Von Blumen und Unkraut

“Of Flowers and Weeds” is a long-term artistic-documentary project that documents the surroundings of the Rote Flora, a squatted cultural center in Hamburg's Schanzenviertel district. With its graffiti, wildly growing plants and temporary buildings, the Flora becomes a symbol of social conflict. Demonstrations, street art and youth culture come together here and create an atmosphere that embodies resistance and freedom. In this field of tension, the project questions what belongs in the “garden” and what is being displaced in times of increasing gentrification. I spend a lot of time in the park, in the Bowl and on the streets around it. At all times of the year, day and night, I have cultivated friendships there, gathered experiences and broadened my horizons. The people this place attracts have stories to tell and their lives shape me. Everything around it changes, but this place remains steadfast. And that's something special these days.