Herald of spring: Austrian artist Barbara Anna Husar sets a significant sign for our future in harmony with our earth – with 1001 children's messages above the triple watershed at the Lunghin Pass in Switzerland.
LOCATION Pass Lunghin, Albula Alps, Grisons START OF THE BALLOON FLIGHT February 27, 2022 in the western Austrian Walgau
PRESS / PHOTO MATERIAL / INTERVIEWS Christina Werner PR, T +43 1 524 96 46 - 22, M +43 699 10 48 70 72, [email protected]
Barbara Anna Husar's social sculpture FLYING UDDER will rise – for the implementation of the RITUAL FOR EARTH. Above the triple watershed at the Swiss Pass Lunghin, the Vorarlberg artist will entrust 1001 children's wishes for the future to the wind and the three flow directions of the water originating there. With this, Barbara Anna Husar sets another appreciative sign in dealing sustainably with nature. Her current project of the FLYING UDDER is inspired by the Lung Ta ritual. When crossing a pass, Tibetans say "Lha gye lo" – the gods will prevail – and offer good wishes to heaven for this world.
RITUAL FOR EARTH is Barbara Anna Husar's contribution to the SHARING WATER initiative of the ONE BODY OF WATER Association, which is dedicated to the hydrological and cultural significance of the continental divide and the handling of water as a resource in Europe. The initiative was launched by Swiss photographer and artist Regina Hügli.
"The thoughts and wishes of children are a spiritual force we trust in. They are a strong message to all people and to the earth itself. The RITUAL FOR EARTH bundles above the crossroads at Pass Lunghin the power of the children for a common future on our planet." Barbara Anna Husar and Regina Hügli, President of ONE BODY OF WATER Association.
THE TRIPLE WATERSHED AT THE PASS LUNGHINLocated in the Swiss Alps, Pass Lunghin at 2644 meters above sea level is the most important junction of hydrological spaces in Central Europe. At the pass, the main European watershed bifurcates in three directions. From here, water flows into three seas – the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the North Sea. Numerous springs rise in its immediate vicinity. The Inn (Danube), the Mera (Po) and the Julia (Rhine) carry the waters towards the three seas.
1001 CHILDREN'S MESSAGESThe RITUAL FOR EARTH uses the radius of this node to give a far-reaching impulse for an appreciative handling of nature's resources with the help of children's wish power. 1001 children's messages, inscribed in the leaves of trees from the four surrounding countries – Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy - were collected by means of a video call by the artist. The messages travel in the hot air balloon over the triple watershed at Pass Lunghin, above which they are handed over to the wind and the flowing directions of the water by Barbara Anna Husar. Wishes for the future of the earth: please click the video
AT THE CROSSROADS: TIMING AND SYMBOLISM OF THE ACTION
"We are at a crossroads regarding our future on this planet. Will we manage to unite and radically implement our efforts to conserve our resources and protect our environment? The main European watershed, which runs through the middle of the Swiss Alps, is a symbol of this watershed situation, the moment of decision. At Pass Lunghin, the central junction of the flow directions in Europe, we can set signs that radiate in all directions", Regina Hügli, ONE BODY OF WATER Association.
The RITUAL FOR EARTH is supported by the Swiss Embassy in Austria and the Austrian Embassy in Switzerland. Simonetta Sommaruga, Swiss Federal Councillor of the Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, former Federal President of Switzerland, visited the artists in 2020 during the inaugural visit of her one-year presidency in Vienna and supports the RITUAL FOR EARTH with the following statement: "A flying udder – pink and bulging with children's wishes – hovers above a fairy-tale landscape high in the mountains. It is the Lunghin Pass, a place from which the waters flow in almost all directions: to the North Sea, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea. The floating udder directs our gaze to the essence of life: water soaks the soil and nourishes living things. Without water we are nothing. I thank the artists Regina Hügli and Barbara Anna Husar for how lightheartedly they bring this truth to our attention and – I hope – awaken the desire to care." Simonetta Sommaruga, Swiss Federal Councillor for the Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications
SHARING WATERSHARING WATER is the third major water project by Swiss photographer and artist Regina Hügli, who has been working with the element of water for years. The focus of SHARING WATER is the main continental divide – a topographical boundary line between the catchment areas of European river systems that flow into different seas. It is both a hydrological and cultural boundary, as cultural areas have historically developed along river courses. "The watershed phenomenon highlights how we are connected and shaped by water in many ways, but also how we are separated," comments Regina Hügli, who has been performing regional investigations on water treatment along the watershed with Swiss environmental journalist Mathias Plüss. Their research focuses on the importance of sharing this dynamic, communicating resource, with political, economic, social and ecological aspects.The research On the Watershed will be published in book form in 2022. The exhibition SHARING WATER, with contributions by seven international artists curated by Regina Hügli, will be presented in regional art institutions at the four central European nodes of the watershed. The exhibition series started at the Králíky City Museum, Czech Republic (September 02 – November 15, 2021) and then migrated to Switzerland to the Ursern Valley Museum in Andermatt (December 26, 2021 – October 15, 2022). Further presentations are planned for 2022/2023 at the Sala Segantini in Savognin at Pass Lunghin and 2023 at the Museum of Art and History in Langres, France. Barbara Anna Husar has accompanied since 2019 as artistic navigator, weaving her work and network into the flow of the project. www.sharing-water.net
CHALLENGE FOR AVIATIONFor the FLYING UDDER pilot, accurately crossing the triple watershed is a challenge. Hot air balloons move with the wind, so it takes matching winds at different altitudes to make the RITUAL FOR EARTH possible. Since the end of 2020, the project has been waiting for these specific wind conditions. In the shape of the oldest form of airy locomotion, the hot air balloon sets an unmistakable sign for the future. A future born in the fertile change of a newly awakening collective consciousness.
HISTORY OF THE ELEVATIONS OF THE FLYING UDDER (2018 – 2021)The airship christening by Father Christof and the first FLYING UDDER survey took place on August 19, 2018 in Raggal Plazera in the Great Walser Valley and was all about the higher visibility of the festival discourse Man & Cattle in the context of the Festival Walser Autumn. On August 23, 2020, Barbara Anna Husar launched from Symphonikerplatz in Bregenz, in cooperation with Historische Schifffahrt Bodensee, a FLYING UDDER survey entitled Bregenzer Luftspiele for the maiden voyage of the MS Oesterreich, Europe's first historic art ship. The gilded balloon basket became an experimental stage above Lake Constance between teats, air and water. With a milking funnel the alpine blessing was sung over the lake. The FLYING UDDER elevation on National Day 2020 over Vienna for an appreciative communication culture under the honorary patronage of Doris Schmidauer consciously countered the image of the traditional performance show of the Austrian Armed Forces with the refreshing impulse UDDER instead of Eurofighter. Further FLYING UDDER surveys are planned for 2022/2023 in cooperation with the Austrian Cultural Forums in Berlin, Bern and Paris. https://www.flyingudder.art/
Born 1975 in Feldkirch (Vorarlberg); 1995 University of Applied Arts, Vienna, free graphics with Prof. Mario Terzic; 1998/1999 Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam; 2000 Diploma University of Applied Arts, Vienna; numerous exhibitions and participation in exhibitions from Bilbao to Shanghai. Prizes, scholarships, artist in residencies, lecture performances as well as large image projections, publications and art acquisitions. Lives and works as a freelance artist in Vienna.
THANKS TO Swiss Embassy Vienna, Austrian Embassy Bern, Simonetta Sommaruga, Golden Udder As-sociation, One Body of Water Association, Alpines Museum Bern, Frauenmuseum Hittisau, Sky Fun Ballon AG
