EXTRACTIVE ZONES
Künstlerisch-wissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf den Uranbergbau im deutsch-tschechischen Erzgebirge
Over generations, the traces of uranium mining in the German-Czech Ore Mountains have been inscribed in the landscape, bodies and atmosphere. EXTRACTIVE ZONES examines the historical and contemporary dimensions of uranium mining between Johanngeorgenstadt and Jáchymov from an artistic-scientific perspective. The project combines artistic research, oral history and archival work and reveals how the region became a Sacrifice Zone – from the discovery of uranium and Marie Curie’s research with pitchblende from Jáchymov to Stalin’s atomic bomb
programme and the traces of forced labour.
EXTRACTIVE ZONES was initiated by Frederike Lange (scientific director) and Viktoria Sophie Conzelmann (artistic director) and implemented over two years together with a team of artists, researchers and activists from Germany and Czechia. In November 2025, the project was launched as a binational exhibition, accompanied by the web publication https://extractivezones.eu/ [1] and an extensive accompanying programme of critical walks, mine tours and film screenings.
Project briefing event
Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum, Sitzungszimmer
2.12.2025, 16:00–17:00
Frederike Lange will present the project and report on her experiences from the exhibition, conversations with contemporary witnesses and the critical walks. She will be joined online by Viktoria Sophie Conzelmann. Afterwards, there will be time for questions and a cosy get-together with coffee and Christmas cookies. The project is funded by the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025, the German-Czech Future Fund and the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony.