Kukata Miti

Spanning the forests of Germany, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this layered essay in visual and political anthropology reveals the various practices, tools and motives behind timber exploitation, shedding light on it the historical and economic disparities between West and Global South, as well as their shared instinct to exploit natural resources. Kötter has so far focused mainly on specific settings. Here he shifts to analysing a phenomenon reflected in different contexts, captured in vivid scenes that blend lucid observation with impressive formal control. The chapters document different ideas of forests, taking us on an ethnographic journey back in time: from resources subject to mechanised extraction, to changing ecosystems in dialogue with human presence, and ancestral entities harbouring dark forces or protecting against them. In between, along with some migrant families we explore the Bergisches Land region of Germany devastated by tree pests: a surprising feedback loop adding a further layer to a work capable of going well beyond the bark of its subject. 

Sergio Fant

Kukata Miti, 2026
Landshaft, 2023
Water & Coltan 360°documentary, 2021

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Gold & Coal 360°documentary, 2019
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Chinafrika.mobile, 2019

Desert View, 2019

Hashti Tehran, 2017