A journey into East Frisia's past begins with the entry into the Ihlow Forest.
There, the artist Monika Kühling from Funnix has used ribbons, flags, banners and cloths to manifest the basic law of Frisian freedom, the so-called "history and freedom", in the forest. This so-called land art project guides hikers on their way to the monastery and is intended to symbolize a bridge between the independence of the Frisians and the motto of the Cistercian monks "ora et labora" (pray and work). Both are inextricably linked to the history of East Frisia and Ihlow. The monastery near the "Upstalsboom" - the meeting place of the Free Frisians - formed the chancellery and archive of the all-Frisian movement of "Frisian freedom". The seal of the monks of Ihlow also became the symbol of the Free Frisians in the Middle Ages.
Frisian freedom means:
self-determination, responsibility, collective action, democracy and tolerance. But also: lightness, colorfulness, cosmopolitanism, freedom and space. Monika Kühling's land art project conveys all of this with its personal, artistic associations. And so a fantastic play of wind and flags, tracks and banners, old trees and ancient texts was created. Symbols of liveliness and freedom.
(Text excerpt from: Uda von der Nahmer/Bernhard Buttjer)