forensic Architecture where he investigates the impact of colonialism on ecological factors using remote sensing tools.
Stephan Schurig is a research assistant at the Chair of Human Geography with a focus on European Migration Studies at Chemnitz University of Technology. His PhD deals with the (in)visibilities of colonial entanglements of the city of Chemnitz. He is a member of the network ‘Sachsen postkolonial’ and has previously worked with student groups and experimental spatial mapping methods on the subject.
The workshop and walk will be in English. A German translation can be provided if necessary.

Posted on June 27, 2024 by Luca Daberto -
In the artistic undertakings on stinging nettle (Urtica D.) and other unpleasant plants, the “Unkräuter-Informationszentrum” receives not only positive but also occasionally massive dissenting voices. These are particularly surprising when they come from employees of botanical gardens or green space authorities. The “Unkräuter-Informationszentrum” and its human representative Patrick Will regularly gather the background and extent of this backlash in habitats with the best (ruderal) site conditions or botanical-political scandals. The city of Chemnitz has so far fulfilled both of these requirements excellently, which is why the weed field of Europe 2025 has also been created here with its 30 fiber nettles. The “Unkräuter-Informationszentrum” therefore invites you to a botanical tour with open discussions about lists of prohibited plant species, failed apple-tree parades and the positive effects of green space-saving measures for weeds in public spaces.
Duration: 2-5 p.m.
Language: German
Image rights: Nikolaev, Starostina & Will, Still from The Soil is my Patient

Posted on June 19, 2024 by Luca Daberto -
Posted on June 19, 2024 by Luca Daberto -
Posted on June 19, 2024 by Luca Daberto -
Posted on June 19, 2024 by Luca Daberto -
Posted on June 19, 2024 by Luca Daberto -
Posted on June 19, 2024 by Luca Daberto -