Art festival Begehungen 2025

"Everything is interaction. Nothing stands alone, a common bond entwines the whole of organic nature."

The great naturalist Alexander von Humboldt wrote these lines at the beginning of the 19th century under the impression of his first great journey to America from 1799 to 1804.

During his visit to Lake Valencia in Venezuela, Humboldt recognized that its continuous loss of water was the result of deforestation for plantations. He identified the lack of wood and water, as well as the danger of flooding due to dry soil, as a consequence of human intervention. Even then, Humboldt's insight into the interactions in nature could be applied far beyond the concept of nature.

The plantations established by the Spanish colonial rulers on Lake Valencia are an expression of the exploitation of nature, but they also point to systemic structures of exploitation, to poverty on the one hand and boundless wealth on the other. To this day, the exploitation of resources means destruction and prosperity, income and labor disputes, food and species extinction, curse and blessing.

Under the title EVERYTHING IS INTERACTION, the art festival Begehungen aims to make the complexity of the issues of resource consumption, species loss and the climate crisis visible. The festival is intended to be an inspiring place for new, forward-looking discourse - a space for encounters, exchange and creative impulses. It is part of the official program of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025.