Exhibitions and concerts
Vilm - an inspiration to artists past and present
Vilm has a special place in the history of landscape painting. The tranquillity of the island and its "primordial forest" of mighty beech and oak trees, which attracted religious hermits in the Middle Ages, has appealed to landscape painters since the rise of the Romantic movement. Over the past two centuries over 300 artists have sought out the island, following the example of Caspar David Friedrich. Among the most important were the Dresden doctor and landscape painter Carl Gustav Carus and the Weimar painter, Friedrich Preller the Elder, who was much admired and supported by Goethe.
When a hotel opened in 1886, growing numbers of artists gravitated to the Isle of Vilm, and its landscape was central to their work. There are pictures of the island representing almost every style of landscape painting since the Romantic movement.
We reconnect with this artistic tradition by holding exhibitions and concerts on the island. Our programme is intended to open up alternative perspectives and new ways of looking at nature and the landscape. This part of the Academy’s work is addressed equally to conference participants, residents and visitors to the island of Rügen.
This is made possible thanks to cooperation between the Vilm-Verein (Verein zur Pflege des Natur- und Kulturerbes der Insel Vilm e.V., association to preserve the natural and cultural heritage of the Isle of Vilm) and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation.
Exhibitions on the Isle of Vilm
Landscape painting 2012 on the Isle of Vilm
Exhibition in the conference hall of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation September/October 2012.
Charlotte Bastian from Berlin
Art with utility value - sculptures by Hans Werner Kratzsch and Bernhard Misgajski
Please do sit on these seats. Placed near the entrance to the conference centre they are a welcome alternative to the indoor conference seating, and well used during breaks when the weather is fine. The benches were hewn from oak by the Rügen wood sculptor, Hans Werner Kratzsch (b. 1946). The slightly less comfortable steel and granite seat was made by Bernhard Misgajski (b. 1950), a steel and stone sculptor who works within sight of the Isle of Vilm.
The watermarks put one in mind of the masts of sailing ships. They act as vertical landmarks in the coastal landscape, inviting the eye to dwell on and relish the beautiful view.
Exhibition in the generator house - photography by Volkmar Herre
The permanent exhibition in the gallery in the former generator house, entitled DER BAUM UND ICH (The tree and I) consists of large format photographs by Volkmar Herre (b. 1943). The artist lives in Stralsund and has devoted himself to tree studies on the Isle of Vilm since 1994. The resulting body of work depicts ambiguous and richly symbolic images of growth and decay. In the language of natural forms, the photographer discovers the beauty of human form.
Some more recent additions are works made with a camera obscura, which explore the mystery of light and time.
Edition herre has published a catalogue, an album of photographs ("Venus") and an illustrated broadsheet on the exhibition, all of which can be obtained from our reception.
Concerts on the Isle of Vilm
Nature was time and again an important source of inspiration for the music and the composers. Vice versa music can raise our attention, our mood for the beauty and sublimity of nature and landscape.
In the project "Music and Nature" we want to make audible these connecting lines and points of contact. In 2012 four concerts are planned.
Besides, the cooperation between Prof. Hartmut Möller from the "College for Music and Theatre" (HMT) in Rostock, the registered society "Vilm e. V" and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation will be continued in a proven way.
These are the dates for the concerts:
Spring
04. May 2012
Summer
11. July 2012
Autumn
10. October 2012
Winter
28. November 2012
The crossing by ferry boot to Vilm occurs at 19.00h.
The concert begins in each case at 19.45h.
To book ferry crossings and concert tickets:
telephone +49 (0)38301-86112 or 
Martina.Finger@bfn-vilm.de.
