Darmstadt, July 24, 2017

The Global Nomadic Art Project (GNAP) has been founded by artists’ association Yatoo (http://yatooi.com/53612) together with 20 international nature art curators. So far it has happened in 2015 in Asia and in 2016 in Africa and the Middle East. 2017 it will take place in Europe and in 2018 in America. In Europe the participating countries are Germany, France, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Turkey.

In each country 15 to 20 artists from all over the world join in the project. They work together in outdoor nature art workshops, provide indoor nature art exhibitions and publish documentation of their work. We expect them to be inspired by the many different natural environments they will work in for 2-3 weeks. During the nature art workshops every artist will show his or her individual artistic access to nature.

The main concern is not with producing big artistic works for sale but with leaving marks of the artists’ dialogue with nature all around the world by creating small, ephemeral works. They will communicate with nature.

All outdoor activities will be documented by film and photo so they can be exhibited in galleries and museums. Finally everything will be summarized in documentary films.

So far, Global Nomadic Art Projects (GNAP) have been taking place in

South Korea, Apr. 2014 Global Nomadic Art Project
South Korea, Aug. 2015 Global Nomadic Art Project
South Korea, Oct. 2016 Global Nomadic Art Project
South Africa, Sept. 2016 Global Nomadic Art Project
India, Dec. 2015 Global Nomadic Art Project
Iran, Dec. 2016 Global Nomadic Art Project

In 2017 GNAP will take place in the following European countries

  • July 2017: Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary
  • August and September 2017: Germany, France and Lithuania
  • October 2017: Turkey

Time table for GNAP Darmstadt

Arrival of artists: Saturday August 19, 2017
Artist residency and workshops: August 20, to September 1, 2017
Opening of exhibition: Saturday, September 2, 2017, 3:00 PM
Departure of artists: September 3, 2017

Official dates when visitors are welcome

  • Wednesday‘s forum in “Internationales Waldkunstzentrum” (IWZ) (International Forest Art Center), with short presentations of the participating artists:
    o Wednesday August 23, 2017, 8:00 PM
    o Wednesday August 30, 2017, 8:00 PM
  • Exhibition Yatoo meets Dreieich, Städtische Galerie Dreieich (City Gallery Dreieich), August 31, 2017, 7:00 PM
    adress: Fichtestraße 50, 63303 Dreieich
  • Opening of the exhibition Urban Nature Art in Internationales Waldkunstzentrum, Saturday, September 2, 2017, 3:00 PM, with coffee and cake, information desk, guided tours, speeches. Under the patronage of Darmstadt’s mayor, Jochen Partsch.

Duration of the exhibition Urban Nature Art: September 2 to 29, 2017, Monday to Thursday 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM and Friday 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM.

Hosts of the project are

Verein für Internationale Waldkunst e.V. (International Forest Art Association), Zentrum für Kunst und Natur e.V. (Center for Art and Nature), together with co-operation partner UNESCO Global Geopark Bergstraße-Odenwald.

Venue will be Internationales Waldkunstzentrum (IWZ) / Forest Art Center

Ludwigshöhstr. 137, 64285 Darmstadt, Germany, tel: +49 6151 7899537
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. • website: www.gnap.info or www.waldkunst.com
The artists will stay in the „Naturfreundehaus“ (nature friends house),
Am Riedberg, Hainweg 60, 64297 Eberstadt.

Co-operation partners and organizers are

Verein für Internationale Waldkunst e.V. (Forest Art)
Zentrum für Kunst und Natur e.V. (ZKN) (Center for Art and Nature)
UNESCO Global Geopark Bergstraße-Odenwald
Yatoo - Nature Art, South Korea
In addition, the following institutions will support the project: the Schader foundation, the city gallery Dreieich and several partners at the particular working sites: Institut Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt, UNESCO World Heritage Grube Messel, Environmental Education Center Kühkopf, Visitors’ Venter Felsenmeer and many others.

Summary of “Urban Nature Art” project

  • The group consisting of 13 international and 12 German artists. All of them are known and experienced in the field of Nature Art. They come from Hungary, India, Iran, Lithuania, South Korea, South Africa and Sweden
  • Subject of the German GNAP is „Urban Nature Art“, in and around Darmstadt, the mountain region Odenwald, up to Frankfurt. The geologically and historically rich environment of UNESCO Global Geopark Bergstraße-Odenwald provides sites in hills, at rivers, in geological formations, such as Felsenmeer, basalt at the Otzberg or the dune in Babenhausen. In addition, there are urban nature sites in Darmstadt like the Forest Art Path, Oberfeld, Mathildenhöhe and many more.
  • During the 16 daily workshops we offer, the artists will create ephemeral works of art. Every day, they will be brought to a different site, receive a short introduction from the region’s respective expert and then have the opportunity to get into touch with the surroundings for 2-4 hours, work there, document their work and leave the place to nature again.
  • The exhibition of „Urban Nature Art“, cinematic and photographic documentation included, will take place for one month in the gallery and on the open-air ground of Internationales Waldkunstzentrum (IWZ).
    Part of it will also be shown in divers visitor centers of UNESCO Geopark. Together with the partners GNAP France and GNAP Lithuania an exhibition in the Kaunas Museum of Modern Art is planned, showing parts of all three projects. We also prepare a documentation about the Waldkunstzentrum and its work which will be exhibited there, too.
  • A catalogue about GNAP Europe will be published in Korean and English, with an introduction in the respective national language. A booklet about Global Nomadic Art in Darmstadt, with texts from the participating experts, is also in preparation.

With kind regards from the organization team of GNAP Germany

Ute Ritschel (ZKN und IWZ), Horst Bürkle (ZKN), Dr. Jutta Weber (Geopark), Roger Rigorth, Waltraud Munz, Christiane Dette (IWZ) and the staff from Waldkunstzentrum