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The Project
ARENA FOR A TREE 27.04.–06.06.2021
In Klagenfurt, 299 trees filled the court of a football stadium – in Basel, however, everything is concentrated on one single tree. The circumferential stand is inspired by annual rings that archive the gradual evolvement of a tree, and the outer contours of the arena reflect on the unevenness and roughness of tree bark.
The tree itself – mainplayer in this walk-in art installation in the center of Basel’s Münsterplatz – represents the forest. It is also a symbol for nature and its preservation, a stark ambassador in kind and a testimonial for this exhibition cycle.
«Nature is such a monumental work of art – so why not at least dedicate a small work of art to it.» Klaus Littmann
ADAPTATION AND SURVIVAL
As in the For Forest project in Klagenfurt, Swiss landscape architect Enzo Enea is responsible for the selection and cultivation of the tree. It is not a question of mere beauty or strength, but rather whether this tree can be integrated into Basel’s tree population and its ability to adapt to changing conditions, caused by global warming in the long run.
Enzo Enea’s choice fell on the ironwood tree, the Parrotia Persica from the witch hazel family. The slow-growing ironwood tree, which can reach a height of 10 meters, is made of very dense, hard wood and is so heavy that it is one of the few types of wood that does not float on water. Its leaves show a spectacular range of colors from yellow to red in autumn. Originally from Persia and the Caucasus, where the climate is also continental, the iron tree is used to distinct seasons. It likes the warmth, is hardy at the same time and tolerates the urban climate particularly well. This robustness, which is also characterized by hardly any pest or disease infestation, qualifies the stress-resistant ironwood tree for Enzo Enea as the perfect protagonist, which is also optimally prepared regarding the effects of climate change: “For me, the ironwood tree is the tree of hope and the future par excellence and as such a positive symbol for climate protection, which we humans must actively promote. Because nature does not need us, but we need nature.”
The arena will leave the Münsterhügel, the tree, however, shall take root in Basel and will be presented to the city as a gift.
The Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger presents the temporary art intervention ARENA FOR A TREE on Basel’s Münsterplatz, followed by the show TREE CONNECTIONS in the KBH.G exhibition space.
Media Releases and Media Images/-Videos Arena for a tree
ARENA FOR A TREE
27.04. – extended till 06.06.2021
Open daily from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Münsterplatz, Basel
Free entry
We thank you warmly for your cooperation:
Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure | enea landscape architecture | Häring AG
Exhibition
TREE CONNECTIONS
11.05. – 11.07.2021
At the exhibition space of Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger I KBH.G Spitalstrasse 18, Basel
Open daily from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m., except Tuesdays
Free entry
Website:
Press Review:
- 2021-04-27, Arena für einen Baum / Arena for a Tree
Mediaimages / Drone videos "Arena for a Tree" - 2021-04-26, Media: ARENA FOR A TREE & TREE CONNECTIONS
Media: ARENA FOR A TREE & TREE CONNECTIONS
News:
- 2023-05-20, Opening TIME SPACE EXISTENCE 2023, Venedig
- 2023-04-20, TIME SPACE EXISTENCE 2023
- 2022-11-19, Tree planting in the St. Albantor-Anlage, Basel
- 2022-08-02, Exhibition "Personal Structures 2022" at Palazzo Mora, Venice, until 27 November 2022
- 2022-05-27, Only for a few more days
- 2022-05-20, State visit to the ARENA FOR A TREE
- 2022-05-15, TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM DAY
- 2022-05-02, Klaus Littmann about the ARENA FOR A TREE in the courtyard of the Landesmuseum Zurich
- 2022-04-25, A FINAL SURGE FOR LIFE
- 2022-04-18, ARENA FOR A TREE from the air
- 2022-04-16, Already seen?
- 2022-04-06, Kulturplatz SRF - From commodity to being: The forest in cultural change
- 2022-04-02, ARENA FOR A TREE - a walk-in art intervention by Klaus Littmann at the Landesmuseum Zurich
- 2022-03-22, How to call into the forest ...
- 2022-03-21, INTERNATIONAL DAY OF FORESTS 2022
- 2022-03-20, «ARENA FOR A TREE» - ALSO A SIGN IN THE WAR
- 2022-03-18, The ARENA FOR A TREE at the National Museum in Zurich is opened
- 2022-03-17, Opening "IN THE FOREST" and "ARENA FOR A TREE", Landesmuseum Zurich
- 2021-09-01, ARENA FOR A TREE 2021 and TREE OF LIBERTY 1798
- 2021-06-06, Goodbye "ARENA FOR A TREE"
- 2021-06-05, Last 2 guided tours with Klaus Littmann in the ARENA FOR A TREE
- 2021-06-03, Kunsttage Basel: June 3 to 6, 2021
- 2021-05-31, Witcher and alchemist Stefan Wiesner on 31.5. & 1.6. in the ARENA FOR A TREE
- 2021-05-28, ARENA FOR A TREE - only until 6.6.2021
- 2021-05-26, "Big stage for a tree"
- 2021-05-20, ARENA FOR A TREE extended until 6.6.2021
- 2021-05-19, Public Program | TREE CONNECTIONS and ARENA FOR A TREE
- 2021-05-17, Guided Tours ARENA FOR A TREE
- 2021-05-16, INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM DAY 2021
- 2021-05-14, Enzo Enea about the Tree of the Future
- 2021-05-09, "Arena for a Tree" and "Tree Connections" program
- 2021-05-08, Klaus Littmann about the walk-in art intervention ARENA FOR A TREE
- 2021-05-05, Image gallery ARENA FOR A TREE
- 2021-05-03, Why are you putting a tree on Münsterplatz, Klaus Littmann?
- 2021-05-01, Making of "ARENA FOR A TREE", Münsterplatz Basel
- 2021-04-30, Podcast
- 2021-04-29, Opening speeches ARENA FOR A TREE
- 2021-04-28, The ARENA FOR A TREE is opened
- 2021-04-27, OPENING - Arena for a Tree
- 2021-04-24, Coffee with ...
Publications
TREE CONNECTIONS
German, English
Time of publication: 2021
288 pp., 210 ills., Quarterbound Hardcover
€ 48,00
ISBN: 978-3-7757-5035-6
