Klaus Littmann. Arena for a Tree

Designed by Littmann and engineered by Schnetzer Puskas Engineers, the arena is formed by a basket-like, 7 metres high translucent structure of wooden ribs and slats. Its curved and haunched laminated beams are bound together at the top by a tension ring and at the bottom by a steel compression belt. Seen in plan view, the design of the structure and the inner grandstand represent the trunk of a tree in cross section with its concentric pattern of growth rings.

What Klaus Littmann cleverly isolates can momentarily rearrange our view of the world. The artist and curator has experience in inviting broad audiences to participate in an all encompassing experience. As a source of shade or as a host for birds and insects, his small temporary nature preserve presents itself as a quiet sensation.
'When the trees are in leaf, we see a beacon of hope in them. When they drop their leaves, we think about impermanence. The tree is a sign of life, a representative of the diversity of species and a witness to the vulnerability of the global ecosystem.' says Klaus Littmann.
Arena for a Tree has been made possible thanks to the generous support from the Kulturstiftung
Basel H. Geiger | KBH.G and the collaboration of ECC Italy (European Cultural Centre) as well as the generous support by the municipality of Venice and the port authorities.
As with all projects of the Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger | KBH.G and ECC Italy, the catalogue and admission are free.

About Klaus Littmann | Littmann Kulturprojekte
Klaus Littmann (born 1951) lives and works as an artist, curator and producer in Basel, Switzerland. Littmann studied art at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, under the guidance of Joseph Beuys. Later he made a name for himself as a maker and independent mediator of contemporary art, as well as initiator and organiser of solo and group exhibitions and finally concentrated on the planning and realisation of thematic art exhibitions and interventions in public space. At the centre of his research lies the interest in everyday culture as well as the dialogue between contemporary art and historically grown urban spaces. Underlying each of his complex and unique projects is a dichotic tension highlighting the artist's preoccupation with everyday culture and the confrontation between contemporary art and urban spaces. Klaus Littmann was awarded the Culture Prize of the City of Basel in 2002. The art projects realised by Klaus Littmann in Switzerland and abroad are documented in catalogue and book form.