In Man WITHOUT Mining, we would like to invite you to reflect on issues of personal consumption, global justice, and a possible life without critical raw materials. It is our collective responsibility to find sustainable ways to use our resources and thus protect the planet.
Every day we are in contact with the entire world without giving it much thought. From the materials used in our everyday objects to the technologies that surounds us, critical raw materials from different regions of the world are everywhere. But at a time when the availability of natural resources is limited, it is also our responsibility to reflect critically on the consequences and challenges of our consumption needs and extraction practices. What are the environmental, economic, social and political implications? How is it possible to live fairly with critical raw materials? And what would the world be like, hypothetical as the notion may be, without the excessive extraction of natural and critical raw materials?
Under the title “Man WITHOUT Mining”, the interactive and participatory area within the exhibition “MAN & MINING” invites visitors to actively and collaboratively reflect on questions of asymmetries, paradoxes and challenges of mining. In addition to analog access on site, there is also the possibility to compare and vote on ideas for a sustainable handling of critical raw materials at the digital Idea-O-Meter in the exhibition.
The counterpart to the Idea-O-Meter is a forsa survey commissioned by Körber-Stiftung, which provides an insight into the current opinion of the population regarding the handling of critical raw materials in Germany. The majority of respondents (58%) are of the opinion that the reliable supply of raw materials should be part of a “National Security Strategy” and thus a task of the Foreign and Defense Ministries. Also in the case of Germany’s own lithium deposit in Oberrheingraben, 57% of respondents say that Germany should try to mine this deposit, despite the environmental consequences.
The exhibition “MAN & MINING” runs from 17.11.2023 – 01.05.2024 at the Museum of Work, Hamburg. It is part of the nationwide and interdisciplinary exhibition project “Mining. Depletion of the Future”.
We look forward to your participation and your visit!
