Lausitzer Brottopf

While Lusatia appears to outsiders primarily as a victim of unbridled raw material extraction, at the regional and local level there is an independent and tradition-conscious craft culture. This culture is rooted in traditional knowledge, which plays a major role in the identity of this area. How can these resources be transferred to the post-carbon age? A wide variety of craft businesses that once shaped the region have survived the economic decline of Lusatia. To what extent can this established infrastructure be used to form networks, develop new ideas, and create products that are typical of Lusatia but also open up perspectives beyond the region?

The resulting (exemplary) work symbolizes the connection between ceramics and wickerwork as a symbol of the connection between several crafts and local institutions. Functionally, it is a bread bin, a well-known utensil for storing and keeping bread fresh, which works by circulating moisture. The properties of both materials interact and form a symbiosis. Ceramic or stoneware has the ability to absorb moisture and release it again to a certain extent. Wickerwork of all kinds is breathable and air-permeable. This allows the moisture from the bread to escape through a woven lid made of linen straps, while the stoneware body maintains the climate.

Bread, as an essential part of culture, unites everyone here and brings them together around the table. It also symbolizes the need for authenticity and tradition. In my scenario, the Schulze pottery in Crinitz produces the stoneware pot, and basket maker Silke Gröschke from Cottbus contributes the woven lid. The contents, the bread, are supplied by the Slawischer Hof, a regional inn that cultivates traditions and has a hostel and associated organic farm. A network would be created in which the participants each contribute different components and produce a joint product.

However, this process also involves loosening the boundaries of tradition and opening up the design vocabulary. This can pave the way for new approaches to regional craft production. With regard to Lusatia, this opens up the possibility of expressing and strengthening the region's contemporary identity.