Alek Kawka

The exhibition of photographic works by Alek Kawka takes place within the framework of the Tree-Nature Monument Sponsorship Project of the Province of Styria, the Nature Protection Federation of Styria and the Styrian Mountain and Nature Guard for the Protection of Styrian Tree-Methusalems and in cooperation with SHOWING STYRIA 2023 at Herberstein Animal World.

In the photographic intervention Monument, Alek Kawka deals with the motif of the tree as a natural monument.

The basis of the works comes from photographs taken in the European protected area Feistritzklamm/Herberstein. Dead wood in its gnarled, dead form has a special significance here - as a symbol of transience and at the same time an essential habitat for a multitude of organisms.

Through the use of a mirror plane, the photographs printed on glass constantly appear in a new, refracted light, which lends the work a misty veil and changes the representation depending on the viewing angle.

The mirror serves not only as a technical material, but is both an allegory of imaging and contemplation, and of deep thought and reflection.

In art, trees usually serve as projection screens for an often religious background or as nature motifs that highlight scenic beauty and its majesty. The historical development of our relationship with nature is crucial to the representation of the tree in art. It serves to communicate even complex areas of our existence. Today, the tree represents the urgency of self-induced ecological mess - the tree is "the statement" of human survival in a collapsing environment.

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The Styrian tree-natural monument sponsorship project

Tree natural monuments are mostly several hundred years old and represent unique creations of nature and historical witnesses. In Styria, more than 600 trees have been designated as natural monuments.

The Province of Styria, under the leadership of Ursula Lackner, Provincial Councillor for Nature Conservation, together with the Nature Conservation Association of Styria and the Styrian Mountain and Nature Guard, is committed to the preservation of these unique creatures of nature. Styrian natural tree monuments are particularly affected by storms and heat. Through regular tree inspections and care measures by specialized arborists, these incomparable natural treasures can be protected with their significant contribution to the preservation of Styrian biodiversity.

Help to preserve these tree-metusalems for the next generations with a donation!

SHOWING STYRIA is dedicated to the diversity of life from April 29, 2023. The main setting is the Herberstein Animal World.

Under the title "Diversity of Life", SHOWING STYRIA 2023 deals with the fascination, the importance and the threat of biodiversity in nature in a new House of Biodiversity and with natural sites in the Herberstein Animal World as well as in the adjacent nature reserve Feistritzklamm. Thus, a very important topic is taken up: the importance and thus the necessity of preserving biodiversity using the example of Styria.