Solid Waves and 10 bis 20 Halden

This exhibition showcases 10 bis 20 Halden and Solid Waves, two artistic research by Emerson Culurgioni, Florian Fischer, and Johannes Krell.
Invited by the Agentur für Aufbruch, the artists explore the theme of water and soil. Their work engages specifically with the Mansfeld region, a landscape shaped above and below ground by centuries of mining.
While Culurgioni portrays the spoil heaps, Fischer and Krell reveal hidden images from the Wimmelburg shafts, reflecting on geological and human time.
Both works are shown together in a joint exhibition at Center Wimmelburg (Schulstraße 1, 06313 Wimmelburg) from November 19 to 30. The opening takes place on Wednesday, November 19, at 4:00 p.m.

Solid Waves interweaves three geological and cultural formations into a narrative about material cycles and time: Lake Störmthal, the Wimmelburg Schlotten, and fossils from the Muschelkalk formation. In Lake Störmthal, a flooded former open-cast mine, white cloudiness appears through controlled liming: calcium carbonate is introduced to stabilize water quality and pH levels. Seen from above, the artificial lime clouds resemble an echo of ancient rock formation. Underground, the Wimmelburg Schlotten show how water shapes landscapes. Over thousands of years, it washed through the Zechstein deposits, creating valleys above ground and extensive cavities below. The “Tanzsaal” (ballroom), a monumental chamber, connects geological process and human use. Recordings of Muschelkalk fossils point to a shallow sea 240 million years ago. Their images transform petrified life into topographies and reliefs—maps of a geological memory.
Thus, three forms of lime come into relation: the artificially introduced calcium carbonate in the lake, the cavities carved out by water, and the fossils as witnesses of a past era. Lime appears not only as a material but as a medium: it carries memory, marks ruptures, and reveals traces that inscribe themselves into our present.

10 bis 20 Halden [10 to 20 Heaps] documents the spoil heaps of the former copper shale mining industry in the Mansfeld region. From this unfolds a cinematic, associative exploration that interweaves landscape, history, myth, and identity. The starting point is a set of narratives concerned with the ground itself: medieval origin legends, literary references, and contemporary parallels to other mining regions. Between documentary observation and experimental strategies, the work opens up questions of ownership, community, and belonging. The heaps appear not only as geological remnants but as cultural landmarks where soil, memory, and resource conflicts intersect. In this way, the East German mining region becomes a space for reflection and projection—on our relationship to landscape and the ongoing entanglement of past, present, and global crises.

November 19 – 30, 2025
Opening: Wednesday, November 19, 4:00 p.m.
Opening hours:
Mon 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Tue – Fri 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Sat 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Free admission