16 April 2021
André Heller Wundergarten
Judith Wade interviews André Heller - André Heller Botanical Garden (Gardone Riviera, BS)
Curated by Monica Lamberti
JW: It is almost bewildering reading the story of your artistic life, expressing yourself first as a musician, then as a film director, then as a multimedia artist and finally as a creator of fantastic gardens round the world. What is the fil rouge, if any?
AH: The whole of my creative life is an exploration of the learning opportunities presented by our precious planet. My aim is to look as deeply as possible into myself and into the world. And my explorations enable me to go to the farthest-flung areas and collect not only experiences, but also real objects and works of art, and bring them back with me. And much of this spiritual and 3-dimensional collection of course fed into Anima, my landscape presentation in Marrakesh. I combine plants from many different regions with works of art from all over the world. Africa and Asia, Rodin and Calder, Picasso and Keith Haring together with many of my own sculptures.
JW: Austrian, born in 1947 which country do you call home?
AH: I am mainly at home in Morocco. Europe never really did me any good. There was always too much fuss and a cult of the bad mood for my liking; tragically, I was also part of this occasionally.
For me, the South is – among many other fascinating aspects – a synonym for vibrations in which I am more capable, more exhilarated and more harmonious overall. I do not derive a universally valid theory from this, of course. Every being is tuned to a particular keynote and melodies, after all, and feels more secure wherever there are correlations in the tone of the landscape, people and culture.
JW: I used the word Wundergarten to express the many gardens you have created that reflect your love for nature, colour and fellow artists. Which was the first garden you bought and when?
AH: My parents' home in Vienna was close to the imperial Schönbrunn Palace park and gardens. This included a vast palm house, which was a beloved place of protection and safety for me as a child, especially in winter. And this was also where my love of botany began.
The first garden I bought was the amazing Hruska Garden in Gardone; however, it was in a dilapidated state 20 years after the death of its ingenious creator. This made the challenge of restoring the garden to its former glory all the more interesting. I did so with the loving and competent help of the garden's director, Graziella Belli.
JW: Have you met all the artists whose work you have staged in your gardens?
AH: Not Rodin of course, but I have had the pleasure of working with masters such as Roy Liechtenstein and Keith Haring on some of my stage projects.
JW: Do you agree that gardens are a living form of art, what is the latest project you are working on?
AH: Gardens are an art form that is criminally underestimated by the art world. They are in no way treated equally to opera, theatre, cinema, painting or literature by newspaper features. I am currently designing two large parks in Vienna and am expanding my successful African landscape and museum project ANIMA at the foot of the Atlas Mountains in Marrakesh. The whole complex is 8.5 hectares and also includes 13 buildings.
JW: The Andrè Heller Garden on Lake Garda in Italy (that is part of the network Grandi Giardini Italiani) is a contemporary style garden that is above all a beautiful place to be in. Walking round its' lush vegetation with a collection of open air works of art gives you a sense of freedom. What does the word freedom mean to you?
AH: Freedom means being able to do the cleverest and most beneficial thing without excuses.
JW: Imagination in your case takes many forms, how do gardens inspire you? What does the definition garden art works include?
AH: Gardens are healing, gardens are comfort and bliss, and also beauty that becomes ever more intense over the decades. Gardens are a school of the seasons and of wonder. They are places of coolness on hot days and always invite visitors to reflect. Gardens are spiritual inspirations, powerful areas where exhausted and sore beings can go to save themselves in order to stop trembling.
JW: What drove you to open your gardens to visitors?
AH: Gardens as places of peace, of respect for nature and the whole of creation are repositories of happiness. There are too few of these everywhere. We would need countless new parks and gardens, open to everyone, as effective batteries worldwide.
INFORMATION
Giardino Botanico André Heller - Via Roma - 25083 Gardone Riviera (BS) - Mob. +39 336 410877
Admission: The garden is open every day from March to October, from 9.00 am to 7.00 pm
Tickets: Adults: € 12,00 - Groups: € 11,00 - Children (5 - 11 years): € 5,00 - Kids (0 - 5 years): free admission
Curated by Monica Lamberti
JW: It is almost bewildering reading the story of your artistic life, expressing yourself first as a musician, then as a film director, then as a multimedia artist and finally as a creator of fantastic gardens round the world. What is the fil rouge, if any?
AH: The whole of my creative life is an exploration of the learning opportunities presented by our precious planet. My aim is to look as deeply as possible into myself and into the world. And my explorations enable me to go to the farthest-flung areas and collect not only experiences, but also real objects and works of art, and bring them back with me. And much of this spiritual and 3-dimensional collection of course fed into Anima, my landscape presentation in Marrakesh. I combine plants from many different regions with works of art from all over the world. Africa and Asia, Rodin and Calder, Picasso and Keith Haring together with many of my own sculptures.
JW: Austrian, born in 1947 which country do you call home?
AH: I am mainly at home in Morocco. Europe never really did me any good. There was always too much fuss and a cult of the bad mood for my liking; tragically, I was also part of this occasionally.
For me, the South is – among many other fascinating aspects – a synonym for vibrations in which I am more capable, more exhilarated and more harmonious overall. I do not derive a universally valid theory from this, of course. Every being is tuned to a particular keynote and melodies, after all, and feels more secure wherever there are correlations in the tone of the landscape, people and culture.
JW: I used the word Wundergarten to express the many gardens you have created that reflect your love for nature, colour and fellow artists. Which was the first garden you bought and when?
AH: My parents' home in Vienna was close to the imperial Schönbrunn Palace park and gardens. This included a vast palm house, which was a beloved place of protection and safety for me as a child, especially in winter. And this was also where my love of botany began.
The first garden I bought was the amazing Hruska Garden in Gardone; however, it was in a dilapidated state 20 years after the death of its ingenious creator. This made the challenge of restoring the garden to its former glory all the more interesting. I did so with the loving and competent help of the garden's director, Graziella Belli.
JW: Have you met all the artists whose work you have staged in your gardens?
AH: Not Rodin of course, but I have had the pleasure of working with masters such as Roy Liechtenstein and Keith Haring on some of my stage projects.
JW: Do you agree that gardens are a living form of art, what is the latest project you are working on?
AH: Gardens are an art form that is criminally underestimated by the art world. They are in no way treated equally to opera, theatre, cinema, painting or literature by newspaper features. I am currently designing two large parks in Vienna and am expanding my successful African landscape and museum project ANIMA at the foot of the Atlas Mountains in Marrakesh. The whole complex is 8.5 hectares and also includes 13 buildings.
JW: The Andrè Heller Garden on Lake Garda in Italy (that is part of the network Grandi Giardini Italiani) is a contemporary style garden that is above all a beautiful place to be in. Walking round its' lush vegetation with a collection of open air works of art gives you a sense of freedom. What does the word freedom mean to you?
AH: Freedom means being able to do the cleverest and most beneficial thing without excuses.
JW: Imagination in your case takes many forms, how do gardens inspire you? What does the definition garden art works include?
AH: Gardens are healing, gardens are comfort and bliss, and also beauty that becomes ever more intense over the decades. Gardens are a school of the seasons and of wonder. They are places of coolness on hot days and always invite visitors to reflect. Gardens are spiritual inspirations, powerful areas where exhausted and sore beings can go to save themselves in order to stop trembling.
JW: What drove you to open your gardens to visitors?
AH: Gardens as places of peace, of respect for nature and the whole of creation are repositories of happiness. There are too few of these everywhere. We would need countless new parks and gardens, open to everyone, as effective batteries worldwide.
INFORMATION
Giardino Botanico André Heller - Via Roma - 25083 Gardone Riviera (BS) - Mob. +39 336 410877
Admission: The garden is open every day from March to October, from 9.00 am to 7.00 pm
Tickets: Adults: € 12,00 - Groups: € 11,00 - Children (5 - 11 years): € 5,00 - Kids (0 - 5 years): free admission
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I am always astonishing myself. It is the only thing that makes life worth living.- Oscar Wilde - |
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