FILZKUNST-WANDERWEG
FELT ART
HIKING TRAIL
Discover the
from September 2024
The miracle of wool – the fascination of the felting process
Sheep farming is an important part of our agriculture. The many positive properties of wool are unfortunately not sufficiently known to most people: wool warms; wool retains moisture without feeling damp; wool hardly wrinkles; wool repels dirt; wool hardly absorbs odours; wool insulates and swallows sound, to name just a few practical properties.
The felting process is an ancient craft and was already known in the early Stone Age. It continues to fascinate people up to this date. Nowadays, both felted products that serve practical purposes as well as the production of artistic objects have their justification. Anyone who deals with the topic of wool a little more in depth will
quickly realize that not all wool is the same. Our concern is also to show the differences and the professional use of different types of wool.
A wonderful side effect of felting is that it has a proven therapeutic effect. We would like to give anyone who is interested access to felting as well as facilitate the procurement of suitable wool for the respective project.
"It always seems impossible until it`s done"
Nelson Mandela
HERE YOU CAN FIND US:
Our felt art hiking trail and the idea behind it:
Our international felt art hiking trail is intended to contribute significantly to further knowledge about sheep wool and training in the felting process. It is intended to bring people closer to the topic of sheeps wool as a renewable raw material, which we can find right in front of our doorstep – sustainability within reach!
The felt art hiking trail will be installed on a part of the already existing Taggerwaldweg (Tagger forest path), a signposted walking trail that leads mainly through a beautiful mixed forest. Moreover, there is also an idyllic meadow framed by the forest. Our municipality Kainbach bei Graz shares a border with Graz, the beautiful capital of Styria (UNESCO World Heritage Site!). This attraction offers an additional and certainly very popular destination for numerous tourists that will last for many years to come! Visits to the felt art hiking trail will be free of charge. We look forward to contributing to gentle eco-tourism! We intend to put up 20 stops along the way under the motto Felting. These will be designed by international artists.
Every now and then, we will also organize guided tours in combination with trial felting courses. The felted works of art will rot over time and / or be used by animals as their new home. Since this is the course of nature, we are happy about it and will also document this decay with photos, if possible.
We will then spontaneously decide when it is time to redesign the stop. We would also like to decorate the felt art hiking trail with a chain of felted flags (more information about this in Flag Project The idea is not new; there is already a felt art hiking trail in South Tyrol,
and Isabella Scherabon has already organized such a project in Austria twice. Unfortunately, the artworks could not stay in place for long then.
An opening event for our felt art hiking trail is expected to take place on 21st of September 2024.