ZwischenLand

The initiative grew out of a wish to create an open space between disciplines, places, and people. Its name, ZwischenLand, refers to an in-between territory: a rural borderland shaped by histories, landscapes, traditions, migrations, and changing identities.

ZwischenLand’s philosophy is rooted in the idea of Genius Loci, the spirit of place. We understand place not as something fixed or folkloric, but as a living network of materials, memories, bodies, gestures, and stories. Art becomes a way to listen to these layers, to make them visible, and to connect local experience with wider cultural questions.

Special attention is given to artistic jewellery, textile practices, craft-based processes, and works that explore the relationship between body, material, memory, and landscape.


Objectives
ZwischenLand aims to create a lively cultural platform in a rural context, bringing together artists, makers, thinkers, and local communities.
Its objectives are:

to present contemporary jewellery, textile, installation, graphic art, and craft-based artistic practices;
to explore the relationship between body, landscape, material culture, and local identity;
to create dialogue between regional, national, and international artists;
to support exhibitions, workshops, talks, concerts, walks, and participatory formats;
to strengthen the visibility of contemporary jewellery and textile art beyond urban centres;
to encourage exchange between professional artists and the local public;
to keep traditional and material knowledge alive by connecting it with contemporary artistic research.


Collections
ZwischenLand is closely connected to the Helmut Hable Collection and Doris Maninger Collection in Straden, which includes painting, graphic works, sculpture and contemporary jewellery.  The collection is presented in relation to contemporary jewellery, textiles, and installation, creating conversations between different artistic languages and generations. The focus is not only on collecting objects, but on building meaningful relationships between works, places, materials, and the stories that have shaped them.
The collection is housed in a former wine cellar in Straden, a building deeply connected to the surrounding landscape and its cultural history.