Survey

In February 2024, the Beverin Nature Park conducted a survey among the residents of Safiental regarding the ART SAFIENTAL Biennale and the ALPS ART ACADEMY summer school. The aim was to record and collect expectations, wishes and needs regarding the art and cultural initiatives. A total of 117 responses were received (952 inhabitants live in Safiental). The ILEA association will be evaluating the survey results over the next few weeks and then inviting the valley community to a discussion on the future of cultural activities in Safiental. The date and location of the event will be communicated shortly.  We would like to thank all Safiental residents who took part in the survey.

A first brief preview of the survey results can be found here:  Survey Art Safiental 2024

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July 6 – October 20, 2024
5. ART SAFIENTAL – Biennale for Land and Environmental Art
„WHAT IF? Songs from Tomorrowlands“
Safiental, Switzerland

Works by:
Ravi Agarwal + Paulina Lopez (IN, CL)
Paloma Ayala (MX/CH)
Magali Dougoud (CH)
Hemauer/Keller (CH)
Monica Ursina Jaeger (CH)
Vibeke Mascini (NL)
Ernesto Neto (BR)
Ola Maciejewska (PL)
Quarto (BR/SE)
Stefanie Salzmann (CH)
Renae Shadler (AUS/DE)
Andrea Francesco Todisco (CH)
Huhtamaki Wab (JP/UK)
a.o.

Curated by:
Anne-Laure Franchette, Johannes M. Hedinger, Josiane Imhasly, Joanna Lesnierowska

The 5. Biennale for Land and Environmental Art will take place between July 6 – October 20, 2024, in Safiental (Grisons, Switzerland). 13 national and international art positions will create temporary outdoor works in dialogue with the landscape. Distributed over the entire valley the installations will be accessible daily free of charge for around four months. A short guide with a map will be published to accompany the exhibition, followed by a catalogue in autumn. The festival center is located at Berghotel Alpenblick Tenna, which is also home to ILEA (Institute for Land and Environmental Art), the ILEA Gallery and the ILEA Residency program.

Among the over 60 artists and projects from previous Biennales, you find artists such as Lita Albuquerque, Ursula Biemann, Julius von Bismarck, James Bridle, Bob Gramsma, Ingeborg Lüscher, !Mediengruppe Bitnik, Raumlabor, Analia Saban, Roman Signer, Steiner/Lenzlinger, Ben Vautier and many others.
The founder and artistic director of the Art Safiental Biennale is Johannes M. Hedinger.
The exhibition is organized by the ILEA Institute for Land and Environmental Art, and sponsored by the Beverin Nature Park in partnership with the municipality of Safiental.

Support Culture

Dear cultural friends and shoppers at MIGROS (Switzerland): Support our association ILEA (Institute for Land and Environmental Art) with your purchase (The Support Culture-campaign only runs until April 15). Many thanks in advance! DIREKTLINK

ILEA Gallery

Well-attended opening of the exhibition “Stories of Gras“ by the Indian artist Dharmendra Prasad at ILEA Gallery. In the summer of 2022 the artist spent three months in the ILEA artist residence in Tenna, intensively researching and producing on the subject of grass (including the Grass Museum, which was part of the Biennale Art Safiental and whose facade can still be visited. During this time in Tenna, the artist began to deal intensively with grass and to work with it as a material and medium.  The exhibition shows both a retrospective of this phase, as well as the continuation of his work in India on the same theme. 

The exhibition runs until 29.10.2023 and can be visited during the opening hours of the Berghotel Alpenblick (Wed-Sat 10-22, Sun 10-18, Mo+Tues rest days), there are information sheets available on each floor for a self-guided tour. The exhibition extends over 4 floors. The exhibition is curated by Johannes M. Hedinger and Shazeb Shaikh. Produced by ILEA and EAE (Environmental Art Exchange). ILEA and ILEA Gallery is supported by Naturpark Beverin and the municipality of Safiental.
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Pressetext

Season’s Greetings

To our friends, collaborators, partners, alumni, visitors, guest and all interested parties:
We want all the war, sickness, and death that 2022 brought to come to an end. We wish all of you a safer, more peaceful and joyous 2023.
Warmly, Team ILEA

We look back on an eventful year:
The art summer was packed with the 4th Art Safiental Biennale on the theme “Learning from the Earth”, the 4th Alps Art Academy and the 3rd ILEA Talks, three established initiatives returned and new ones were established and expanded: In the ILEA Residency, thanks to a cooperation with Pro Helvetia (To-gather), we could welcome for the first time two long-term guests from India: Shazeb Shaikh and Dharmendra Prasad, whose Grass Museum many still remember from the Biennale. Both are returning to the ILEA Gallery in Alpenblick next year with the exhibition “Grass Stories” (opening 12/31/22).
The exhibition in the ILEA Gallery shown in the expiring year presented Marcus Maeder with his research project ACLA, which will be continued next year and extended to a 2nd forest area together with the partners from ZHdK, WSL and the forest service Safiental. The second ongoing research project “Safientaler Gespräche”, Oral History with Dominik Landwehr, will also continue next year, undergo an evaluation and an opening.
In spring, the reader “Learning from the Earth” is announced, which we were recently able to finance through a crowdfunding campaign.
The construction of the ILEA Institute – the future umbrella structure for all projects, the competence and research center for art, ecology and creative industries in the peripheral Alpine region – which has already begun this year, will be further advanced in the coming year. Currently, this undertaking is receiving support from the UBS Cultural Foundation and the NRP Berggebietsprogramm.

We wish you happy holidays, a good start into the new year – and look forward to seeing you again in the Safiental in 2023.

(Photo: Grass Museum by Dharmendra Prasad, Art Safiental 2022)

Stories of Grass

The new exhibition at the ILEA Gallery in the Berghotel Alpenblick in Tenna features “Stories of Grass”, a solo presentation by Indian artist Dharmendra Prasad. He spent about three months in the ILEA artist residency in Tenna last summer. During this time, he began to work intensively with grass as a material and medium. In the process, grass developed into a non-human personality for him. The exhibition is both a retrospective of the works created in Tenna (objects, drawings, texts, photographs, videos, performances and installations), and also the continuation of his work in India on the same topic. The Grass Museum above Tenna, which was part of the last Art Safiental Biennale can still be visited until the end of winter, is probably still well remembered by the local public.

Opening: 31. Dec 16.00 with guided tour and apéro
exhibition dates: 31. Dec 2022 –  29. Oct 2023
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we made it!

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding campaign for the publication on the annual theme LEARNING FROM THE EARTH.
We would be very happy about your support – Fine rewards are waiting (books, knowledge, art, culinary and adventure in the Safiental) + and / or please also share – thank you in advance!
>> https://wemakeit.com/projects/learn-from-the-earth
(The promotion runs only until December 4, 2022)

SHORT FACTS

15 Essays + 15 art projects

german/english, ca. 120 pages

publishing date early 2023

Vexer Verlag St.Gallen/Berlin

TEXTS:

Annemarie Bucher (CH), Damian Christinger (CH), T.J. Demos (US), Friday for Future, Donna Haraway (US), Johannes M. Hedinger (CH), Naomi Klein (CA), Klimastreik (CH), Bruno Latour (FR), James Lovelock (UK), Timothy Morton (US), Dharmendra Prasad (IN), Michel Serres (FR), Vandana Shiva (IN), Greta Thumberg (SE) u.a.

ART PROJECTS BY:

Lara Almarcegui (ES, NL), Badel/Sarbach (CH), Ursula Biemann (CH), Julius von Bismarck (DE), Buchli/Isenschmid (CH), Com&Com (CH), Saskia Edens (CH), Lithic Alliance (CH/BE), Marcus Maeder (CH), !Mediengruppe Bitnik (CH/DE), Dharmendra Prasad (IN), Simon/Odermatt (CH), Sound Kite Ensemble (CH), Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger (CH), Ben Vautier (FR/CH).

Closing Program

Closing Program 21/22. Okt 2022 > PDF