Sculptural Installation "RICHARD WAGNER - DIE VERNEIGUNG" ["RICHARD WAGNER - THE BOW"], Bayreuth

Visitors can again look forward to a Richard Wagner art installation on the Green Hill in Bayreuth. The great enthusiasm of the festival director Katharina Wagner, the international Wagner audience and the citizens of the entire metropolitan region in 2023 was the motivation for the internationally renowned conceptual artist Ottmar Hörl to agree to develop a temporary sculpture installation once again.

On the initiative of Bernd Saupe, first Chairman of the "Markgräfin Wilhelmine Gesellschaft e. V.", Prof. Hörl has now created the sculpture project "THE BOW" following art projects in Bayreuth in 2004, 2013, 2016 and 2023. In 2023, it was the gesture of a warm embrace with which 115 golden Richard Wagner figures greeted the Wagner fans on the lawn of the Festival Hill, but this time it is the gesture of an appreciative bow to the audience: Wagner laid his right hand gently on his heart, his head tilted slightly forwards, thanking kindly.

Thank you for being here, thank you for coming! In the world of art, it is common for artists such as opera singers, musicians or conductors to bow to the applauding audience after their performance. This is an expression of mutual respect, appreciation and thanks. Creative people are characterised by inventiveness and courage as well as humility. Both are mandatory in order to achieve truly timeless greatness. And what would art be without its audience? The presentation of the motif of bowing also refers to the universal thematic complex of innovation and artistic creativity that underlies art and its essential importance for the democratic structure of a society. The installation therefore raises the interesting question of the role of the artist and the viewer in the 21st century. "An artistic intention that remains in an artistic intention has failed. It can only be interesting if it represents a model for the context in which each individual lives", emphasises Hörl. With its unique concept for public space, which functions as a communication model for all generations, the project involves everyone who comes into contact with the installation. In Occidental art history and sculpture, the image of the artist bowing to his audience has been a rarity until now, but in the form of a 46 cm high serial Wagner sculpture it is now a novelty.

Welcome Speech from the Festival Director Katharina Wagner:
I am very grateful to the artist Ottmar Hörl that he also created in this festival year another variation of his unique Richard Wagner sculpture for the Bayreuth Festival. The more than 100 golden Wagner sculptures with this year's gesture "The Bow" will once again welcome and inspire visitors to the Green Hill in Bayreuth in a special way. An enrichment for us and the city of Bayreuth!

Welcome Speech from the Lord Mayor Thomas Ebersberger:
Who does not remember Hörl's Wagner figures, which were set up on the Green Hill during the last festival season? Ottmar Hörl has already realised several high-profile sculpture projects in Bayreuth. For his serial projects, the artist uses the Bayreuth Festival specifically as an attention-grabbing platform to advertise his installations.

Every year, thousands of visitors from all over the world come to enjoy the special flair around the city's musical highlights. The media resonance of the festival has hardly any parallel in the cultural sector in Germany. The artist cleverly knows how to use this cultural world event for his work. As a result, his work has received immense media publicity.

Text: Eva Schickler M.A.

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Sculptural Installation "RICHARD WAGNER - DIE VERNEIGUNG" ["RICHARD WAGNER - THE BOW"], Bayreuth

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