The new Schlossgut Schwante offers nature and sculpture in equal measure
Opened last month on the grounds of an 18th century castle, Germany’s latest sculpture park is a sanctuary for art and soul
A spell in the outdoors has long had its charms. For the urban dweller, we conjured up schools-in-the-woods, open-air lidos and eventually, park yoga. Yet perhaps never has nature’s tonic been drunk more keenly than in the post-lockdown era: rasping as we are for the holy trinity of fresh air, open space and vitamin D. Nature as primary commodity; culture at risk of fuzzing over on the back shelf?
Timely, therefore, is the opening of Germany’s latest sculpture park: Schlossgut Schwante – a 10 hectare estate in rural Brandenburg. Yet its origins are far from spontaneous. ‘We’ve been dreaming of this for a long, long time,’ explains co-founder Daniel Tümpel, recalling childhood visits to the Kröller-Müller Park in the Netherlands, and grown-up pilgrimages to Denmark’s Louisiana and Brazil’s Inhotim, with his wife and co-Founder, Loretta Würtenberger. When a phone call came out of the blue, alerting the couple that an 18th century Prussian castle 25km north of Berlin was up for sale, pipe dream soon turned major restoration project.
‘It was almost a forest,’ recalls Tümpel, ‘I don’t know how many hours we spent cutting hedges and sowing meadows.’ Nine months on, Schlossgut Swante may not have opened to an international party of 800 as planned, but the family of six, plus grandparents and dogs, are now at home in the Baroque house, and eager to greet their locals. Says Tümpel: ‘It was really a concept for the community, for the village’.
Village it is. Encircled by the fields and forests of Upper Havelland, Schlossgut Schwante looks no further than its own hedgerows for its inaugural two-year display, ‘Nature and Sculpture’. It’s about ‘a longing for nature, as something to conserve and enjoy’, Tümpel reveals – a philosophy shared too by artist Hans Arp’s ‘biomorphic’ sculpture. (Tümpel and Würtenberger have managed Arp’s estate for 12 years, whilst simultaneously founding and running both Fine Art Partners and the Institute for Artists’ Estates.)
Two dozen outdoor works from as many international names – Tony Cragg, Maria Loboda and Ai Weiwei amongst the established – riff loosely on this theme. One-third are new commissions, some loans, others owned by the couple. Tümpel laughs as he recalls Berlin-based Japanese artist Toshihiko Mitsuya’s first visit to the park: Mitsuya had leapt out of the car with a single cut flower, placing it in the middle of the lawn and declaring, ‘we should have a flower garden’. Mitsuya’s The Aluminum Garden – Structural Study of Plants followed. Elsewhere, Carsten Nicolai has whittled a wooded nook into a meditation space, in homage to an Angkor Wat echo chamber. Björn Dahlem’s neon installation runs riot in a glade, whilst Jorinde Voigt’s interactive tree-suspended swing offers oscillating views of a nearby work by Monika Sosnowska. And finally, across the lake, Martin Creed’s neon sermon chimes out for all: ‘Everything is Going to be Alright’.
Indeed, the outlook is bright for Schlossgut Schwante, which has weathered the pandemic with just minor delay. The only significant omission is the ambitious side programme of music, performance, film, and yoga, now on hold until 2021. Natural restrictions remain for the restaurant and craft-farm shop showcasing work by cherished local makers, but the café and greenery will sequester a precious air of normality. ‘We are almost like an island!’, beams Tümpel.
And on the island of Schlossgut Schwante – a vast patch of land with all the nourishment, grace and comfort of an 18th century luncheon – there is ample room for recuperation. The real dilemma for culture is: will we ever skip into the recycled aircon of an indoor gallery with the same fervour again?
INFORMATION
‘Sculpture & Nature’, Schlossgut Schwante Sculpture Park, 19 June – 30 October 2020. schlossgut-schwante.de
ADDRESS
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Schlossplatz 1-3
16727 Oberkrämer OT Schwante
Germany
-
Herbar’s barrier cream repairs skin damage using medicinal mushrooms
Herbar has launched The Barrier Cream, which harnesses the healing power of mushrooms and adaptogens to repair, soothe and protect the skin barrier
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
The new Renault 5 E-Tech’s design secrets and designer dreams revealed
Wallpaper* talks to Renault’s Laurens van den Acker and Gilles Vidal about how they shaped the eagerly awaited Renault 5 E-Tech
By Guy Bird Published
-
Anselm Kiefer's vast mixed media works take over Venice's Palazzo Strozzi
A new exhibition, 'Fallen Angels,' sees Anselm Kiefer present a combination of old and new works that reflect Palazzo Strozzi's unique position within the Florentine Renaissance
By Finn Blythe Published
-
Peter Blake’s sculptures spark joy at Waddington Custot in London
‘Peter Blake: Sculpture and Other Matters’, at London's Waddington Custot, spans six decades of the artist's career
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Oozing, squidgy, erupting forms come alive at Hayward Gallery
‘When Forms Come Alive: Sixty Years of Restless Sculpture’ at Hayward Gallery, London, is a group show full of twists and turns
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Lawrence Lek’s depressed self-driving cars offer a glimpse of an AI future in Berlin
Lawrence Lek’s installation ‘NOX’, created with LAS Art Foundation, takes over Berlin’s abandoned Kranzler Eck shopping centre
By Emily Steer Published
-
New glass sculpture creates a verdant wonderland at Apple’s Cupertino HQ
‘Mirage’ at Apple Park is the work of Zeller & Moye and artist Katie Paterson, a shimmering array of glass columns that snakes through the grounds of the company’s monumental HQ
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Man Ray’s sculptures go on show in New York
‘Man Ray: Other Objects’ opens at Luxembourg + Co, New York, revealing their author’s ‘artistic revolution’
By Hannah Silver Published
-
The best London art exhibitions to see now
Your guide to the best London art exhibitions, as chosen by the Wallpaper* arts desk
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Erwin Wurm’s pop-coloured fantasy land at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
In Erwin Wurm’s first UK museum show, ‘Trap of the Truth’, the artist transforms Yorkshire Sculpture Park into a slightly warped wonderland (10 June 2023 – 28 April 2024)
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published
-
Sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro transforms Fendi’s Rome HQ into a theatre of myth and magic
Fendi’s Roman HQ sets the scene for ‘Il Grande Teatro delle Civiltà’ a major show by Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, who has also created a one-off edition of the house’s iconic Peekaboo bag. Read more in the July 2023 Issue of Wallpaper*, on newsstands 8 June
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published