What traces of geological, political and social change can be found beneath the city? In 2024, the Netherlands and Flanders will be the joint hosts of the Leipzig Book Fair. On this occasion, the GfZK will realise a site-specific collaboration with the artist Lara Almarcegui, based in Rotterdam. Since the mid-1990s, a time of construction boom and extensive urban renewal in Europe, Almarcegui has engaged with processes of urban transformation. She is particularly interested in conditions that are not usually the focus of attention, such as wastelands. In Leipzig she will explore a building site, turning it into a place where the geological past and the historical transformation of the city can be reflected upon. To this end, the artist will halt construction work and invite the public to take part in a tour of an excavation pit.
The project will be realised in three steps. At a public talk on 16 March, 2024, Almarcegui presented her work in an exchange with invited experts from the field of geosciences. A few weeks later, the artist will halt excavation work at a major construction site in Leipzig to enable contemplation on the layers of earth and sediments revealed in the process (April 26, 2024). Construction work will resume several days later. For the presentation in the exhibition space (13 September, 2024 to 12 January, 2025), Almarcegui will document and expand her onsite research.
