NordArt
North Germany’s window to the art world
Modern art, rugged charm
Some people may find north Germany bleak, but its beauty is
undeniable. Few exhibition spaces express its unique atmosphere so
eloquently as the Carlshütte, a former iron foundry operated by the
first manufacturing company in the dukedoms of Schleswig and Holstein.
Opened in 1827 and closed in 1997, this site in the town of Büdelsdorf
is an impressive industrial monument. Today, its huge halls, restored
historic buildings and expanses of parkland provide an unusual setting
for a wide variety of cultural events.
Enter the virtual tour to explore the sculpture park and the halls of the Carlshütte.
The Kunstwerk Carlshütte is a cultural initiative of the internationally active ACO Group and the towns of Büdelsdorf and Rendsburg. With its historical buildings, the colossal foundry halls, the extensive park with its old trees and an exhibition café, the Kunstwerk Carlshütte has developed over the years into a very special place for exhibitions, concerts, readings, theatre performances and film screenings.
Since
1999 the NordArt has established itself as one of the largest exhibitions of contemporary
art in Europe which takes place anually in the summer months. The works of
approximately 250 artists selected from around the world are designed as an
overall work of art against the unique backdrop offered by the Carlshütte each
year. The exhibition area covers the former Carlshütte foundry (22,000 sqm),
the ACO Wagenremise carriage house as well as the historical park (80,000 sqm)
and also includes public places of the town of Büdelsdorf.
Wolfgang Gramm is
the curator and the managing director of the NordArt.
The exhibition also features the highly
respected NordArt Symposium, bringing together different generations of artists
from around the world to engage in debate, make new acquaintances, and work.
The results are then displayed in the Carlshütte and the sculpture park.
Since 2011 the Kunstwerk Carlshütte offers
another international highlight: During the summer it hosts the Festival
Orchestra of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival on site. The ACO
Thormannhalle, which was specially converted by ACO managing director
Hans-Julius Ahlmann, serves as the festival orchestra rehearsal and concert
space and can accommodate 600 people.
NordArt 2012 will open its doors from 02.06. – 30.09.2012
Contemporary Art from China at the NordArt 2012 – China Pavilion: "Forms of the Formless"
02.06. – 30.09.2012 / 13.10. – 18.11.2012
Sculpture Exhibition Zeng Chenggang
"穿越“ / "Passages" 13.10. – 18.11.2012
Call for Artists to apply for the NordArt 2012.
About NordArt
Surrounded by nothing but vastness. Driving from Hamburg up North, with every kilometre the landscape is getting emptier, the sky higher. Wind turbines, cows, sheep are recurring motifs. Almost surreal, how the colourful freighters on the Kiel Canal glide across the country, from sea to sea. On the horizon the steel loop of Rendsburg High Bridge, delicate as a brush stroke. Exit Büdelsdorf. A roundabout with the sculpture of a megalithic tomb in its centre. Megalithic tombs are common in this area. Artworks are rare.
Suddenly, the huge factory halls of Carlshütte rise amidst the rural serenity, witnesses of the heavy industry that was once located here. Destination reached, the navigation system announces. Once you enter the grounds of main sponsor ACO, where NordArt emerges year after year, you immerse yourself in a ubiquitous presence of world-class art. It’s hard to decide where to turn your eyes or lead your steps to first, whether wandering through the exhibition in the old factory halls, or on a safari through the sculpture park. A different kind of vastness surrounds you here: With Kunstwerk Carlshütte and NordArt, a Gesamtkunstwerk unfolds, whose dimensions are elusive.
Art and countryside – a concept that works. Kassel, Marfa, Büdelsdorf: Behind each town’s name stands the vision of an artist to create a platform for contemporary art, sophisticated, non-conformist, groundbreaking. And what would be a more ideal location for such an audacious art project than the ‘cultural wasteland’ that is the countryside? documenta, Chinati Foundation and NordArt prove each in its own way, that art does not have to be located in a metropolis to show international format.
Arnold Bode, Donald Judd and Wolfgang Gramm each found his own way to realise their vision. Wolfgang Gramm’s way to implement the NordArt project leads along the public-private partnership with the ACO group and its managing director Hans-Julius Ahlmann, plus the cities of Rendsburg and Büdelsdorf.
NordArt is young. Grown out of infancy, hitting adolescence. Its development is rapid: In the beginning 1999, 50 artists from 6 countries were featured. 2012, at the 14th edition of NordArt, it showcases the works of 245 artists from 50 countries, including Georgia, Syria, China, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa. The audience keeps pace, with a record attendance of 45'000 in 2011.
NordArt is vibrant. It sees itself not as a museum, but as a refuge for artists from all over the world, who enter into dialogue with each other and the audience in the „global village“ of Büdelsdorf. Year after year, the exhibition redefines itself, setting different priorities. As in 2000, when the first sculpture symposium preceded NordArt, supplemented 2008 by a painters’ symposium. 2011, concerts and open rehearsals joined in, as part of the concurrent Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.
2012, the centrepiece of NordArt is the China Pavilion. For this contribution to the Chinese Culture Year in Germany, NordArt has won the award „365 Places in the Land of Ideas“, already for the second time. However, the view on China is nothing new to NordArt. In keeping with tradition, artists of all kinds from the Middle Kingdom are very welcome there and always numerously represented.
„Art is ungovernable, art is free“, says curator Wolfgang Gramm. Free of political or content-related attitude, NordArt wants to „bring the world together in dialogue“. It has already succeeded. In the future, NordArt will become a talking point even more so. To witness it as long as it is still something of a secret: Go there. And join the conversation.
