Vernissage Friday from 7 to 9 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
When willow meets the future.
Traditional basketry meets digital design: artist Maria Öckler combines classic willow and unconventional materials with the virtually limitless possibilities of 3D printing.
The result is a collection of fascinating creatures that blur the line between nature and fantasy—sometimes familiar, sometimes surprising, but always reflecting a keen eye for form and material. An American Longhorn, a guinea fowl, and other fantastical beings demonstrate the playful way centuries-old craftsmanship can merge with modern technology.
At the Lichtenfels Basketry Festival, Maria Öckler’s extraordinary menagerie invites visitors to explore, marvel, and smile—while also revealing just how surprisingly contemporary the art of basketry can be.
Immersing Yourself in Another World
Descend deep into the medieval cellar of the "Archive of the Future," and suddenly, a different world begins to glow. The artist transforms the historic cellar into a mysterious underwater landscape. Floating jellyfish—crafted from luminescent material, woven elements, and unusual substances—seem to glide through the dark space. Light, transparency, and intricate structures combine to create fantastical creatures that exist somewhere between nature and imagination.
The unique appeal lies in the contrast: centuries-old masonry meets glowing materials; traditional basketry meets experimental design; the past meets the future.
An installation that invites you to immerse yourself, marvel, and discover—poetic, surprising, and a little removed from our everyday world.
MARIA ÖCKLER – Between Willow and the Future
Creativity has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Ideas are constantly emerging—often more than can be realized in a single lifetime. Order plays a rather minor role in this process; curiosity, imagination, and the joy of experimentation play a far greater one.
I discovered my passion for materials, forms, and craftsmanship at an early age. Today, two seemingly opposing worlds converge in my work: willow—with its natural, distinctive character—and 3D printing, with its virtually limitless possibilities. Traditional basketry meets digital design, and it is precisely within this interplay that something new emerges.
My work does not need to be perfect, pleasing, or functional. I am drawn to the unusual, the bizarre, and the fantastic. Forms are allowed to surprise, unsettle, or evoke a smile. Materials, colors, and textures may defy convention.
For me, art signifies freedom: experimenting, failing, changing, and starting anew. It means making thoughts visible and giving space to one’s own imagination.
After all, not everything has to serve a purpose. Some things are simply allowed to come into being.