#postextractive #landscapes #identity #climatecrisis #fossilfuels #longcarbon
#interactive #videoinstallation #soundinstallation
This Land is Not Mine focusses on the region of Lusatia, where Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic meet, the home of the Sorbian minority group. This new media project explores identity in a region of co-existing cultures that is undergoing fundamental socio-economic changes as brown coal mining in the region is phased out.
The work is presented an experimental music album and as a 20-channel video installation with interactive sound, both exploring the changing identity of the region and sustainable transitions.
Order This Land is Not Mine | Album (Release date 27th January 2022)
In both the album and installation, field recordings and sounds of the chemistry of the water in the region (using the artist’s specially developed instruments) are combined with sounds gathered from the region‘s community members that characterise their own identity, uploaded via the Lausitzklang platform.
This Land is Not Mine focusses on how identity plays a role in shaping the sustainability of Lusatia in the future, with a particular focus on integrating Sorbian identity in a coherent narrative for the region’s population. Sustainability requires not only this stepping away from coal and innovation, but also to connect with less tangible resources already present, such as culture, experience and tradition.
Read more on the IASS Blog: What do you know about Lusatia? (available in English and German)
Do you live in Lusatia? Contribute sounds from the region to the sound database of This Land Is Not Mine through our new microsite. On Monday 21st September 2020 we launched the new microsite to crowdsource Sounds of Lusatia: https://lausitzklang.katausten.com
The project This Land is Not Mine has been funded by the Institute of Advanced Sustainability Studies Potsdam (IASS Potsdam) in the context of an artistic research fellowship.
The 20 channel video installation has been realised with the technological expertise of Kazik Pagoda and aBe Pazos, and the carpentry of Will Greensmith.
Contributions of sound recordings: Ili Os, Christina Kliem, Johannes Staemmler, John Grznich, Erik Lemke and Martin Ballaschk.
Press
This Land is Not Mine interview and sample, Kompressor, Deutschlandfunk, 7th September 2022
Full recording of This Land is Not Mine performance at Serbpop2.0 on the RBB Sorbian Programme, 18th September 2021
Article on This Land is Not Mine, “Zběra zuki strony a trjeba pódpěru” on Nowy Casnik, 14th January 2021
This Land is Not Mine on Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, 13th December 2020
Article on This Land is Not Mine, “Participatiwny wuměłstwowy projekt THIS LAND IS NOT MINE” on Nowy Casnik, in pdf format on page 7 (Sorbian), 5th November 2020
Article on This Land is Not Mine, “Kak klinči domizna?” on Serbske Nowiny online and in print, 26th October 2020