»Poetic Forest«

International Forest Art China on Mount Lushan, China

Ancient Mount Lushan, the so-called »Beautiful Mountain«, with its historical villa colony in Guling from the turn of the 19^th and 20^th century is a very special site for China. Europeans, Americans and Chinese have settled here to enjoy the pleasant climate of this mountain region in their summer houses. Chiang Kai Shek and Mao Zedong also spent their summers there. Their houses and many others are open to the general public.

Pearl S. Buck found inspiration for her world famous novel »The Good Earth« on Mount Lushan and Mao has been eternalized in numerous poems carved into rocks. The paths and tracks that wind around Mount Lushan are exceedingly romantic. There are steep descents on wide stone paths with waterfalls, small lakes, ancient trees and enchanting temples. The trails are accompanied by large boulders carved with poems, the letters highlighted in red. Many places offer breathtaking views.

The »Poetic Forest« will be installed along the »Path of the yellow dragon temple«, providing an opportunity for 10 to 15 artists from all over the world to capture the poetic ambiance and mirror this in an artistic installation or performance. The magic of the landscape will inspire a wide variety of works of art that will blend into the dense forest. The proposed works of art include installations made of wood, textiles or stone. Since Chinese landscape painting is deemed to have originated at Mount Lushan, the theme landscape, nature and sustainable art will be present at all times.

During the visit of the delegation from the Geo-Naturepark Bergstrasse - Odenwald in October 2009, the curator and the technical director of the Association for International Forest Art had the opportunity to become acquainted with the terrain and situation. The visitors and the Mount Lushan Geopark team immediately joined forces to produce a concept.

The ideal time for the International Forest Art Trail Mount Lushan »Poetic Forest« is the period around the Chinese national holiday on October 1, 2010. Mount Lushan is one of the most popular tourist attractions in China, visited by approximately one million Chinese and foreign tourists during the ensuing holiday week. The works of art will be created during a 3-week symposium and completed before the 2^nd World Famous Mountain Conference. During the week of the national holiday (October 1 - 8, 2010) the working process of the artist symposium will be visible for all visitors.

The 2^nd World Famous Mountain Conference happens from October 11 to 16, 2010. The delegation from Hesse participated in the first conference in 2009, presenting talks on the Geo-Naturepark Bergstrasse - Odenwald and the International Forest Art Trails. The conference organizers have invited the Association for International Forest Art to host the »3^rd International Forest Art Conference« as part of the World Famous Mountain Conference. The topic of this conference is »Poetic Forest - An Art Laboratory«. Once again, the event is expected to attract artists, curators, environmental specialists and scientists from five continents. The international audience will experience the concept of forest art directly by visiting the Forest Art Trail and be able to deepen their knowledge in accompanying lectures.

Geopark Mount Lushan and Geo-Naturepark Bergstrasse - Odenwald have been cooperating closely for several years. On their last visit in June 2009, the Chinese delegation visited the 4^th International Forest Art Trail »Cycles and Systems« and was very impressed with the close interaction between art and nature. The present trustful working relationship is based on the partnership between the two geoparks and the long-standing cooperation between the Association for International Forest Art and our own regional geopark. In addition to this, Hesse is the partner region of the province Jiangxi. Against this background of cooperation we are particularly pleased and honored to have been invited to create the International Forest Art Trail Mount Lushan – »International Forest Art Mount Lushan«.

Ute Ritschel, Curator Forest Art Trail

Dr. Gotthard Scholz-Curtius, first chairman, Association for International Forest Art

Peter Fischer, technical director Forest Art