ORNAMENTA 2024

Taking place from July to September 2024, Ornamenta is a regional quinquennial for arts and design in Germany’s Northern Black Forest region. Held first in 1989, Ornamenta returns in 2024 as a platform for contemporary cultural development, which takes place through site-specific exhibitions, public installations, and events. Local citizens, curious neighbors, and adventurous national and international visitors are invited to discover the Northern Black Forest area through different exhibition routes set out by Ornamenta. The Northern Black Forest region includes the cities of Pforzheim, Calw, Bad-Wildbad, Nagold, Mühlacker, and Maulbronn, and is a popular destination for nature tourism. Besides its perpetual natural beauty, the region is also home to fine metal industries, small spa towns, and a rich variety of people, communities, and cultures.

Ornamenta literally blurs the borders of the region. Between July and September 2024, existing municipal districts will be replaced by five thematic neighborhoods—“Gemeinden” in German—each investigating specific topics that are of local and European significance. These new Gemeinden, named Schmutzige Ecke, Zum Eros, lnhalatorium, Bad Databrunn, and Solartal, address and articulate issues that affect people across all layers of society. From sunshine and access to clean air to social taboos and technology, every Gemeinde is a site for interaction. Ornamenta is a platform for local communities and clubs to engage in partnerships with international creatives, for heritage institutions to meet progressive artists, and for designers to propose new ideas to industries in the region.

The Ornamenta program is composed of five thematic exhibitions, one for each Gemeinde, along with newly commissioned artworks in public space, and various events such as listening sessions, tasting events, talks, and collaborative performances.

The program is curated by Jules van den Langenberg, Katharina Wahl, and Willem Schenk.

Contributors
Ornamenta is dedicated to long-term development in the region. The curatorial team selected artists and designers with a focus on emerging talent, fostering opportunities for new generations of creatives, artists, and social organizations. Artworks and design objects are shown in unconventional locations, transforming the Northern Black Forest into a meeting place for the culturally curious – tightening relationships between local, national, and international audiences.

Autonomous perspectives
Black Forest-based museums, heritage sites, art collectors, and property developers work with curator Jules van den Langenberg and upcoming European artists on site-specific works giving new autonomous perspectives. For instance, a public artwork merging craft and technology to occasionally emit rainbows over the river Enz. A park-like public space is reconfigured from abandoned architectural fragments, local leftover materials, and newly designed elements. A performance series throughout forested landscapes and timber-framed historic villages makes us aware of the air we share.

–Artist Yvonne Dröge Wendel (Netherlands) with performers Franziska Lyon (Germany), Johanna Heilig (Germany), Justus Lietzke (Germany), and Kosmas Dinh (Germany) supported by ISSP-Jewellery Museum (Germany) 
–Artist duo Veronika Sedlmair (Germany) & Brynjar Sigurðarson (Iceland) supported by Co. Kärcher Industrial Cleaning Systems (Germany)
–Artist collective Spazio Cura led by artist Thorben Gröbel (Germany)
–Artist Wiktoria Wojciechowska (Poland) supported by gemstone gallerist David Feulner of Schütt Edelsteine and chain producer Schofer (Germany)
–BA Jewelry students (Germany) of Pforzheim University with professor Christine Lüdeke (Switzerland) in collaboration with jewelry students from Altinbas University, Istanbul (Turkey) and Deniz Ova, director of Salt (Turkey)
–Artist Josse Pyl (Netherlands)
–Jewelry designer Martina Eberth (Germany)
–Jewelry designer Kerstin Meyer (Germany)
–Artist Martina Morger (Liechtenstein)
–Curators of OPEN FOR MAINTENANCE, German pavilion of the 18th Venice Architecture Biennial consisting of architecture publication ARCH+ (Germany), architects Büro Juliane Greb (Germany), and Summacumfemmer (Germany)
–Designer Basse Stittgen (Germany)
–Designer Zeno Franchini (Italy)
–Moderator and pastor Julia Kaiser of Matthäuskirche Pforzheim (Germany) 

Societal perspectives
Clubs, communities, grassroots organizations, and schools based in the Northern Black Forest work with curator Katharina Wahl and upcoming socially engaged makers and thinkers on projects giving new societal perspectives. For instance, a yard for intimacy, botany, and health is installed in a historical pharmacy garden. A water bar with educational purposes informs visitors about the flows and regulations of our bodily fluids. You’ll also find a series of listening events in a healing cave, where the youth culture around hookah pipes is tied in with the regional air spa towns.

–Community center Nähcafé Pforzheim (Germany) with design studio Meyers & Fügmann (Germany) run by Sarah Meyers (Luxembourg) and Laura Fügmann (Germany)
–Berufsförderungswerk Bad Wildbad (Vocational Training Center Bad Wildbad) (Germany) and the Pforzheim Goldsmith and Watchmaking School (Germany) with educational platform WaterSchool (Netherlands) by Studio Makkink & Bey (Netherlands), consisting of designers Rianne Makkink (Netherlands), Jurgen Bey (Netherlands), Jaja Pichaya Puapoomcharoen (Thailand) 
–Social gardening of Q-Prints & Service gGmbH, with landscape architect Céline Baumann (France)
–Healing cave maintained by the Municipality of Neubulach (Germany) with philosopher Makan Fofana (France) and curator Yasemin Keskintepe (Germany)
–Geomancy Group Pforzheim with Mo Langmuir (UK) and collective STRL_ run by Samuel Collins and Shō Alexander Murayama (UK)

Entrepreneurial perspectives
Regional retailers, companies, and entrepreneurs work with curator Willem Schenk and meet carefully selected upcoming international designers, fashion experts, and jewelry makers on projects giving new entrepreneurial perspectives. For instance, a newly made seasonal commodity: the Black Forest Cake in the form of a cocktail, with a longer shelf life than any fresh cake, can be experienced in a series of tasting events. Or for example, prototypes and services that transform society from self-centered to sun-centered, shown in a group exhibition around a luminous courtyard. 

–Designers Diane Hillebrand (Germany) and Tatjana Stürmer (Germany) for chain manufacturer BINDER Group (Germany)
–Designer Philipp Schüller (Germany) for bespoke fashion manufacturer Digel (Germany) 
–Designer Suzanne Bernhardt (Netherlands) and artist Philipp Kolmann (Austria) for retailer Juwelier Leicht (Germany)
–Design studio buro Belén (Netherlands) by Brecht Duijf (Netherlands) and Lenneke Langenhuijsen (Netherlands) for cosmetics company La Biosthétique
–Design studio ThusThat (Netherlands) by Paco Böckelmann (Germany) and Kevin Rouff (US) for precious metals recycling company Heimerle + Meule (Germany)
–Jewelry designer Nanna Doll (Germany) for manufacturer of orthodontic products Forestadent (Germany)
–Henriette Waal, artistic research director of Atelier LUMA (Netherlands) art-directing designers Jan Schulz (Germany) Amalia Shem Tov (Israel) Anthea Oestreicher (Germany) Moreno Schweikle (Germany) for family-run brewery Ketterer Brauerei (Germany)
–Typeface designer Charlotte Rohde (Germany) for  manufacturer of tower clocks and bell rings PERROT GmbH & Co. KG (Germany) supported by Helios Sonnenuhren (Germany)
–Julius Schuster (Germany), alumnus of BA Transportation Design linked to Pforzheim University (Germany) for the regional automotive industry 
–World Hope Forum, a virtual platform by trend forecasters Lidewij Edelkoort (Netherlands) and Philip Fimmano (Australia) 

Locations: Reuchlinhaus Pforzheim, Matthäuskirche Pforzheim, Forum König-Karls-Bad Bad Wildbad, Wildpark Pforzheim, Heilstollen Neubulach, Juwelier Leicht Pforzheim, Zeller-Mörike-Garden Nagold, Inselsteg Pforzheim, Ziegelgarten Mühlacker, Bahnhofsvorplatz Mühlacker, Gerichtsplatz Nagold, Leopoldplatz Pforzheim.

Tickets: 10 EUR day pass, 27 EUR weekend pass, 50 EUR season pass. Free admission under the age of 18.

History of Ornamenta
Launched in 1989, the first edition of Ornamenta focused on jewelry (Schmuck) and video art. Conceptualised as a world-expo of "Schmuck", ORNAMENTA 1989 presented designers and artists from more than twenty-three countries around the Reuchlinhaus in Pforzheim, which houses the Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Europe’s largest collection of jewelry art, and the Kunstverein Pforzheim. The exhibitions of ORNAMENTA 1989 were complemented by a public program that brought together diverse perspectives on jewelry, design, culture, and commerce through a series of symposia, lectures, and workshops. Despite its local success, the program was not continued. Thirty-five years later, ORNAMENTA 2024 is set to welcome both residents and visitors with a quinquennial program that builds on these multidisciplinary roots.

Team: Jules van den Langenberg, Katharina Wahl, Willem Schenk (Curatorial Team), Dr. Christian Saalfrank (Managing Director), Monika Heinzmann (Office Manager), Johannes Mall (Production), Elizaveta Kovalenko (Production Assistant), Theo Ferreira Gomes (Curatorial Fellow), Miki Feller (Marketing), Ramona Wolf-Twele (Marketing), Ralf Recklies (Regional Press), Lisa-Marie Deissmann (Socialmedia), Esther Erhard (Assistant Editor), Tatjana Schneider (Accounting).

Chairman of the Advisory Board: Peter Boch

For international press inquiries: Jan-Willem Marquardt, jan@sendreceive.eu.
For regional press inquiries: Ralf Recklies, recklies@ornamenta.gmbh.