Newsletter 99 from 03/31/2008

International Building Exhibition (IBA) Fürst-Pückler-Land

1. Debut: Lake she-devil Lucie accompanies IBA theme year
2. Exhibition: Portraits of the Lusatian Lakeland
3. Reshuffle: IBA Expert Advisory Committee convenes with new line-up
4. Transfer: Romanian Region Centru sets store by Lusatian experiences
5. Opening: Tourist season kicks off in Wanninchen
6. Guide: New flyer and IBA cube for heritage landscape of Pritzen
7. Input: Successful workshop for the IBA 2010 Art Project
8. Impressions: Infotour through the Lakeland for regional tourism partners
9. Foretaste: "New Land" theme for IBA excursion

(1) Debut

Lake she-devil Lucie accompanies IBA theme year

Lake she-devil Lucie made her grand debut on the IBA Terraces at the opening of the new IBA season on 20 March 2008 as the IBA mascot for the "Lusatia: Lure of the Lakes" theme year. Many visitors from the region went on a little voyage into the Lusatian Lakeland with tour guide Lucie, who was escorted by Lusatia's devil icon. The two figures unite the 150-year industrial history of lignite mining in Lusatia with the newly emerging 14,000-hectare Lusatian Lakeland. They will be accompanying all the events run by the IBA in the water-themed year. The costumes are inhabited by Berlin actress Hannah Essinger and actor Heiner Hardt, who are no strangers to such performances, having played Prince von Pückler-Muskau and his estranged wife Lucie in the past.

Partners of the topic year with she-devil and record-devil Photo: Rasche

(2) Exhibition

Portraits of the Lusatian Lakeland

Anyone wondering what makes the Lusatian Lakeland so remarkable will find some answers at the new exhibition in the visitor centre on the IBA Terraces. Navigable waterways, architectural masterpieces by and on the water, exceptional landscape art, and an industrial heritage brought to life are becoming the hallmarks of the new aquascape. Fact-sheet type "portraits" outline the tourist facilities offered by the ten lakes in the 7,000-hectare navigable Lusatian Lakeland network. Three further display boards provide information about the history of Lusatia, the importance of the Lakeland for the region and the efforts invested in water management. The exhibition has been produced in close cooperation with the Lusatian and Central German Mining Management Company (LMBV).

(3) Reshuffle

IBA Expert Advisory Committee convenes with new line-up

The 26 members of the IBA Expert Advisory Committee, the chief advisory body of IBA Fürst-Pückler-Land GmbH, will meet in the IBA office from 7 to 8 April 2008 after a reshuffle. Internationally renowned experts, academics, and representatives from local and regional politics, industry, science and culture will advise the IBA during their term in office from 2008 to 2010 in major decisions regarding the development of landscaped islands and specific projects and in communication issues until the final year of the IBA in 2010. Excursions to Welzow-Süd working open-cast mine and Altdöbern are planned in a bid to help new members appreciate the scale of the transformation of the landscape.

(4) Transfer

Romanian Region Centru sets store by Lusatian experiences

On 23 April 2008 the IBA Fürst-Pückler-Land will be visiting the Romanian town of Sibiu to attend the opening conference for the EU project "RenERg EuReg" on innovative energy strategies. The binational project - "Renewable Energy Resources - a Solution for The Sustainable Development of Two European Regions" in its full form - comes under the heading "Regions of Knowledge" in the 7th European Union Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. The aim is to provide a platform for scientists and entrepreneurs from the region of Lusatia-Spreewald and the Region Centru in Romania to transfer knowledge and technology. This will involve analysis of potential for renewable energies and evaluation of initial pilot projects. The main intention in Brandenburg is to encourage further practical moves towards sustainable energy in the region of Lusatia in cooperation with regional companies. The EU project is scheduled to run until the end of 2010.

(5) Opening

Tourist season kicks off in Wanninchen

The tourist season by the Heinz Sielmann Nature Park in Wanninchen has started with the exhibition "Nature and more". The exhibition will feature pictures by Lothar Beyer of Lieberose and Katrin Berndt from the Elbe-Elster region. While the huntsman and amateur painter has made the birds of the post-mining landscape the focal point of his pictures, the artist Katrin Berndt has chosen the fascinating landscape as the subject of her oil paintings. Highlights in the programme 2008 include the Birdsong Walk on 4 May, the European Day of Parks on 24 May, and the Children's Festival on 1 June, when there will be a chance to go on a voyage of discovery into the fascinating world of bees. When the birds start to migrate in the autumn there will again be a number of guided bird-watching trails to the roosts of thousands of cranes and geese.
www.sielmann-stiftung.de

Photo: Heinz Sielmann Stiftung

(6) Guide

New flyer and IBA cube for heritage landscape of Pritzen

The heritage landscape of Pritzen is enjoying a renaissance as a place of art and vision. The captivating landscape in flux and exhibiting land art objects from both Europe Biennales, the café catering for day trippers and the Pritzen Arts Barn all have an entirely unique charm and entice a constant stream of visitors. The updated flyer for tourists in Pritzen, complete with useful little map of the area, is now available at the information counter in the café in Pritzen Civic Centre. The recently erected lake cube on the Pritzen headland is another guiding element forming part of the IBA signage system about the project location. Twin lake cubes of this kind are already appearing at many of the 25 IBA sites in Lusatia.
Anyone interested is cordially invited to Pritzen Art Barn from 11 May to 13 July 2008 when it will be accommodating a "temporary studio" which will be run by Munich artist Beate Oehmann under the slogan "Pointing the Way!".

(7) Input

Successful workshop for the IBA 2010 Art Project

Swiss artist Jürg Montalta, who has been commissioned to direct the "People of Lusatia" art project in 2010, the final year of the IBA, regarded the last workshop with local members of the public as a runaway success. "My aim was to talk people through the plans and preparations made to date in order to see if the ideas strike a chord with the Lusatians", said the artist. "If the feedback is anything to go by, we appear to be on the right track." The plan is for each of the nine IBA landscaped islands to have its own art project incorporating the ideas and input of the Lusatians. The concept for the 2010 Art Project will be presented to the IBA Expert Advisory Committee in the next few days before taking the idea to the public at the end of April, as scheduled. There will be further workshops in future at regular intervals to give everyone a chance to go with the flow of the exciting process. The next one is scheduled for 27 May 2008 at 16:00 hrs in the IBA office.

(8) Impressions

Infotour through the Lakeland for regional tourism partners

The IBA joins forces with the Bergbautourismusverein Stadt Welzow [Welzow Association of Mine Tourism] and the Tourismusverband Niederlausitz [Lower Lusatia Tourist Board] to run a fact-finding tour to the Lusatian Lakeland on 16 April 2008 entitled "Open-Cast Mining Exposed - Landscape Change Exposed". The route will extend from the Spreewald forest to Upper Lusatia for representatives from the hospitality industry and from regional tourism. "These people sell the region. They need to know how things are developing and they need to have sampled new attractions themselves in order to encourage tourists to visit", said IBA Head of Tourism Antje Boshold. "Our tour programme is designed to give visitors an impression of the changing landscape and the main tourist attractions". The tour includes a jeep ride to Welzow-Süd working open-cast mine, followed by detours to the floating house on Partwitz Lake, the canal construction site on Senftenberg Lake and the IBA Terraces. "It is also important to us that we are pulling together when it comes to the further development of tourism in Lusatia", added Antje Boshold, holding out the prospect that "getting to know each other will facilitate cooperation".

(9) Foretaste

"New Land" theme for IBA excursion

No sooner has the "Lusatia: Lure of the Lakes" theme year begun than the IBA Fürst-Pückler-Land is already looking ahead to 2009, in which "New Land" will take centre stage. The IBA themed excursion, scheduled to run from 19 to 22 September 2008, intends to address the issue as to how man-made landscapes can be carved out and which strategies and concepts come into play in the design process. The tour takes in "Regionale 2010" projects in the Rhineland and the "Terres Rouges" in Luxembourg, as well as visiting Lorraine and and the Saarland, which can look back on a rich but not unproblematic industrial and cultural heritage. A wine-sampling session in the Palatinate will be included as a foretaste of things to come in the future wine-growing district of Lusatia. The return journey will include a break in the Odenwald Geopark in an attempt to trace the unique natural heritage. As in previous years the IBA excursion is open to its project partners and to interested members of the public from the locality. The itinerary and the deadline for registration will be announced at the end of May.