Der Weg ist nie derselbe focuses on two complex self-organized systems: a forest and an occupation. The Hambach Forest near Cologne became the site of Europe’s longest-lasting tree occupation. Since 2012, approximately 200 people have lived in the forest to protect it from deforestation through the energy company RWE, which aims to mine the lignite under the forest.

Everything’s coming together while everything’s falling apart: The ZAD is about the ZAD, Europe’s largest autonomous region close to the French city of Nantes. The ZAD (zone à défendre/Zone to Defend) grew out of the resistance against the construction of a new airport. When the French government wanted to evict the zone in 2012, more than 40,000 people stood up against the eviction. The ZAD is a successful example of how creating alternatives and resistance should go hand in hand.

Oliver Ressler is an artist and film maker who realizes installations, outdoor works, and films on topics such as economy, democracy, migration, climate crisis, forms of resistance, and social alternatives. His films have been screened at numerous social movement events, at art institutions, and at film festivals. He participated in exhibitions at the Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid) and at the Centre Pompidou (Paris) as well as at the Biennials in Taipei, Lyon, Gyumri, Venice, Athens, Quebec, Jeju, Kiev, Gothenburg, Istanbul, and at the Documenta 14, Kassel, 2017.
 
For the Taipei Biennial 2008, Ressler curated the exhibition on the counter-globalization movement, A World Where Many Worlds Fit, and headed the research project Barricading the Ice Sheets on climate justice movements.  

The event is part of the supporting program of the PROTEST/ARCHITECTURE exhibition.

Free admission with the MAK Ticket (Tue evening after 6 pm € 7,50 online / € 8 on site)