About the urbanisation of our villages
Photo study at the Chemnitz Environmental Centre, 28 August, 7 p.m.
A photo study by art photographer Michael Backhaus will highlight the urbanisation of villages and stimulate discussion. The event will take place on Wednesday, 28 August at 7 p.m. at the Chemnitz Environmental Centre, Henriettenstraße 5, and admission is free.
"Things that were once typical of the village and what made up the appearance of the village are disappearing at a steady pace. Many things are becoming smooth, shiny, straightforward, simple or ostentatious, standardised in a DIY store style up and down the country, i.e. much the same from the Zugspitze to Cape Arkona. Own creative ideas and designs or traditional handling and continuation of long-established arrangements (not bureaucratic ones) and their style are being used less and less. The order of the day is to copy how things are done "anew" or simplified, with the cities certainly setting the tone for how things should be done. This means that individual variety remains very limited. For example, newly built housing estates, mostly white in colour, strictly aligned and often without large shrubs and trees that would give shape to the surroundings in a number of years, which are already no longer planted.
In many places, large-scale monocultures, e.g. rapeseed or maize, instead of natural stone walls, wooden fences or hedges: Wire mesh fences and concrete mouldings, instead of species-rich colourful meadows: monotonous short lawns. Unfortunately, people's convenience also plays a role in the transformation of villages that should not be underestimated. But for us humans, the much-vaunted sustainability always means more expenditure without any "ifs and buts".
With my pictures, I would like to show what will no longer be seen in so-called modern times and what needs to be discussed in an enlightened and exemplary way. A certain "sterility of the gaze" is probably emerging for our rural environment - no longer the familiar view that used to count.
The kitschy and inappropriately decorative is on the increase, while what was once natural and quietly overgrown is being cultivated too little or not at all. This is also a result of a more purpose-driven rather than meaning-driven life. Nevertheless, it is not too late." (Michael Backhaus)