6./7. of january in Keyenberg and Lützerath
Like the Hambach Forest, Lützerath was a focal point of protests against destructive lignite mining and for “climate justice”. Equally a space for resistance and lived utopia.
In the precarious and threatened location on the edge of the Garzweiler open pit mine, after decades of protests, climate camps, and the founding of alliances such as “Alle Dörfer bleiben!”, new living and free spaces emerged, especially in the years 2020-2023, where the interdisciplinary group “Glützerlight” came together: students from fields such as architecture, liberal arts, and design, including Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Bielefeld.
In collaboration with Cheers for Fears, Glützerlight released the open call “Hold your Ground” and curated the two-day dream format in Keyenberg and Lützerath. At the time of the events, the latter had already been closed off by the coal company RWE, power lines had been cut and it was only accessible on foot and by bicycle.
Hagen Keller (who with Lena Hugger forms the art collective “Manege”) opened the first day. Using the controversial art action “Antuung” as an example, the potentials of “paradoxical intervention” as an activist strategy were discussed in the “It Works” tent.
Together with other activists and artists on site, the performance “250 meters under the skin” was created in several weeks of preparation: The premiere took place on the evening of January 6 in a hall in Lützerath, which was destroyed a few days later during the large-scale police operation demanded by RWE AG and made possible by the state of NRW.
The second day began at the “Camp of All of Us” in Keyenberg with the dance workshop “Touching Ground” by Franziska Gehrt, open to all, which also explored the nature surrounding the camp.
After the lunch break with vegan pizza, we went back to Lützerath, where Toni presented the performance “(WASTE)LAND, about earth as a space for resistance” buried in a meadow at dusk and interacted with the audience.
Finally, at the Lützerath vigil, the reading staged by Alessa Antonia Bollack: “One day it became too colorful for the animals” countered the sight of the edge of the open pit mine and the lignite hole. With snack bar and discussions on the text, in the light of brown coal excavator and head lamps, the dream format ended.
Impressions
