Herrenhaus Edenkoben, Germany, 2012

Herrenhaus Edenkoben

Herrenhaus Edenkoben is a private house where artists, composers and writers can live as residents on a scholarship basis. They are selected by an international jury, which Peter Eötvös is a member of.

The scholarship holders present themselves and their works in exhibitions, concerts and readings. Other famous artists contribute to the widening of the programme of events. The estate in a baroque style is situated in the southern Palatinate, in the west of Edenkoben, surrounded by vineyards, and with an open view over the plain of the river Rhine and of the hills and castles of the Haardt mountains up to the Black Forest. The estate is surrounded by a high baroque wall and contains, apart from two studios, five apartments and several guest-rooms, a hall for events such as concerts, exhibitions and readings, several common rooms, a cellar which can also be used for events, and wide-ranging grounds, i.e. a courtyard and gardens.

At the beginning of the 1980ies the estate with its baroque main building and several out-buildings was acquired by Barbara and Konrad Stahl. They had them completely renovated and turned into a residence for artists, with studios, flats and facilities for events and performances as well as for exhibitions. Since 1997 the house has been a purely private establishment, where art comes into existence, and where art can be lived and experienced.

Meeting the Arts and Artists

In the Herrenhaus Edenkoben even the short term guest can sense something of this creative energy looking for new ways of expression, ready to get involved in something imponderable, in something risky with an uncertain end. Here something new is supposed to come into existence which needs time and takes time. Variety, openness but not indifference shape the profile of the Herrenhaus. Herrenhaus Edenkoben is a meeting place where composers, sculptors, painters and writers leave their own individual working day and approach each other, and from nearby they get to know the possibilities and limitations of other fields of art, different from their own. Thus they are able to widen their personal horizon. Very often these encounters end up in joint art projects.

Fine Arts, Literature and Music under the same Roof

This artists’ residence is of course cosmopolitan. Scholarship holders from various nations are invited. Over the years, the Herrenhaus has developed an atmosphere in which even the unusual and unfamiliar appears neither elitist nor intimidating nor unapproachable. At the concerts, readings and openings of exhibitions the atmosphere is marked by quite a natural get-together of artist and audience. Informal, personal talks with the musicians, writers or the artists of the evening are part of these events.

In all tranquility something arises from a strong will and through necessity

Only very few artists, composers and writers have the means to exclusively concentrate on their artistic doing. It is for their surviving alone that they are often forced to take on time-consuming incidental occupations. In the Herrenhaus Edenkoben the selected scholarship holders get the opportunity to devote themselves full-time to their art and their enthusiasm for their artistic creation.

Further information about the activity of Herrenhaus Edenkoben:

http://www.herrenhaus-edenkoben.de

Scholarship holders of 2012:

February-June 2012: Birke Bertelsmeier (Germany)
August-December 2012: Ying Wang (China)