Martina Trepczyk
Despite thinking that our isolation is the silver lining for mother nature, it is a little more complex than that.
- Martina Trepczyk, Filmmaker, Artist, Activist
Martina Trepczyk is always searching for aesthetics and authenticity, something real and raw. As Director she is working on documentaries, commercial work and art projects. The medium doesn’t matter, on the contrary: merging genres are all the more interesting, as long as the content evokes emotion, looks for truth. Her work has an incredible sense of delicacy combined with real power. In general, she enjoys not to fit into existing categories but to unfold and create where boundaries cross.
“Now, our life that has come seemingly to a halt. I say seemingly because life always goes on. For some, not much has changed, for others their world has ended. All because of wild life trade. Because we humans decide which life is worth more than others, which becomes a pet, a family member, which jumps through hoops in marine parks, which ends up on a plate, in a cage, behind bars, as an accessory.
In order to cope with these uncertainties of our future we like to occupy our minds. Escape. Turn away from the things that we do. After all, we are starving for some good news and are arrogant enough to believe that one month or three of lockdown and momentarily tanked carbon emissions brought wild animals back to places that once claimed to be ours. “Bogus stories of wild animals flourishing in quarantined cities gives false hope—and viral fame“ (*0 National Geographic)
Despite thinking that our isolation is the silver lining for mother nature, it is a little more complex than that.
While many of our European governments have systems in place, such as Corona support fonds, unemployment services, or furlough scheme guarantees that cover up to 80% of income, „citizens of many low-income countries simply don’t have such back-up from their governments, leaving them incredibly vulnerable. For many, the forest and the ocean will provide their safety net.“ (*1 theconversation) Most conservation projects depend on tourism and are now bound to fall. Meaning protection will become substantially harder and will force humans who already live on the brink of poverty back to wild life trade. “In developing countries, the absence of tourism and monitoring groups may give a free rein to loggers and poachers who will see no more need to obey quarantine rules than any other laws. People already living close to the edge may be forced to exploit nature to survive as their work disappears.“ (*2 Guardian)
Which really makes you wonder who is being more exploited here. The problem is massive, the answer to this question is very simple. Inquiry and demand. “As lockdown restrictions have begun to ease in China, some of the country’s other wet markets are reportedly operating again — without wild animals and wild meat.“ but contradictory saying “As of April 14, 2020, China has not banned the commercial sale of wild animals for pets, traditional medicine, or ornamental uses.“ (*3 National Geographic)
Our bottomless greed has taken over. Our hybris has made us blind. Blind to a world that never belonged to us in first place. We do not own it - we never did. We are part of this magical synergy, a cosmos of balance contained in a form we call life.
The earth continues to turn around its axis. The only thing in life that is certain is change. The question now is, in which direction do we want to go?”