Markus Jeschaunig was awarded the “Environment and Art Prize 2024“. After an invited art in public space competition, organized by Kummer-Vanotti Foundation, a jury of experts is selected the realisation of one art project in the environmental sculpture park on the Rhine island of Grafenwerth in Bad Honnef / North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany).

The ‘Klima Aal’ project focuses on one of the many endangered species and makes it the protagonist: the eel. The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is not only an important animal in the Rhine’s natural and cultural landscape, but as a Gulf Stream migrant between the North Atlantic and European inland waters, it can also be considered a well-travelled witness to important global climate processes. The 3,5m high straight lined bronze sculpture shows the anatomic correct body of the Eel in mathematical correct starting position, placed at the site facing downstream, the direction to the ocean, where eels travel more than 5000 km to the North Atlantic breeding grounds of Sargasso Sea to reproduce.
The history of the eel is perfect for drawing attention to global as well as local environmental conditions. The 3-metre-high bronze sculpture of an eel’s body invites visitors to discover a special ‘hidden champion’ of nature and to reflect on biodiversity and local and global ecological processes on planet Earth.

The inspiration for the idea comes from one of the last remaining eel schokkers, the Aranka, an eel fishing boat on the Rhine that is moored in Bad Honnef.

A limited edition of 10 small bronze eel sculptures (each 35 cm high) accompanies the project and is available for purchase. Link

The project is initiated by Kummer-Vanotti Foundation (Beate Kummer and Christoph Dänzer-Vanotti, Bad Honnef / DE)
http://www.kummer-vanotti-stiftung.de/?lang=en 

Photos (c) Jeschaunig