Book tip: 99 future objects from Lusatia - From rotor blades and Sorbian condoms

There were 140 submissions and 99 entries were selected. Around a year ago, the people of Lusatia were asked to describe their thoughts on their future in Lusatia based on a single object. Now we can see what they wrote about: technical objects such as heat pumps or rotor blades, but also unusual things such as bird mummies or condoms wrapped in Sorbian slogans.

Five questions for the editor Dr Johannes Staemmler from the Department of Structural Change at the Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) Cottbus-Senftenberg.

Dr Staemmler, in your foreword to "99 Future Objects from Lusatia", you ask: "What do people say when they are asked to say something about their future and the future of Lusatia based on a single object?" What do they say?

Staemmler: They talk about things from their immediate environment, things they are researching, objects from their everyday lives. The nice thing is that these objects make it clear that the future is not uncertain at all, but concrete, tangible, diverse and interesting - and that it is not just made by someone somewhere else, but also to a certain extent by the people themselves.

Students and graduates of the Ostkreuz School of Photography took care of the presentation of the objects. How did this collaboration come about?

It was a great stroke of luck. The photographer Valentina Troendle had seen the call for participation and suggested a collaboration. Together with ten other students and graduates of the Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie, we then developed a plan on how to illustrate the objects so that they complement the authors' view.

Is there something that unites the stories in "99 Future Objects from Lusatia"?

Yes, there is. Firstly, the willingness of those involved to tell them at all, secondly, they are all concrete and thirdly, they are characterised by confidence and not by doomsday pain or depression.

Which object, which story touched you the most?

I was particularly touched by "Haitham's Pratze" because it is the story of a stranger, a Syrian, who had the courage to go to a taekwondo school in Cottbus and ask if he could join. This story is one of arriving, gaining respect and being appreciated.

Which story do you miss, which object would you have liked to have in the book?

Potatoes with quark. I am actually missing a dish that is typical of Lusatia. But when you hear the words future and object, you don't necessarily think of food, although we will also eat in the future.

Further information

"99 Future Objects from Lusatia" was compiled by Dr Johannes Staemmler (ed.) and Kathrin Schlüßler for the Förderverein der Brandenburgischen Technischen Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg e.V. The book is published by Ch. Links Verlag and costs 20 euros.