The work focuses on the abandoned mines of Eastern Slovakia, where the echoes of pickaxes still linger. Acidic mine water seeps into rivers, and heavy metals migrate through the soil at an invisible pace. Beneath the surface, slow violence unfolds – invisible yet persistent – a chronic wound etched into the bodies of the landscape and its inhabitants. They collaborated with scientists studying plants and bacteria capable of surviving in toxic conditions and transforming poisons into nutrients. These microscopic beings become keys to a new understanding of remediation – not as a technocentric process, but as a biological, cultural, and imaginative act of care.

From contaminated water, mythology is born. The artists invoke Slavic water and forest spirits – fairies and rusalkas – once bearers of fertility and balance, later demonised as dangerous monsters. The project reveals the deep connection between the patriarchal conquest of nature and the demonisation of femininity.

Lorena experienced their time in Košice as deeply enriching, and the artist learned a great deal from their collaboration with Beáta Kolbašovská.

“Working with an artist from the area was extremely helpful because through her I could quickly become familiar with the ecological challenges of the region, which was the main theme of the residency. She already had deep knowledge of the subject, and this was essential due to the short period of time we had for research.”

The exhibition features video installations, spatial sound, and 3D scans of mining landscapes, interweaving folklore narratives with scientific data. These hybrid landscapes are at once post-apocalyptic and pre-nascent – sites existing after catastrophe, yet holding the possibility of a new form of coexistence, where human and non-human, scientific and mythological meet in an act of sympoiesis. In a landscape shaped by extraction, the artists propose a gesture of listening – a presence with what remains wounded.