Planetarische Bauern (Planetary Peasants)

Artists: 
Lara Almarcegui (Spain/Netherlands), Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán (Romania/Austria), Mabe Bethônico (Brazil/Switzerland), Tega Brain (Australia/US) & Sam Lavigne (US), Viktor Brim (Germany), Enzo Camacho (Philippines/Germany) & Ami Lien (US), Chto Delat (Russia/Germany), Liu Chuang (China), Alice Creischer & Andreas Siekmann (Germany), Fernando García-Dory & INLAND (Spain), Gauri Gill & Rajesh Vangad (India), Olivier Guesselé-Garai (France/Germany), Tamás Kaszás (Hungary), Luisa Keintzel (Germany), Yelta Köm (Turkey/Germany), Ulrike Kuschel (Germany), Lutz & Guggisberg (Switzerland), Antje Majewski (Germany), Edgardo Navarro (Mexico/Germany), Ilona Németh (Hungary/Slovakia), Elske Rosenfeld (Germany), Dread Scott (US), Mikołaj Sobczak (Poland/Germany), Åsa Sonjasdotter (Sweden/Germany) & Daniela Zambrano Almidòn (Peru/Germany), Iza Tarasewicz (Poland), Total Refusal, Sarah Fichtinger & Nikola Supukovic (Austria), Helena Uambembe & Lindokuhle Nkosi (South Africa), Waman Wasi (Peru), Michael Wang (US).

Gerechtigkeyt 1525 (Justice 1525) is the title of the decentralized state exhibition in Saxony-Anhalt/Germany, part of a themed year focusing on Thomas Müntzer and the 500th anniversary of the Peasants' War. Within this framework, the Moritzburg Art Museum Halle (Saale) and Werkleitz turn their attention to the fate of the Planetary Peasants. What aspects of that time’s events and demands still matter today — or have taken on new relevance? What are the living conditions of farmers today? In what ways do the transformations sparked 500 years ago still resonate in our globalized and industrialized present?

30 contemporary artistic positions explore these questions from a range of perspectives. The spectrum spans from speculative to surreal landscapes, from critical engagement with history to subversive reimaginings, from Agriculture 4.0 to plowshares turned into swords, from human fates to the consciousness of plants, from activism to miracle. Planetary means: Being aware that the Earth is not inhabited or even made by humans alone. The accumulated doings of many result in planetary repercussions—from species extinction to climate change. Agriculture has been playing a significant role in this. Planetary also means: Actions here can have catastrophic consequences at the other end of the globe. Planetary Peasants links Halle (Saale) and its agriculturally rich surroundings with regions across the globe—from European neighbors such as France and Slovakia to Southeastern Anatolia, western India, China, and the Philippines; from Cairo and South Africa to the Mojave Desert, Louisiana, and the Amazon.

That the commons "be returned to the community, as our ancestors once used them," was one of the Twelve Articles formulated by a delegation of the Swabian Peasant Army in the spring of 1525. The struggle against the privatization of formerly communal lands remains highly relevant in many parts of the world even today. The German Peasants’ War raises enduring questions of access to energy, ownership and participation—all of which converge in the broader question of (climate) justice, the distribution of the benefits and the costs of our industrial civilization on local and planetary scales. The  rainbow, once emblazoned on the flag of the 1525 rebels and seen in the sky by Thomas Müntzer and his followers near Bad Frankenhausen as a benevolent sign from God—before they were slaughtered—remains, 500 years later, a powerful symbol of peace and hope. Today, it also stands for the right to individual freedom. Could the agricultural field once again become a breeding ground for social change?  

The artistic approaches presented in the exhibition will be further explored during the Werkleitz Festival 2025 (May 22–June 3), as well as in an extensive public program featuring artist talks, lectures, discussions, performances, and musical contributions.

A comprehensive discussion of the exhibition's concept can be found in issue no. 6, Planetary Peasants, of the magazine Laboratory Planet.

Cooperation
Saxony-Anhalt Cultural Foundation, Moritzburg Art Museum Halle (Saale)
Werkleitz

Artistic Directors
Thomas Bauer-Friedrich, Daniel Herrmann

Curators
Moritzburg Art Museum Halle (Saale): Övül Ö. Durmusoglu, Joanna Warsza
Werkleitz: Daniel Herrmann, Alexander Klose, Edit Molnár, Marcel Schwierin

Accompanying program
Maximilian Lehner

Press contact: Isabel Lindemann presse@werkleitz.de