Of Wolves and People (Gruen214)
Melissa Pons & Nils Mosh

In 2019 Melissa & Nils started working on this project, collaborating and exchanging ideas online. While Melissa followed the howl of the Iberian Wolf in Portugal, Nils focused on one particular Grey Wolf in Germany.

Lament of the Wolf - Melissa Pons
Composition of field recordings & music 20:02 min

Through the lens of Christian mythology, the wolf has been seen through a fear warmongering perspective. After all, what is on the other end of the Biblical imagery of Jesus as a shepherd protecting his flock? When men chose a violent annihilation way of living in order to protect their property and livelihoods, the wolf, badly understood and subjected to associations with the devil, was constantly hunted in Europe, many times tortured in public and to kill one, would be a symbol of courage. In the latest decades in Portugal, the Iberian Wolf population suffered a staggering decrease pushing the remaining packs to the north of Rio Douro, whereas once they inhabited the country almost entirely. Protection acts through sensitizing, education and the implementation of sustainable methods now exist even though dedicated organizations still face doubt and resistance in some regions.

Melissa spent days at the Iberian Wolf Recovery Centre - a sanctuary near Lisbon, Portugal - learning from the staff and from observing the wolves, recording from late evening to early mornings, acquiring a sense of their rhythm. Minho, Gardunha, Arga, Lobito, Nave, Gerês, Malcata, Regoufe, Nogueira, Freita, Faia, Bolota are their names.

Tapping to the frequent dreams with animals that Melissa was experiencing then in particular, a breach in her imagination thought about the figure of a child establishing a
relationship with wolves through curiosity and deep respect. This doesn’t mean, to tame or to domesticate, but to move beyond fear and understand the wolf as a highly intelligent and sensitive animal.
It is this intelligence and sensitivity that were in the centre of this composition. The wolf lives and the wolf suffers at the hands and minds of human arrogance. And its daunting and hypnotic howling can simply be a beautiful song. Their body movements, agile but strong, pounding on the ground that one feels underneath the feet. How they demand
respect from humans - and certainly other animals. How they have the right to life simply because they exist and without them we’ve seen the devastating effects it has caused in ecosystems. In Melissa’s view, the wolf can very well be seen as a mythological figure for
all the qualities it holds, and the equilibrium it provides where it exists.

GW954f - Nils Mosh
Collage of field recordings & interviews 20:52 min

The wolf is back in Germany in the Ruhr area. The territory of GW954f aka "Gloria von Wesel" is a varied area dominated by mining, interspersed with enchanted lakescapes of disused sand pits, re-naturalised forests, active industry, pastures and villages. But the unique soundscape is accompanied by the concerns, opinions, disputes and hopes of the people living in it. The wolf is seldom seen, but when it is, it can be seen on blurry mobile phone pictures or camera traps that stand close together between the fences protecting the sheep. It is even rarer to hear the she-wolf, as if she suspects that in her territory between Bottrop, Dinslaken, Gahlen and Oberhausen, the one or the other is trying to get at her. How does she take in the world around her? What do the sounds made by humans, such as conveyor belts and excavators in the sand pits, mean to her? Does she already know that there are people approaching, long before the frogs fall silent, because of a two legged intruder? And how does the return of the wolf after 160 years in the Ruhr area sound to the local residents? Do they listen to the singing nightingales or are they disturbed by the noisy construction work on the wolf protection fences? And does the already strange roar of the red deer in duet with the cries of the tawny owl get on their nerves, knowing a wolf is lurking somewhere in the dark?
The rich soundscape of the Ruhr region is complemented by interviews with residents of the wolf territory. Horse owners, nature conservationists, shepherds and many more tell of their concerns, suspicions and changes in the region. And maybe it is not just about the wolf.

Originally, Nils Mosh only wanted to go there to record a nightingale. But on his first visit he fell in love with the landscape of the Kirchheller Heide and it became even more exciting when he learned that there was a she-wolf in the area again. In order to find out more, he used the Gahlen wolf map as a guide and got to know people who were directly affected, found wolf fur on barbed wire and digging traces of giant wolf paws. Over a time of three years, Nils Mosh visited the territory of GW954f and her pack. He visited tear sites, vigils against the wolf, built wolf defending fences with WikiWolves e.V., whose motto is "Protection of grazing animals is protection of wolves", and talked to conservationists from the region. No topic in that region is discussed as fiercely as the wolf and what to do with her. Yet it is often about much more. The battle of city people versus countryside people, underlying fears and change in society.