Ornamenta’s Program in Nordschwarzwald

by Adela Lovric // June 14, 2024

Ornamenta, a quinquennial contemporary art and design program, is set to unfold across Germany’s Nordschwarzwald region from July 5th to September 29th, 2024. Launched in 1989, the first edition focused on jewellery and video art, featuring exhibitions by designers and artists along with a public program on jewellery, design, culture and commerce. Despite its local success, the program was discontinued. Building on these multidisciplinary roots, Ornamenta returns as a platform for contemporary cultural development under the curatorial helm of Jules van den Langenberg, Willem Schenk and Katharina Wahl. Visitors are invited to discover the region⁠—popular for nature tourism, spa towns and fine metal industries⁠—through site-specific exhibitions, public installations and events at various venues and unconventional locations in the cities of Pforzheim, Calw, Bad-Wildbad, Nagold and Maulbronn.

Preliminary Ornamenta Program with Water School in Bad Wildbad, 2023, corresponding to the theme Bad Databrunn // Photo by Karolina Sobel

Ornamenta aims to temporarily redefine the region with a new geography based on themes relevant to local and broader communities. From July to September 2024, existing municipal districts will be replaced by five thematic neighborhoods: Schmutzige Ecke, Zum Eros, Inhalatorium, Bad Databrunn and Solartal. Each will feature a group exhibition with newly commissioned public artworks and events like listening sessions, tastings, talks and performances. Projects in these provisional neighborhoods will involve emerging creatives collaborating with local communities, clubs, schools, heritage institutions, art collectors, property developers, entrepreneurs and industries. The goal is to infuse the region with fresh energy and progressive ideas while providing new art and design talent with infrastructure, tools and traditional know-how.

The thematic neighborhood Solartal proposes shifting society from self-centered to sun-centered, using the sun as a unifying element for diverse communities in Pforzheim and across Europe. In collaboration with regional clock manufacturer Perrot, designer and typographer Charlotte Rohde presents ‘From Nine to Five’ (2024), a series of sundials permanently installed in outdoor public spaces to encourage new considerations on time and labor. As part of Solartal’s group exhibition on tanning, shades and spirits at Reuchlinhaus Pforzheim, Rohde also presents a pocket-sized sundial for visitors to take home. Other artworks include ‘Intersolar’ (2024), an embroidered, sun-sensitive curtain developed by the Community Sewing Center Pforzheim and designers Meyers & Fügmann, serving as a source for physical and spiritual energy⁠, and ‘Bright Smiles as Common Language’ (2024), a piece by jeweller Nana Doll that repurposes materials from local orthodontics manufacturer Forestadent.

Brynjar Sigurðarson & Veronika Sedlmair: ‘Haug Rainbow Fountain,’ 2024 // Photo by Lonneke van der Palen

Bad Databrunn explores our relationship with technology and nature and aims to alleviate symptoms of a collective burnout. In a region known for its spa towns, this thematic neighborhood builds on holistic healing traditions with a virtual symposium on the future of wellbeing, a group exhibition in a former spa facility and a public artwork combining craft and technology. Titled ‘Haug Rainbow Fountain’ (2024), the latter is a mist-emitting sculpture by Veronika Sedlmair and Brynjar Sigurðarson, featuring a special spray nozzle developed by a local manufacturer. Installed at the river Enz in Pforzheim, it creates an artificial rainbow under suitable weather conditions. Visitors can use Ornamenta’s app to check the daily rainbow forecast before heading to the Inselsteg or Auerbrücke bridges to view the artwork.

Key visual of Inhalatourium’s group exhibition at Ornamenta 2024 // Photo by Lonneke van der Palen

Under the theme of Inhalatorium, Ornamenta draws inspiration from historic breathing caves and the ornate smoke of shisha pipes to explore conscious ways of relating to and sharing air. In addition to the group exhibition ‘Inhalatorium: On Felt and Fumes’ at Reuchlinhaus Pforzheim, this thematic neighborhood includes a series of listening sessions by Makan Fofana and Yasemin Keskintepe and a public artwork by Yvonne Dröge Wendel. In the eponymous sci-fi world of Fofana’s and Keskintepe’s audio play ‘The Hookaverse’ (2024), shishas play a crucial role in different spheres of the society. Visitors can immerse themselves in the imaginative blend of shisha youth culture and regional traditions at the Heilstollen Neubulach therapeutic breathing cave. ‘Black Ball’ (2024), Wendel’s public art contribution, is set to move through forests, fields and historic villages, sparking interactions with visitors and passersby.

At Pforzheim’s wildlife park, Ornamenta explores various forms of human and non-human kinship and connection under the theme Zum Eros. Visitors of all ages, backgrounds and species are invited to celebrate their affections and broader concepts of love in the ‘Binding Chapel’ (2024) by Tatjana Stürmer, Diane Hillebrand, BINDER Gruppe, Philipp Schüller and DIGEL. In Nagold’s Zeller-Mörike-Garden, architect Céline Baumann develops ‘Aphrodisiac Garden’ in collaboration with the non-profit initiative Q-Prints and Service Pforzheim. The German Naturopathic Association supported the project by compiling a list of arousing herbs and plants as well as their applications. This inclusive pleasure garden celebrates diverse sexual practices and provides a space to honor marginalized or lesser-known forms of intimacy.

Key visual of Schmutzige Ecke’s group exhibition at Ornamenta 2024 // Photo by Lonneke van der Palen

Ornamenta’s theme of Schmutzige Ecke confronts visitors with controversial and typically avoided topics, such as social taboos and dark histories. In addition to a group exhibition on circularity, sobriety and rubble, Schmutzige Ecke features Spazio Cura’s ‘Inverted Paradise’ (2024). This public artwork revitalizes an overlooked area in Mühlacker by merging abandoned architectural fragments, leftover materials and newly designed elements. Expanding the curated program of these five thematic neighborhoods, Ornamenta Lust presents independent projects proposed by local communities and individuals through an open call. With this initiative, Ornamenta aims to foster an open collaborative environment for exploring innovative cultural production.

Throughout July, August and September 2024, Ornamenta welcomes visitors on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at over 20 locations across Nordschwarzwald. To aid navigation, five different routes with curated itineraries are recommended⁠—for families, wanderers, entrepreneurs, historians and curators⁠—offering guidance for focused, interest-based exploration of the program and the region.