Installation Biennale

The installation BIRCHES & LIGHT is part of the BID – Biennale Internazionale Donna, an international biennial dedicated to the perspectives of contemporary female artists.

In the satellite project “The Bohemian Life Lies by the Sea,” fifteen Austrian artists are integrated into an international dialogue. Curated by Marlene Elvira Steinz, a space for resonance is created in Sistiana, where artworks address questions of identity, vulnerability, femininity, and agency.

In this context, BIRCHES & LIGHT explores the phenomenon of light as an artistic material and as the origin of life.

A Space Becomes a Forest of Light

With BIRCHES & LIGHT, the exhibition space is transformed into a silent, breathing forest of light—an experiential space between nature, fragility, and technical precision.

Fine light guides permeate delicate woven structures made of white filament yarn. Supported by a transparent mesh structure, they begin to glow—not uniformly, but vibrantly. Light travels through the material, emerging in unexpected places and forming floating, corporeal structures in the space.

The light objects appear like fragile beings—half nature, half light—making the space not only visible but also tangible.

Real birch trunks and leaves are an integral part of the installation. They support, connect, and structure the space. Sometimes they stand individually like silent sentinels, sometimes they appear in triads or connect wall segments. This creates a spatial choreography between organic nature and deliberate placement.

Together with soft sounds of nature, an atmosphere unfolds between density and openness—a place that slows down perception and directs the gaze to the fleeting nature of light.

Light as origin and artistic material

Light is far more than a physical phenomenon. It is a source of energy, the basis of life, and the carrier of atmosphere. Even Albert Einstein described light as a puzzle that occupied him throughout his life. For me, light is both a scientific phenomenon and a poetic material.

With BIRCHES & LIGHT, I explore this tension: light as intangible matter, as movement, and as a force that shapes space and perception.

The presentation in the Trieste area also marks an important step in making Austrian light art visible within a European context.

ATARA/Heike Stuckstedde’s participation is supported by the Austrian Cultural Institute in Milan.

BID dates: March 28, 2026 to May 3, 2026
Opening: March 27, 2026, 11:00 a.m. (starting in Sistiana, from 4:30 p.m. at Magazino 26)

BID venues:
*Magazzino 26, Porto Vecchio, Trieste
*Satellite project: Portopiccolo Art Gallery, Sistiana, Trieste

www.bidartbiennale.com