Kunststiftung Sachsen-Anhalt

Feferle, a whimsical and childlike being, wakes one fateful day with the unsettling knowledge that something terrible has happened. Her world shatters due to the sudden loss of her father, propelling her into a poignant exploration of her family’s history. Tasked with sorting through the old cluttered apartment, Feferle contemplates whether she can approach the history of her Jewish family through the material remains and raw facts.

Oscillating between aesthetic and documentary forms, Kaltes Tal describes the daily business of a strip mine harvesting lime. The material removed is processed and returned to nature through forest liming. This measure attempts to counteract acid rain that troubles the forest floor. A cycle like a Mobius strip – an irreversible consequence due to the mining materials in order to restore the fragile natural balance. Lime dust delicately dusts the forest floor. A white, spherical alternative world opens, questioning our ambivalent relationship to nature.