Reading with Aline Papenheim

What becomes possible when old structures collapse?
And what can letters addressed to a hunter, a deer, a father, or a witches’ rock tell us about belonging and normality?

In the Forest Behind My Father’s House is an ongoing photographic project in which artist Aline Papenheim returns to the rural German village where they grew up. As climate change causes the surrounding spruce monocultures to collapse, new and diverse life begins to reclaim the land. Drawing parallels between ecological and social structures, Papenheim explores their lived experiences of queerness and neurodivergence in a place shaped by tradition, conformity, and ideas of normality. Through encounters and conversations with hunters, rangers, and local residents, they navigate the tensions between care and control, inherited patriarchal structures, and new possibilities of relating through difference.

In this 30-minute activation, Papenheim introduces the project through photographs, personal stories, and speculative letters addressed to a deer, a hunter, their father, and a witches’ rock. Moving between documentary, memory, and imagination.

The session opens into a collective conversation about belonging, difference, and the stories we tell about the places we call home.