Land Art Festival Grindelwald

All Summer

The Land Art Festival is an event steeped in tradition, which has already taken place from 1999 to 2018 in Grindelwald. Since 2023, the event has been organised by Grindelwald Tourism.

Date June 08 - 13 June, 2026 | The installations will remain signposted throughout the entire summer.
Participation The teams for this year’s edition have been selected. Applications for the Land Art Festival 2027 will be accepted from the end of June.
Venue The new location for the next edition will be announced in spring 2026.
Entry Free of charge
Theme No theme is defined in advance
the works are created spontaneously, taking into account the natural conditions of this raw mountain world.
mountain world. The work is done with simple tools and only auxiliary materials are used,
which melt back into nature over time.

Artists 2026

Eleven different artist teams created a wide variety of works during Land Art Week – and now, there's also a collaborative piece. Learn more about the story behind it here.

Inge Lager and Brigitta Backhaus | DE
Inge Lager and Brigitta Backhaus

Brigitta Backhaus from Gummersbach, Germany, studied art and German literature. She works with natural materials such as branches and roots, creating sculptural works that resemble nests, vessels, or take on free forms. Since 2015, she has also been creating land art installations that remain in nature and eventually return to the natural cycle.

Inge Lager, born in 1974, began her career as a landscape gardener and discovered her passion for land art through her work in forest education. Today, she focuses on artistic creations using natural materials, forming sculptural and organic shapes inspired by nature.

To the website of Brigitta Bachhaus: www.brigittabackhaus-nurnatur.de
To the website of Inge Lager: www.intotheweave.de


Jean-Louis Müller and Julie Verschelde | BE
Jean-Louis Müller and Julie Verschelde

Jean-Louis Müller

I’m a Belgian artist and craftsman working with willow and natural materials. My work is rooted in a deep connection with nature and a fascination for organic growth and structure. Each sculpture I create is woven by hand and shaped in dialogue with the landscape, guided by wind, rhythm, and intuition.

I live close to the sea on the Belgian coast, in a self-built caravan surrounded by dunes, forests, and a developing food forest project. Most of my time is spent outdoors, bending willow,surfing, exploring forms, and letting the material show me the way.

I started working with plants in my early twenties, first in a plant nursery and as a gardener, before discovering basketry and the creative possibilities of willow. I learned the beginnings of the craft from a teacher in the Netherlands, who introduced me to the essence of working with this living material. That experience opened a new path for me and continues to shape how I approach my work today.

My inspiration comes from Art Nouveau lines, tribal traditions, and the raw beauty of natural forms. I work mainly with locally grown willow from family farms in Belgium and the Netherlands. For me, weaving is a meditative process, slow, physical, and honest. It’s a way to create spaces and forms that feel alive, where craft, nature, and imagination meet.


Mark Antony and Rebecca Ford | UK
Mark Antony and Rebecca Ford

Mark and Rebecca Ford weave drawings with found and grown natural materials in the realm of environmental art installation. In 2004 they created Two Circles Design, a working partnership making monumental woven environments for both public and private sectors. These surreal installations and ambiguous sculptures encompass a wide range of traditional skills and practices. The woven artworks directly engage with the environment as semi-permanent sculptures based on seeds and plant forms and the potential of all things. They both share a strong interest in the archaeology, geography and mystery of the natural world, drawing on ancient traditions and techniques of willow craft and woodland management.

Mark and Rebecca are regular exhibitors at Glastonbury Festival, the European Land Art Festival in Scotland, the Talamh Festival in Southern Ireland and the Llano Earth Art Festival in Texas (USA). Recent works include a 13m wicker man at Butser Ancient Farm (a working museum) a giant woven mythical creature for Creation Sur Le Champs (Canada) and the Periwinkle Shelter at RSPB Medmerry Nature Reserve (UK). Commissions include artworks for the South Downs National Park (UK), The National Trust (UK), Chichester City District Council, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), Burberry fashion brand, Arundel Wetlands (UK), Venice Biennale (Italy), The Grange Opera House (UK), Farley Farmhouse and Gallery (UK) They have collaborated with many Schools and Colleges creating woven and ephemeral art and continue to run creative workshops with community groups. “Environmental art has the power to transform the way we view the world”.


Sally Ducrow and Walter Fischer | GB
Sally Ducrow and Walter Fischer

I began working as a professional artist in London in 1980, initially as a painter and graphic artist, but soon turned to 3D assemblage and collage. From 1985 onwards, I spent extended periods in Africa, Asia, Polynesia and Australia, where I was able to learn from local artists who taught me techniques of direct stone and wood carving as well as mosaic art. I financed my travels mainly through occasional work on ships.

Since 1993, I have been working part-time in the south of France, where I was invited to work in a sculptor’s studio and continue my work in stone and wood.

In 2005, I also began creating installations in the landscape, using natural and/or recycled materials. Since then, I have been working intensively in this field and taking part in land art events in many European countries.

My colleague in Grindelwald, Walter Fischer, worked for many years as a yacht captain and is also a highly skilled technician and woodworker who has supported me on several projects.


Molby and Mario Battisti | IT
Molby and Mario Battisti

Francesco Lucatelli, known as Molby, was born in 1977 in Carpineto Romano, Italy. After studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, he trained in stone ornamentation and focused on anatomical and sculptural proportions. Between 2018 and 2023, he gained experience in sub-Saharan Africa working with natural materials and clay techniques. From 2020 to 2024, he participated in various art competitions and created land art installations, including works near Lugano and for the Sirente-Velino Regional Park in Italy. In 2023, he was artist-in-residence at Ledro LandArt and created Wood Spirit and Rinascita in Trentino.


Sarah Hillebrecht and Georg Mann | DE
Sarah Hillebrecht and Georg Mann

Georg Mann

Freelance work in the Vogtland region and in Halle/Saale
2020–2024 | Head of workshop at the HKD Burg Giebichenstein Halle, specialising in ceramics and art
2009–2011 | Master’s student under Prof. Bruno Raetsch
2002–2009 | Studied at the HKD Burg Giebichenstein Halle/Saale, majoring in sculpture under Prof. Bernd Göbel, graduated with a diploma in 2009
1976 | Born in Vogtland


Sarah Hillebrecht

1971 | Born in Delmenhorst, Germany
1993–1996 | Training and journeyman’s examination at the State Vocational School for Wood Sculpture in Bischofsheim an der Rhön
2000–2005 | Studies and diploma (under Prof. Wolfgang Jonas) in Integrated Design at the University of the Arts Bremen
2004 | Semester abroad at Unitec, University of Auckland, New Zealand (Prof. Allan McDonald)

Solo and group exhibitions, scholarships, symposia and artist residencies in Germany and abroad (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Russia, Taiwan, Australia, Turkey, Switzerland, France, Spain, Netherlands)

2021 | Andreas Art Prize from the City of St. Andreasberg for ‘ergebenheit’
2022 | Sculpture performance ‘von angesicht zu angesicht’ at Schlossmediale Werdenberg, Switzerland
2023 | 1st Prize “kunst am wasser” Kriebstein, Mittel-Sächsischer Kultursommer
2024 | Grant and presentation “ohne grund” Wilke-Atelier Bremerhaven
2025 | 2-month residency grant Artbellwald, Switzerland


Valerie Schürch and Ivo Moosberger | CH
Valerie Schürch and Ivo Moosberger

Valerie Schürch
Born in 1973 in Bern, she lives and works in her hometown. After an initial career as a geomatics specialist and training as an early childhood educator, she now works in the administration of a geomatics office. As a creative balance, she offers workshops in and around Bern and leads LandArt weeks in Swedish Lapland. Her seasonal nature decorations as well as her postcards are now sold to a loyal customer base.

For over ten years, she has been dedicated to LandArt. Nature—where she can draw strength, بعيد from civilization and distraction—is her most important source of inspiration. In this calm, her ephemeral works are created: spontaneous, process-oriented, and in harmony with the place.

Web: www.landundart.com
Instagram: valerie_schuerch and valerie_schuerch_naturdeko
Facebook: Valerie Schuerch

 

Ivo Moosberger
Born in 1974 in Zug, he is a graphic designer, artist, and adventurer. From an early age, he has been fascinated by the shapes, colors, and patterns of nature. For 30 years, he has been exploring the outdoors, creating ephemeral nature art which he documents through photography. This has led to exhibitions, books, and cards. Through his lecture series “Naturschauspiele”, he became known throughout Switzerland.

During his ten-month journey on foot across Switzerland, he wore through four pairs of hiking boots down to the insoles and lost nine kilograms of body weight. In remote landscapes, he developed into a true (survival) artist and created a wide variety of nature artworks along the way.

Web: www.naturschauspieler.ch
Instagram: ivomoosberger
Facebook: Ivo Moosberger


Yann-Marie Coulombez & Irène Collaud | FR
Yann-Marie Coulombez and Irène Collaud

Yann-Marie

At the boundary between visible and invisible worlds, I search for connecting lines.
As an atypical autodidact, guided by a spirit of listening and slowness, I work with plant fibers as if they were a living memory. In my approach, weaving becomes a form of active meditation—a dialogue between human, plant, and landscape. No predefined form—only the one that emerges from encounter and direct contact with the material.

I explore basketry as a way of inhabiting the world—a humble yet powerful art that connects the intimate with the collective, gesture with the earth, the ancestral with the contemporary. I work with what the land offers, and with what we too often overlook.
I seek to create forms in which humans and nature no longer appear as opposites.

Irène

For the realization of the proposed work in Grindelwald, Yann-Marie is accompanied by Irène.

Marked since childhood by the mountains and rural life, I long searched for my place between the inner and outer worlds. From travels to the edges of the world to working as a mountain hut guardian in the Alps, my path has been woven from horizons and encounters.

Today, I explore the connections between nature and inner life, between walking and meditation, between breath and matter. Fibers accompany me—from dandelion stems in spring to clematis in winter. Thus, I move through the year in dialogue with their flexibility and resistance, transforming materials into everyday objects. Containers, the first companions of humanity, for gathering, preserving, transporting… and sharing. I move forward with the rhythm of the seasons, guided by the desire to inhabit the world with simplicity, presence, and wonder.


Yvonne Christen Vagner and Jan Vagner | CH
Yvonne Christen Vagner and Jan Vagner

TBA


Onongua Enkhtur & Ulziibat Enkhtur | MNG
Onongua Enkhtur and Ulziibat Enkhtur

Onongua Enkhtur (*1994), born in Mongolia, has focused on land art and textile art since 2019. Her nomadic lifestyle and deep connection to Mongolian nature and culture strongly influence her work. Using techniques such as knitting, weaving, and mixed media, she addresses the simplicity and the authencity of nomadic philosophy.

Ulziibat Enkhtur is a Mongolian performance artist based in Switzerland. Her work spans dance, singing, visual art, and participatory performances. She is a member of the Neg-Uudel group founded by Onongua and initiated the “Essence Performance Art Project,” which brings intercultural art to remote locations.


Heidi Bernet and Erwin Bernhard | CH
Heidi Bernet und Erwin Bernhard

Heidi Bernet (born 1986, CH) is a trained florist from Grindelwald who spent ten years pursuing her passion for flowers in her own shop. Her love of nature led her to land art, and today, her family is at the center of her life.

Erwin Bernhard (born 1963, CH) is a nurseryman and has been transforming gardens into green oases with his small team for over 30 years. His farm, including a forested area, has become a haven for birds and amphibians thanks to his dedication to flora and fauna.

Together, they have successfully participated in land art festivals in Switzerland and abroad, including in Grindelwald and Montreal.


Collaborative project
Collaborative project

The 18 students of class 6ba from Liestal are currently completing their final year of primary school before moving on to secondary school. On June 16 and 17, 2025, they took their graduation trip to Grindelwald. During their stay, they collaborated on a creative community art piece that now decorates the tree at the entrance of the Land Art Trail.

All visitors are warmly invited to continue shaping this evolving artwork and contribute their own part to this collective nature art installation. In the two boxes behind the tree, you’ll find a variety of materials and tools – we look forward to your creative contribution! Please make sure to only use materials that will naturally decompose within a few years (no nails, plastic, paint, or similar).






Photos: Marianne Scheitlin Pfeiffer

Installations 2025

«FINDING PEACE» | Inge Lager and Brigitta Backhaus

The peaceful atmosphere of this special place in the forest with its soft moss cover and beautiful ferns inspired us to create a nest installation. In the nest you feel safe, protected, you find a home, you find peace. In our work, we make a point of using only the materials we find on site and leaving nature as untouched as possible. After completion, we return our work to the cycle of nature.

«WALD HOTEL GRINDEL» | Daniella Rubinovitz and Carla Rump

With this Land Art concept, we have staged a hotel room - designed from and in the midst of nature. A framed scene invites us to pause and experience the connection between the inside and outside world. The armchair, playfully shaped from wood and lined with soft moss, invites us to linger. The tablecloth is woven from ferns, delicate and lively. A curved branch lamp carries a pitted orange as a light source - a light taken directly from nature. In the background, we discover a curled-up Swiss bear, as if it were a visitor from outside - curious and peaceful. Here we explore the question of how much we take from nature to create our inner living spaces - things that are man-made but inspired by the natural world. This shows how the outside merges with the inside. We have created a living room - with a very special view. With special thanks to the Hotel Kreuz & Post for its support and inspiration.

«LEBENSWEG» | Claudia Morgenthaler and Claudia Rohn

Just as a river seeks its own path, we all seek and follow our own path in life: hesitant and slow, fast, sweeping and winding, straight ahead and with detours, downhill and uphill, boring and varied. Each person in their own flow.

"LEBENSWAAGE" | Heidi Bernet and Erwin Bernhard

Life is not always in balance.

«LOGOS» | Molby and Mario Battisti

Geometric construction, rational-logical thinking.
A metaphor for an evolving idea - an existential path. The idea grows and moves in space: in vertical and horizontal lines, in binary codes - an expression of a dualistic, human thought process.

«SUPPORT» | Susanne Ruoff and Lothar Zimmermann

The location alone determined the topic and form of this work.

«OOOOH!» | Karola Pezarro and Aris de Bakker

At the foot of the cliff, a creature stands on a small elevation. The creature focuses its attention on its surroundings. It looks around. Its dress of ferns refers to the special nature of Grindelwald. Inside the creature is a pile of stones. The creature is ephemeral. In time, only the pile of stones will remain - and new moss will grow over it.

«CHALLIGROOSIS UNTERSCHLUPF» | Mark Antony and Rebecca Ford

Hidden in the glacier for a long time - could this be the vacation home of the legendary, mysterious spirit? Built from branches, raw and wild - a retreat far away from civilization. A place to rest after all the hard work; on the trail of poachers and keeping order in Grindelwald.

«DEN HIMMEL ERDEN» | Mischa Engele and Waltraud Ohrwalder

As a contrast to the “Steinmännchen”, “Steinweibchen” are created. A symbol of fraternity, femininity, equality and free space. Bridge and empty space at the same time. Nature as a stage and resonance space. Slowly walking in the forest, looking, arriving, the stream rushing, pausing, breathing, perceiving, the birds chirping, smelling the moss, feeling the stone, weighing, positioning. Make the stones dance. Humbly place the emptiness at the center.

«WEAVING THE WORLD'S MANE» | Onongua Enkhtur and Ulziibat Enkhtur

Weaving the World‘s Mane begins with artist Onongua Enkhtur’s ongoing exploration of nature through art. The project evolves through a series of materials and expressions, rooted in an intention to reconnect with the land. «In Grindelwald, nestled in the rich biodiversity of the alpine mountains, we have chosen to work with grass—lush, wild, local, and abundant. The region’s green meadows, mountain flowers, and forested slopes offer not only visual beauty but also a deep sense of harmony with the natural world. We thank Mother Earth for accepting us to collaborate with her through the Grindelwald-Land Art. Weaving, in this context, becomes a simple, instinctive gesture — a symbolic act of connection. It represents a human effort to communicate with nature, to acknowledge its silent rhythms and diverse forms. This act invites reflection on the value of what we often overlook: grasses, leaves, and so-called “insignificant” things that are, in fact, essential to the wholeness of the natural world. For this installation, we have gathered local grasses—green and dried—and woven them into flowing forms, suspended from the trees like a waterfall. In doing so, we honour the unseen threads that hold nature together and celebrate the quiet beauty of the wild.

«MOUNTAIN JELLYFISH» | Susana Malagon and Enrique Carro

The “Mountain Jellyfish” installation intervenes in the natural landscape of Grindelwald - a backdrop characterized by mighty mountains and ancient glaciers that once lay beneath the sea. Inspired by this geological memory, the objects are reminiscent of jellyfish that seem to float in the forest, transforming the place into an underwater scene - sea creatures that return for a moment to the place that was once theirs. Made from natural materials from the surrounding area, these airy forms build a bridge between the alpine present and a sunken past. At the same time, the work looks to the future of the landscape and reminds us that the earth is constantly changing. Perhaps the jellyfish will indeed return one day - if the planet's transformations once again pave the way for them.

Installations 2024

«Pebbles» | Inge Lager and Brigitta Backhaus | DE

Inspired by the unique location, the Lütschine river in the background and the stones and boulders along the path, the idea of creating «stones» between stones from the spruce branches found on site grew during the creative process.
The only tool we used was a pair of rose scissors to cut the branches to size. The five «pebbles», which were created from the intertwined and intertwined branches, appeared delicate despite their sometimes remarkable size, which contrasts with the  chunks of stone between which they have found their place.

«You better talk before» | Helena Brunner and Merhawi | CH

Natural Collagen
The object represents two burnt cities of war together with two large figures and symbolises the importance of communication: „You better talk before“. With my art, I want to express how nature can continue to decompose in art.

«leicht und schwerelos» | Claudia Morgenthaler and Claudia Rohn | CH

Don‘t we all wish to glide through life lightly and weightlessly? Perhaps not constantly, but from time to time? Just as our woodland creatures «lightly and weightlessly» through the clearing. They invite us to linger, discover, and float along with them in ease.

"Tanz um Dein Leben" | Reinhard Böhme and Mary Hardy | DE

Elves and fairies love to dance at dusk in secret places within untouched nature. However, the places where they can do so freely and unseen are becoming increasingly rare. A new, young generation of these enchanting nature spirits is now shedding their shyness and daring to step into the public eye. Especially for «LandArt Grindelwald», they have choreographed a dance to raise awareness about nature conservation and the needs of all nature beings. Most still perform within the safety of a «nest» we have prepared as their stage. Yet, some adventurous ones are already venturing further out to reconnect with humans.

«Party im Wald» | Heidi Bernet and Erwin Bernhard | CH
«Der freie, sich selbsttragende Steinbogen» | Michael Engele and Waltraud Ohrwalder | AT

In a sensitive process of compaction, boulders are brought into a graceful form of self-supporting spanning. The delicate balancing of these stones requires a great sense of manual dexterity. As each stone constantly strives to fall towards the centre of  the earth, a balance of forces is created that ensures a certain stability and strength.

Two stone men become one stone woman. They meet and lean towards each other as they like each other. Touching each other, leaning on each other, supporting and strengthening each other in the common new. Bridge and empty space at the same time. The missing and the expected in balance. Abundance and enrichment are space through cohesion. Stone and stone.

Closeness and distance. Speech and silence. Moment and eternity. Yesterday and tomorrow. Fate and Destiny. Roots and wings. Body and soul. Silence and noise. Stone and stone.

«Conexiones neuronales» | Susana Malagón and Georgina Queralt | ESP

The rise of social networks and the widespread dissemination of information channels have made it increasingly difficult to create spaces for oneself. «Conexiones neuronales» invites the viewer to return to nature to activate thinking. In this way, a dialogue is generated between the viewer and the artwork, the artwork and the landscape, and finally between the landscape and the viewer, far from noise and close to silence.

«Root talk» | Yvonne Christen Vágner and Jan Vágner | CH

Moss roots growing from the forest floor.
The trees communicate with each other through mycorrhiza – the symbiosis of fungal network and tree roots that allows trees to exchange information. What information do they share with each other? Mossy branches found in the forest, buried in the ground for a root conversation.

2024 Moss branches, wool

«Horizont» | Andreas Spitteler and Alexia Chang-Wailing | FR

Horizon as the tangible, visible edge of our immediate environment. The landscape extends towards the horizon. Around the horizon, the environment pours out, flows around me, through me. The work ties in with last year‘s theme and carries it further. It is interested in recognising and experiencing our environment, the space in which we are integrated, the simultaneity before and beyond the horizon. The relationship to our environment in general is at the centre of my work; it is important to create a connection to this environment, this surroundings, this landscape, because we are in a constant exchange with it; flow and return flow.


Installations 2023

"WWW" We Were Whole | Martijn Smits | NL

Once upon a time, not so long ago, when the internet was just a word and smartphones and social media had not yet been invented, we communicated in a different way. And we managed to find each other, to be together, to be whole. The web created during the Land Art Festival is about this moment. Melancholy, melancholy...

"No War" | Carol Majewska | PL

This installation is a statement for pacifism made of locally collected stones. The symbol consists of a combination of the letters "N" + "W" (NO WAR). It is inspired by the peace symbol designed by Gerald Holtom in 1958, which represents the letters "N" and "D" in the flag as a symbol and is the official symbol of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. With this work, the artist questions the role of symbols in our collective consciousness. Could new symbols help people to think differently about the world? The artist encourages us to think - about a world in which conflicts and nationalism are constantly on the rise.

"Horror Vacui, Drang nach Ausweitung" | Andreas Spitteler | FR

Vegetation in constant search of balance. Branches strive towards the light with the urge to fill the empty space, to the horizon and beyond. We humans also always want to go further, over the horizon; a transition into the other. With his work, Andreas Spitteler draws the audience's attention to their own position and the surroundings, the environment in which we find ourselves ("Horror vacui" Latin: fear of empty space). Hanging branch with fork, one part floating horizontally. Finer branches are embedded in the larger ones, filling the space. The whole thing rotates on its own axis.

"Playing instead of planning" | Reinhard Böhme and Mary Hardy | DE

In our success-orientated world, we are conditioned to plan and predetermine everything. But sometimes it is important to approach things playfully without a concrete plan. Or to abandon your original
idea and fully engage with the current situation and follow your intuition. In this sense, the installation is not the result of a pre-planned idea, but the result of a playful exploration of the given situation. A spontaneous reaction to what is there and what we perceive at that moment.

"Last Christmas" | Heidi Bernet and Erwin Bernhard | CH

Everyone deserves a second chance, even a Christmas tree.

"Bon voyage" | Daniel Züsli and Nadine Meier | CH

2.25 square metres of native soil.

"3 Sync" | Lejla Bajrami | CH

Adapted to the acoustic environment, the three stations of the artwork change in their density and intensity. Along the alder promenade, the flow of the Weisse Lütschine can be heard to varying degrees as nature filters the sounds. The originally planned aid, the string, became the main element of the artwork as it developed.
the main element of the artwork. The groups of trees create a spatiality, they are part of the artwork. The strings emphasise this spatiality, but also the connection between the trees that exists in nature via the roots. At the same time, they are reminiscent of strings.

"moss roots" | Yvonne Christen Vágner and Jan Vágner | CH

Root network around a tree. The trees communicate with each other through mycorrhizae - underground fungal and plant networks that cover the entire forest floor. This underground network of roots and mycorrhizae is visualised in this installation. Moss-covered branches lying on the forest floor and mossy logs from the surrounding area have become a network of moss roots.

"Ei(ger)horn" | Rosi Weiss and Jonas Biland | CH
Habitat Coniferous forest
Nutrition Fir cone
Age Unknown

Photos: Marianne Scheitlin Pfeiffer