International Wind Art in Northern Hesse
wind art landscape -
bewegter wind e.V. stages wind art in a diverse landscape and offers intercultural communication in all its facets.
The 12th "bewegter wind" wind art festival will take place from 17 to 31 August, 2025 in Zierenberg, Northern Hesse in Germany.
The international wind art festival takes place as a competition every two years at different locations in the region. "bewegter wind" is a landscape exhibition with a supporting programme, art competition, artists' meeting, cultural exchange, exhibition tour and children's programme. Since 2004, 11 art competitions have been announced and organised internationally. So far 724 works of art by 598 artists from 36 countries have been exhibited at 35 locations. "bewegter wind" stages wind art in a diverse landscape. Wind art is fleeting, can always be experienced anew and remains unfinished in a fascinating way. In changing locations - in front of forests, mountain landscapes, lakes or quarries - objects are created that make the wind visible and allow it to merge with the art. Wind art objects, installations, wind videos and performances amaze visitors young and old, guests and locals, art enthusiasts and nature lovers.
Wind is a symbol of spirit and communication in almost all cultures around the world.
Artists selected: Venetian clouds, shimmering threads and Abraham's sausage kettle
Ideas fluttered into the ‘bewegter wind’ clubhouse from all over the world for the competition theme ‘...fresh’. Shimmering thread installations from Japan, new images of women from Nigeria, a performance from Hungary, mantarayas from Mexico, thematising the environment and climate, social approaches and so much more. 156 applications were received from 22 countries and entered into the database by members of the association.
An ideas competition needs some preparation to present all the artists' ideas to the selection panel in a visual way. Designs on the changing power of the wind and new perspectives were presented. The jury was made up of experienced professionals from art-land-culture projects: Corinna Köbele is the initiator of the artists' town of Kalbe ( https://kuenstlerstadt-kalbe.de/) Together with fellow campaigners and lots of art, she has brought about changes in her town that attract attention. Teresa Weißert is an artist, art historian and is responsible for transformation through art in the countryside at Kompost-Ensemble (https://kompost-ensemble.de). Reta Reinl is an artist and curator of bewegter-wind.
...fresh
Call for applications for the 12th international art competition ‘bewegter wind’ 2025
The triad of wind, art and landscape have been inspiring visitors for years. This years theme ‘...fresh’ promises new approaches from creatives from all over the world in these challenging times.
The competition entries will be exhibited in August at unique scenic locations in Zierenberg, Northern Hesse. Wind objects, installations, performances and videos invite visitors to discover the exhibits and the landscape. Our concept encourages a lively exchange between different visitor groups. The community and visitors are involved.
The deadline for the ideas competition is 5 May 2025. The award money amounts to €7,000.
The competition text gives some associations to the topic:
…fresh
Fresh breeze. Fresh idea. Fresh perspective.
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Also available:
Calendar "From wind to wind" 2024-2025 and exhibition catalog "beyond..."
Wind art with a far-sighted view and impressive landscapes in Wolfhager Land have characterized this year's festival summer.
We are delighted with the positive feedback and the demand for print products.
The images for the 11th "bewegter wind" are now available. Please order and shorten the waiting time until the next wind art festival!
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1st prize ( € 3,000) : Anne Heilmann, Before the Wind
The installation, which consists of two parts, is the artistic transfer of two sections of a weather map: a gust in the trade wind zone and a low-pressure area of the North Atlantic were depicted as a spatial drawing by linking ropes - special ropes that are traditionally used in sailing. In this way, a network was created, some with varying degrees of density, others completely open. Another component is the artist's own texts, which can be read on signs or heard via a QR code.
Inspired by a seven-month voyage on a sailing ship, the artist manages to combine the poetic language of her texts with the knotting work in a subtle and coherent way. Starting from her subjective experience, a work of art is created that touches and triggers associations when viewed and listened to. Weather and wind forecasts are of great importance not only for sailors, but for all people. Anne Heilmann explores her personal feelings of winds of varying intensity and opens up a space of reflection on the subject of wind for the recipient.
Jury text by the jurors.
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2nd prize (€2,000): Piotr Weselowski, Karola Konieczny and Aleksander Bryk "Catch me if you can"
The approximately 8 m high installation on the Helfenberg can be seen from afar. A scaffold encloses and fixes the hollow form woven from bamboo strips in the shape of a tornado, the tube-like end of which is connected to the ground. In one turn, the form widens upwards and is open to the sky.
The artist and the two artists have succeeded in expressing the destructive power of this wind phenomenon and at the same time giving form to the - mostly futile - human effort to tame and limit it.
In view of climate change and the associated increase in extreme weather, this installation has a powerful effect and political significance. The almost exclusive use of natural materials is consistent.
Jury text from the jurors.
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3rd prize (1,000 €) Ralf Witthaus, Perpetuum
Two paths running in curves and crossing each other again and again form a "bracket" between the two exhibition sites in three stages. They were cut into the ground vegetation with cordless and power scythes - right down to the turf, so that the paths contrast with the green surroundings in a brown earth tone and are clearly visible, even from a distance. As with other "lawnmower drawings", the artist's reference to place is important and successful here too. Landscape experience and communication enter into a connection, on the one hand already in the phase of realisation by voluntary helpers in black and white clothing, and on the other hand then when visitors walk along the paths.
Both in the basic form of the symbol for infinity chosen by the artist and in the title Perpetuum (Latin for continuous, permanent, eternal) an analogy to the phenomenon of the wind can be seen.
Jury text from the jurors.
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Special Prize ( 1.000 €) Ria Gerth, Silence
The camera glides over a blossoming rape field, the horizon is wide. Colour filters create shimmering yellow and green tones. The idyll is abruptly destroyed by a detonation that spreads as a bluish wisp of smoke along the edge of the field. No sooner has it dissipated than the camera moves on until another detonation occurs. The video ends with silence over the rape field.
With this dense and precisely conceived video work, the artist refers to the outbreak of war in Ukraine, which destroyed any hope of lasting peace in Europe, claimed human lives, disrupted food chains in the agricultural economy and turned nature into a war zone.
The video Silence received the special prize due to its high artistic quality.
Jury text from the jurors.
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Also available:
hr2 Kultur - Reta Reinl über das elfte Windkunstfestival in Nordhessen
In der Nähe von Wolfhagen – in Nordhessen bei Kassel gelegen– beginnt heute das elfte Windkunstfestival "bewegter wind". Die Künstlerin Reta Reinl aus Lichtenfels hat dieses Festival 2004 ins Leben gerufen und ist seitdem Kuratorin des Projekts. Sie erzählt über die vielfältigen Exponate von Künstlerinnen und Künstlern aus aller Welt, über die Verbindung von Kunst und Natur und wie sie auf die Idee für dieses Festival gekommen ist.
Sendung: hr2-kultur,
"Am Sonntagmorgen", 13.08.2023, 09:04 Uhr
Link zum Interwiew:
https://www.hr2.de/podcasts/reta-reinl-ueber-das-elfte-windkunstfestival-in-nordhessen,audio-85052.html