STEP GENTLY

Since the late 17th century, the soil of Bitterfeld-Wolfen has changed continuously. Lignite mining and industry have shaken up the geology, radically altered the course of streams and groundwater and irrevocably affected the composition of the soil. These changes are documented in memories, stories and material evidence – photos, letters, buildings and objects. They are also archived in the present condition of the soil and its ecologies, which have been erased, persist or have been newly created. Landscape architect Lili Carr invites you to take a walk through the changing landscapes of Wolfen. Equipped with her own senses and a multitude of sensors – the tools for our perception – she wants to find out, together with students from the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation and the festival audience, what types of materials form the soil, what plants and creatures live in it and what our relationship to them is. Where could they come from, where are they going and what stories do they tell?

Since the late 17th century, the soil of Bitterfeld-Wolfen has continuously been transforming. Lignite mining and industry churned through geology, radically altering the course of streams and groundwater, and irreparably changing the composition of the soil. These changes are documented in memories, stories and physical ephemera – photographs, letters, buildings, objects. They are also archived in the present-day physicality of land and by its ecologies that have been erased, persisted, or emerged anew. Landscape architect Lili Carr invites the audience on a series of walks through the changing landscapes of Wolfen. Equipped with our own senses and a multitude of sensors – the tools for our perception – we aim to find out what types of materials form the soil, what plants and creatures live in it and what our relationship is to them. Where could they come from, where are they going and what stories do they tell us?