Ur is a film about the disappearance of Europe’s last primeval forest, the Białowieża forest, situated on the border between Poland and Belarus. The future of this natural environment is under pressure because of conflicting political interests. Ur is a slow meditation on the opposing voices that are embedded within this contested landscape and natural heritage site, and shows how political decisionmaking influences the formation of landscape. The film sketches this timeline from 2016 until now, and gives a voice to the people who were involved in the disappearance of this site, from the Polish government to lawyers of Client Earth as well as the European Commission. Ultimately, the film brings into view what the death of a living organism means.
Eline Kersten (1994) is captivated by the mysteries of the earth, by the vastness of nature that barely exists in the designed Dutch landscape. The relation between humans and the earth, or more locally, between humans and their direct environment, is central to her work. Kersten is interested in the meaning we give to landscapes through the stories we tell about them. In her video and audio works, she focuses on specific locations and the micro stories that can be found in them. Kersten also completed a Master in Curating, and works as curator. Collaboration is an inherent part of her work. On a regular basis, she works together with external experts, ranging from a geologist to an archaeologist and vulcanologist. Through science she finds artistic ways to make perceptive and tangible that which remains usually invisible. Kersten also researches how the landscape influences us. “Taking care of the landscape is of greater value when you actively take part in the landscape you live in. In this way, the land surrounding you doesn’t only consider ‘the other’, but also yourself. I aim to weave idea this through my work, and hope to bring about a shift in the thinking process of the viewers of my work.”