NordArt – One Ticket, a World of Art

NordArt – a World Tour Between Steel and Soul

Every autumn, about 3,000 artists from around the globe knock at NordArt’s doors. Only 200 are invited in — and together they unfold a kaleidoscope of our time.

Sometimes you don’t have to travel far to go around the world. One step through the hall gate — and suddenly you’re in the middle of it: sculptures from Asia, paintings from Europe, installations from the Americas. Rusted steel beams whisper of an industrial past; bright colors speak the language of now. A passport? Here, a ticket will do.

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
— Pablo Picasso

We love art. Los Angeles, New York, Vienna, Nice — no city trip without a museum stop to let the everyday dust be blown away. Yet between all those big names there is a place almost hiding in plain sight in Schleswig-Holstein, as straightforward as the North itself: Büdelsdorf.

And yes, once you’ve been, you return. So do we. Each year, the old iron foundry Carlshütte becomes the stage for one of Europe’s largest exhibitions of contemporary art — NordArt.

Industrial Charm Meets Global Art

„Empty God” — where marble breaks, the inside glows.

The Carlshütte is no sterile white cube but an atmospheric industrial monument. Where molten iron once flowed, ideas, colors, and forms stream today. Dusty, golden light falls through high windows onto steel trusses and weathered brick; it meets monumental canvases, fragile sculptures, and glowing installations. Fine lines against raw stone, bold colors against scarred iron — that tension is the signature of NordArt.

“Art seeks answers to everything that moves and touches people, and people can find answers in art. It mirrors our fears, but it also symbolizes our shared hope for a better tomorrow.”
— Wolfgang Gramm, Chief Curator of NordArt

Some 200 artists from Japan, Poland, China, Israel, Armenia, Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Mongolia, South Korea, Uzbekistan, and France are represented. Together they show that East and West, South and North share similar longings and dreams.

 

“Mr. Pinocchio” — where rust and art make common cause.

“Eve in White Light” — not just a (yoga) pose, but a quiet high point in the room.

Parking Luck and the Back Entrance

“On a Tuesday it should be fairly quiet,” we tell ourselves. But by 11:30 a.m. the parking lot is already full, the line at the ticket booth snakes forward, and the first cars are turning back in frustration. Crowds weren’t on our wish list — but we’re starved for art. Online tickets? Let’s say our anticipation outran our click.

Good thing we remember our trick from last time: park at the shopping center, a short stroll, and there we are at the small ticket hut by the rear entrance. No jostling, no waiting. Smooth sailing. If queueing is a kind of performance art, we prefer the side door.

Pleasure Principle in the Sculpture Park

Outside, art loses its walls. Between old trees and lawns, sculptures appear like chance encounters — sometimes quiet, sometimes loud, sometimes wonderfully odd. We drift and follow our own rhythm, diving in wherever we feel the tug. Our curatorial concept for the day? Us. Plus a generous pinch of “Oh, look at that!”.

“Walking Man” — on his way through space and time.

“Space Dog” — landed to keep watch over art.

Goat Cheese, Cheesecake, and Coke Zero

After hours of looking and marveling, we find a shady spot in the garden of the “Alte Meierei”. Goat cheese for me, cheesecake for Reinhold, and — of course — Coke Zero. We lean back, let the day settle, and feel our pulse slip into a gentler beat.

Green, good taste & good mood — a stroll through the hedge-lined coffee garden, and the goat cheese is already waiting.

Art, Nature, and a Little Peace

We wander back over a small white bridge, waterlilies blooming beneath. Past old copper beeches and apple trees, with picnic blankets waiting in their shade. Everything becomes quieter, slower.

“It is peculiar to art that it makes people calm, quiet, and peaceful.”
— G. G. Gervinus

We breathe out. And we take a little of that peace along — like a fine dust we’re happy to let settle on the soul. Should everyday life add another layer in the months ahead, we know where to have it blown away: in Büdelsdorf, at the next NordArt.

“Original Sin” — ten stoic gorillas who, even off to the side, look ready to guard the planet.