Wund[er}mal / 2020

In my photo series “Wund[er]mal” I photographed an area of lignite mining in East Germany called Braunkohle Revier Lausitz. During the GDR era, it was the largest brown coal mining area in Europe. Even today, we see acres and acres of dry, lunar landscapes. For more than 100 years, many villages have disappeared because of coal extraction. The pitted, exploited landscape reminds us of human domination and the extent and nature of our activities on Earth.

 “Marcelina Wellmer’s project Wund[er]mal is a photographic journey to open-pit coal mines in the Lausitz region. Due to decades of extraction, many villages, farmland and forests have disappeared; further settlements are to make way, despite the planned exit. To the present landscapes photographed by the artist, she added motifs from the Sorbian photo archive. They show people who belonged to the Sorbian minority; the area was their home. The project reflects history in a poetic way, at the same time it warns of our future actions: it shows the consequences of social and cultural contexts and the limits of the exploitation of nature.” PIB Berlin.

Wund[er]mal 01 / Photocollage / 200 x 300 cm / 2020

Wund[er]mal 02 / Photocollage / 200 x 300 cm / 2020

Wund[er]mal 03 / Photocollage / 200 x 300 cm / 2020

Wund[er]mal 04 / Photocollage / 200 x 300 cm / 2020

Wund[er]mal 01 & Wund[er]mal 04 / Berlin U – Bahnhof  Kurfürstendamm / 2021

Wund[er]mal 04 & Wund[er]mal 01 / Berlin U – Bahnhof  Kurfürstendamm / 2021