Löwenzahn (Taraxacum). Photo kunstGarten
kunstGarten originally invited the married couple Andrea Bakketun & Christian Tony Norum from Norway as Artists in Residence. District of Graz.
Since the two did not receive funding for 2026, it will be postponed and exchanged with the two planned for 2027:
Alexandra Gschiel & Markus Wilfling.
Curator’s Reflections: Irmi Horn
Even if this district has a relatively large amount of green space, there are also rows of housing and blocks of flats as living environments that at times lack a sense of warmth—something that might evoke a feeling of happiness in an aesthetic sense.
Graz is being activated through the Kunsthaus with BLOOM. And kunstGarten enters this scene with a plant archive and the concept and design of one or more works by the two Norwegian artists in residence. They are free to engage with the theme and to integrate this artificial element into the natural plant world—either in contrast to it or in harmony with it.
With the title, I want to draw attention to how, for example, in a grey city, something colorful and fragrant on a building façade can, through its presence, have a comforting, stimulating, and hope-giving effect.
Or in agriculture, where vast areas are cultivated and wild herbs are eradicated with herbicides, a single flower may stand out, illuminating the imbalance of our planet. At the same time, magnificent flowers can grow in a field, by the roadside, or in a garden—such as chicory or corn poppy—yet some people may not perceive them at all, because they cannot form a connection. Their attention is so artificially overstimulated that the experience and understanding of nature have been lost to them.
Or you encounter a group of unpleasant, cold, indifferent people—and one stands out through their kindness. It gives you courage.
You see thousands of objects in the art world, and one is outstanding.
You experience everyday life in monotonous repetition, and then one moment stands out.
In a broader sense, this is also about questioning our awareness of our fellow human beings and co-inhabitants. Perhaps a single word of understanding can open a path that breaks through the inhospitable grey of indifference.
Every individual presence carries meaning. It can be used and instrumentalized in both negative and positive ways.