“The Assembly of the Wetlands of Spreewald” is the latest in a series of more-than-human citizens’ assemblies facilitated by artist collective JUST DUST in which role-playing is used to address real-life situations in order to encourage people to empathize with radically different perspectives – workers, bodies of water, spirits, politicians, wild animals, plants, minerals, etc.

The topic of this assembly is a live issue: the enormous AI data centre that is being built in Lübbenau, Brandenburg. It appears that no environmental assessment has been carried out and the sheer number of governmental bodies involved and the fragmentation of responsibility make the project largely incomprehensible. Does zero transparency make resisting the project impossible?

The game invites you to see the world through new eyes, to embody more-than-human perspectives. You could become a moor frog or an aquatic water-soldier plant. “I’d love to know what the humans in Lübbenau will be putting into their AI cooling system,” the frog may ask. “What of the oxygen in the water for my chlorophyll? Will there be enough water left for me and my neighbours?” the plant might inquire.

Participants will begin the afternoon by getting into character and making masks that they can wear to represent the various stakeholders in the assembly. The assembly will take approximately two hours (with up to 3 hours time dedicated to mask-making beforehand). The main language of the assembly will be English but all information will be also be offered in German and informal translations into German can be offered where needed.

The event is facilitated by artist collective JUST DUST: Marie-Pierre Leroux, Thanh Tam Huynh and Perry Walker. 

Please note: HILDEGARD would like to ask participants in advance for permission to keep the masks to use later in the year on Remembrance Day for Lost (and Endangered) Species.

HILDEGARD

HILDEGARD is an artistic project space for transformative cultural practices founded at the end of 2022 in a wild 1,000qm garden in Alt-Hohenschönhausen by artist Lucy Powell in collaboration with gardener and leaseholder Andreas Hengst. The immediate neighbourhood is a residential area characterised by single-family homes and second-hand car dealerships in the zone where the city meets the fields. HILDEGARD is conceived as a seasonally changing socio-ecological sculpture that integrates art, science, permaculture, activism, and various wisdom traditions in order to think deeply and respond creatively in the polycrisis. Based on the conviction that systemic, ecological, and inner transformation are inextricably linked, our focus is on participatory formats. In line with our commitment to reclaiming attention, HILDEGARD themselves do not use social media.

Founded: 2022