A lot to see and marvel at at Lenzerheide magic forest

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The magic forest Lenzerheide combines light art, music and culinary arts to a unique sensory festival. Light art in particular has been delighting the many visitors for seven years. Once again this year, ten national and international light artists will present their works to the public.

For some years now, light art has been attracting increasing attention worldwide. Several years ago, the Lenzerheide magic forest created a new and important platform for modern light art with the launch of the festival of the senses. As one of the three co-initiators, Primo Berera has been responsible for artistic direction since the first event was held in December 2013. More than a dozen light installations transform the squirrel forest in Lenzerheide into a colourful light forest every year. «We are proud to conjure up a completely new winter experience every year with our concept and the changing installations,» says a delighted Primo Berera.

This year, too, a large number of projects were submitted for the Lenzerheide magic forest. 15 of them made it into the exclusive selection and can be experienced and admired from 13 to 30 December 2019. «The high response of the call for projects makes us proud. There were many exciting approaches from different participant constellations, artist groups or individual lighting designers from all over Europe,» says Mika Schell, who is part of the curation team. Since last year, the artist collective NOA has been responsible for the curation of light art in the Magic Forest. In addition to several installations of their own, they are also responsible for the invitation to tender and selection of other light artists from Germany and abroad. There is no clear catalogue of criteria for the selection of light installations. Criteria such as uniqueness, professionalism, artistic orientation and, of course, that the work also fits in with the magical forest, this unique setting in nature, are important.

This year too, the forest is the central theme of the selected works of light art. The same goes for the direct experiences that visitors can have with the individual works of light art, which make it possible to remain in memory for a long time. Thus the installation «Nosceteipsum» by the two light artists Natalie Wallrapp and Manu Hofer-Aggeler brings the viewer into direct contact with the spirit of nature, which tells interactively about itself. This happens through various effects and audio recordings: In the rhythm of one day, the spirit - staged as a mixed creature with plants - awakens to life. In its installation «Animals of the Night», Studio Crealux provides a reference to the animals of the forest with large illuminated animal figures. They invite visitors to linger, marvel and observe. Especially the work "Hexx Øne» by the only international artist, Calidos from Barcelona, creates a lasting memory. The hexagon is one of nature's most important geometric forms because of its high efficiency, as bees show in the construction of their hives. The large dimensions of the installation allow people to enter the room and look at it from different angles, even from the inside.

The artists are also preoccupied with changes in the climate, and they take up the theme in their works of art. In his installation «Trees in Motion», Jan Raphael Knieza alias Artificial Owl, who is already well known in the magical forest for his light and fog installations, gives the trees back the power of light in the dark winter and lets it shine through. A metaphor that, in this moment of wonder, brings the meaning of nature closer and sensitizes us to the preservation of nature. In the mighty mountains, where the magical forest grows, the play with light enables a sensual view of the significance of the increasingly explosive subject of nature conservation. The sculpture «Glacier» by Mika Schell shows the quantity of approx. 10m3 of water - the same quantity that the Morteratsch Glacier in Graubünden melts on average per second. The data come from many years of scientific measurements carried out by the Glaciology Department of ETH Zurich. This installation, which consists of recycled materials, also draws attention to climate change.

Fabian Florin alias Bane, who made a name for himself with his ice crystal artwork at the Mühleturm in Chur and was voted "Bündner of the Year» by the online portal suedostschweiz.ch at the beginning of this year, will be a first-time artist at the Lenzerheide Magic Forest. With his installation «Muttersprache», the internationally successful Grafitti star creates an interactive experience between visitor and mother nature. Together with his partners, he maps the forest floor and the trees standing on it. The energetic flow of the earth and its movements are projected onto it. Roots and natural rivers serve as models. One can be curious to see what will develop out of it.