WEBICHT

The Webicht, a hunting forest laid out in the Baroque period, was a favorite motif for the painters of the Weimar School of Painting in the 19th century.Vollrath Hopp's aesthetic interest in this subject is directed at the ambivalence of the beauty of this forest with and through its seasonal changes as well as the seclusion of the inner forest spaces from its surroundings, like a time-space capsule. Historical and present seem to overlap wordlessly in the branches into an unimagined future. The motif of the series brings into view the paths of the weave that converge and at the same time diverge again, creating a window for the viewer through which the forest clearing can also symbolically raise the question of a climatic future.

The unique exhibition space of the Harry Graf Kessler Kunsthalle allows a panoramic hanging of the pictures, which places the viewer in the center of the interrelated pictures.

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08. SEP - 17.30 UHR

Interdisciplinary discourse with Uta Krispin, Martina Mund, Huber Merkel, Alix Ricau. Moderation: Anna Luhn

Climate protector, place of longing, resource - What does the forest mean to us?

The forest is more than just a collection of trees! It has been painted, sung about, revered. And it has been shaped, cleared, used. Deeply anchored in cultural memory through fairy tales, myths and narratives as a promising place of longing and an eerie place of banishment at the same time, the forest has always served and still serves us also - and very concretely - as a significant reservoir of raw materials. How do artistic representations and cultural imaginaries determine our access to the ecosystem 'forest', to our expectations and claims of use? And vice versa: Does the way our society understands and uses the forest as a resource influence how we see and encounter it? 

Our current pool of knowledge about the landscape formation forest has greatly expanded thanks to intensive scientific research, and its importance for species and climate protection, but also as a water reservoir and erosion protection, is now considered undisputed. But is the production of knowledge, the elucidation of interrelationships sufficient to change our view of the complex forest ecosystem? How do we move from understanding to appropriate action, and what role does our image of the forest play in this?