This project is ongoing and in collaboration with photographer Rosa Burczyk.

This joint project aims to provide an unbiased perspective on the people of the eastern German city of Riesa. Since German reunification and the transition from a planned to a market economy, Riesa has faced a decline in employment. This and other factors have led to a steady decline in population, a political shift to the right and a high vacancy rate, leaving people with no prospects. Many decided to move to larger cities, with the result that Riesa has lost up to 20,000 inhabitants in the last thirty years.

With local elections in Saxony in June 2024, fears of a right-wing government are growing, especially among the younger generation. Riesa is one of the few cities where no one has dared to organise a demonstration against the right for fear of repression.
For the project we follow, among others, Christoph Giesler, a 25-year-old queer left-wing politician aiming for a seat in the county council. He is involved in a lot of political work in the region and is a catalyst for discussion and an organiser of demonstrations such as the Christopher Street Day.
Others, like the graffiti artist Dominik Arda have moved away, but still have a strong identification with Riesa. In order to shape a better future, they locally organize different events like artistic workshops and gatherings to give an alternative.
The main meeting place in the village is the local youth club, which lives in constant fear of having its funds cut by the municipal budget if it behaves too politically.

Rosa Burczyk grew up in nearby Halle and has a personal view on eastern Germany while Stella Weiß grew up in south-west Germany and had no connections to the east before moving to the area last year. By working in a collaboration, they can emphasize their different perspectives and discuss their prejudices towards the region to show that there is more to it than one might see at first glance.

We aim to reflect on the East German consciousness in the context of a transgenerational trauma.