Wetlands emerge where water encounters land.
Activists recording endangered migratory bird sounds in mudflats, artists putting their hands in marshes, soil scientists sticking tools in the peatlands, developers commissioning surveys of lagoons for infrastructure and tourism projects, public agencies draining peatlands for agriculture and water management, people dancing and chanting with their feet in wetlands.
muddy measures. when wetlands and heritage converse examined the relationship between wetlands and heritage. The phrase “muddy measures” is inherently contradictory. Measurements seek to make something comprehensible and comparable, often for the purpose of research, but also for exploitation or control. However, the term “muddy” evokes opacity and ambiguity. Both heritage and wetlands elude a single definition. When diverse wetlands related practices are considered heritage, questions related to power, knowledge and futures come to the surface. In wetlands, we observe heritage as a future making practice where multiple world perspectives encounter and potentially conflict. Heritage making reveals how a certain group determines and negotiates what is valuable in the present.
This project asked: How does a heritage perspective reshape our understanding of wetlands? Conversely, how does engaging with wetlands in transformation alter our understanding of heritage? How are wetlands measured and what counts as measurement? What and who falls out of the grid?
This project explored scales and methods of documenting and making relations with wetlands, such as scientific metrics, artworks, or indigenous perspectives. Wetlands cover only 6% of global land surface, yet store 30% of global soil organic carbon, and act as resource, as an archive of cultural practices, of stories, myths and imaginations, of different systems of knowledge production, sites of political and rights disputes, and as environments engaged in artistic and aesthetic practices. The strata of soil and water retain memories and potential futures. As measurement is central to both heritage and wetlands—whether in attributing value, defining an endangered species, or justifying conservation efforts—this project related both dominant approaches and alternative ways to engage with these environments that are among the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth.
muddy measures experimented with wetlands becoming spaces for debate and engagement inviting people with their situated knowledges, to learn from one another.
Yoonha Kim, Juliana Robles de la Pava, Margareta von Oswald
This project was composed of many parts: an exhibition at the Tieranatomisches Theater, the research-led seminar “Rubberboots, field notebooks, and maps: Transforming heritage through wetlands research“, a series of international convenings in February and March, the workshop “Listening to the Mallín” with the artist Teresa Pereda, the workshop“MoorFit” with the artist Daniel Hengst, the roundtable event of Latent Accumulations and workshop by artist-researcher Alice Jarry, the film screening of “Sura. A Love Song” by Hwang Yun, as well as a series of guest exhibitions.
The exhibition featured materials from the Moorarchiv, Land Prints series of Teresa Pereda, and documentations from the Saemangeum Citizen Ecological Investigation Group.
Students who participated in the seminar Rubberboots, field notebooks, and maps: Transforming heritage through wetlands research produced little booklets that document different aspects of the exhibition and gave insight into their research.
You can download the booklets here (in German only):
Rosa Blens im Gespräch mit Herbert Schnabel: „Eine Dokumentation, damit man weiß, was man vernichtet hat”. Vom Moor, der Kohle und der DDR . 4. Februar 2025
Lucia Braemer im Gespräch über Wiedervernässungsprojekte in NRW und Brandenburg: „Wir müssen heute umdenken und das kommt eher langsam voran.” Moore und die Herausforderungen ihrer Wiedervernässung, Januar – Februar 2025
Gespräch zwischen Horst Lehrkamp, Paula Vogt, Margareta von Oswald und Jutta Zeitz: “Das waberte schon.” Zur Entwicklung der systematischen Moorkartierung in der DDR und der Entstehung des heutigen Moorarchivs der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10. Februar 2025
Additionally, you can download a booklet produced with the artist Daniel Hengst, that gives insight into current measuring techniques of peatlands in Brandenburg:
Daniel Hengst im Gespräch mit Felix Fechtner: „Bereits die minimale Atmungsrate einer Spinne kann einen Störfaktor darstellen.” Die Fitness eines Moores messen, 26. Februar 2025
The monthly changing guest exhibitions were dedicated to Berlin-based research projects, and are part of the main exhibition space.
“Swamp Things!” March 27 – April 30
Interdisciplinary material and product designer Charlett Wenig (Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces) & Anthropologist Lucy Norris (Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin)
“Latent Accumulations” May 10 – May 31
Architect and interdisciplinary researcher Iva Rešetar & environmental media scholar Léa Perraudin (both Matters of Activity)
“If you take care of birds, you take care of most of the environmental problems in the world” June 12 – July 19
Ornithologist Gabriele Pinna (Italian League for Bird Protection) & Anthropologist Magdalena Buchczyk (Institute of European Ethnology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin).
Contributors to the project:
Anahí Herrera Cano (CONICET-UBA), Ayelen Fiori (Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco), Charlett Wenig (Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces), Daniel Hengst, Dongpil Oh, Heejung Jung, Seongsil Lee and Seungjun Oh (Saemangeum Citizen Ecological Investigation Group), Doohee Oh (Peace Wind), Eugenia Milagros (Stratigraphy Group Centro Materia, CONICET), Eugenia Tomasini and Milagros Córdova (Centro MATERIA IIAC-UNTREF), Gabriele Pinna (Italian League for Bird Protection), Hwang Yun, Iva Rešetar (Matters of Activity), Juana del Carmen Aigo (INIBIOMA-CONICET), Jutta Zeitz (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Laurentiu Constantin (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Léa Perraudin (Matters of Activity), Lucia Braemer (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Lucy Norris (Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin), Magdalena Buchczyk (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Moorarchiv (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Paula Vogt (University of Potsdam), Rosa Blens (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Saemangeum Citizen Ecological Investigation Group, and Teresa Pereda.
Exhibition - List of Contributors
Scenography and Production
Fanny Welz, Caspar Pichner
Exhibition technique and equipment
Frankewerk, Oxyd
Graphics
Elisabeth Kozerski
Villa Schmück Dich
Project Assistance
Franziska Blume, Emma Jelinski, Anne-Karla Luedtke, Laëtitia Modot
Media Technique
Alexander Horn
English Copyediting
Ellen Lapper
Curation