The Online Club: Art for All in Sweden and Switzerland

From sacred monuments to public playgrounds for the mind — outdoor sculpture has always shaped our shared spaces. Read how two institutions inspired us with their vision at our June Online Club.

Humankind has always created outdoor sculptures, as expressions of religious beliefs or symbols of ruling powers.  In the 20th century, art in public space became a free and open form, offering pleasure and reflection for all. Two outdoor sculpture exhibitions - Bad Ragartz in Switzerland and OpenArt in Sweden continue this tradition and pave the way for the future of open air art exhibitions across Europe. 

Beginning the discussion, Rebekka Good-Hohmeister and Lukas Hohmeister from Bad Ragartz in Switzerland gave an overview of the history of the organisation. Bad Ragartz is one of Europe’s largest open-air sculpture exhibitions and was founded in 2000 by Esther and Rolf Hohmeister. It is held every three years across Bad Ragaz, Vaduz (Liechtenstein), and the Altes Bad Pfäfers in Switzerland. The festival transforms the towns into a vast sculpture park, showcasing contemporary art from around the world. 

Bad Ragartz is collectively run by the three generations of the Hohmeister family, with grandchildren Rebekka Good-Hohmeister and Lukas Hohmeister now taking the reins.

Making Art Accessible 

Bad Ragartz was founded with the goal of making art accessible to all. Since its beginning there have been 9 iterations of the festival. The 2024 edition featured 450 sculptures from 88 artists hailing from 19 different countries.
The home of the festival is in the small town of Bad Ragaz located in the south east of Switzerland with a population of 7000 people. Yet the sprawling exhibition brings in over a million visitors. 
Sculptures are exhibited across the region often in remote locations including Kan Yasuda’s sculpture, “Tensin”. The marble sculpture weighs around 15 tons and travelled from Carrara, Italy to be exhibited on the edge of the Swiss alps.

Looking ahead 

They have recently introduced the ‘Lab for Young Artists’ which supports 10 emerging artists from ages 18-30 to realise a sculpture for the exhibition. This program will return for the 2027 iteration. 
The next edition of Bad Ragartz will be the 10th edition of the exhibition marking an important contribution of sculpture in the area. Sculptural submissions for Bad Ragartz and for the ‘Lab for Young Artists’ will open on October 6 2025.

Invading the City 

Next, Sofia Gustafsson, from OpenArt - The Art Biennial in Örebro joined to share more about the public art biennale in Sweden. OpenArt is a contemporary art biennial held every second summer in Örebro, Sweden, since 2008. It turns the whole city into an open-air gallery, featuring artworks by 100 artists from around the world in streets, parks, and public spaces. 
A fundamental part of the exhibition is creating meaningful interactions between sculptures and audiences. Many of the sculptures they exhibit encourage active participation and interaction with the audience. 
OpenArt began as a government initiative to bring art to the people of Örebro. Sofia described the exhibition as ‘Invading the city’ every two years. During the biennale residents of Örebro encounter artwork daily whether it’s on their way to work or going grocery shopping. It is part of an overall strategy by the municipality to encourage engagement with arts and culture in Örebro. Since its inception in 2008 the biennale has continued to grow and now attracts over 160,000 visitors from outside of Örebro.

 

The biennale consists of 80-100 artworks that engage with critical contemporary debates through their sculptures. The work is often loud and playful yet they draw audiences to engage with critical contemporary debate. 

Highlights from previous editions include Valeria Montti Colque’s artistic installation titled, “El Rey gick ovan el Rainbow blev en vacker Rosa, fest måltid på Ekekas Mantel”, from 2024. In this work Valeria transformed an existing sculpture of Karl XIV Johan, the former king of Sweden and Norway, into La Ekeka - a goddess created by the artist. She makes reference to El Ekeko, the Andean god that brings prosperity to the people—the stony king is transformed into a warmhearted Ekeka.  

Driving OpenArt Forward 

Looking forward, engagement with new audiences continues to drive OpenArt. The open call for the 2026 edition of the biennale has now closed but they will open for submissions again in January 2027. 

Both OpenArt and Bag Ragartz are outstanding examples of the importance and value of open-air sculpture exhibitions. And how accessible, exciting and engaging public sculptures can enrich the lives of millions of people. 

Myfanwy Halton wrote this text in English.