The Forest of Oma will open to the public in October
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The Forest of Oma faces its last painting phase. Nineteen artistic groups will be painted during this second and final phase of painting, which will take place from March until the end of summer 2023. The Forest will remain closed and can only be visited on guided tours by prior reservation on 94 465 16 57.
Two visits will be organised from 1 April from Monday to Sunday mornings, at 10.30 a.m. in Spanish and 12.30 p.m. in Basque, until September of this year and it is estimated that in October, once the work has been completed, it will be fully open to the public.
The painting process uses harmless paint and has sought to respect the same type of paint used by the artist and the process is being carried out in the same way in which the author painted the sets, that is, an initial work of identifying the most suitable spaces for each set, the viewing of the spaces and the appropriate perspectives, the making of sketches in situ, to finally move on to the manual painting of the same.
The deputy explained that "in September 2022 the first phase of the painting of the Oma Forest was completed. The development of the first phase has reiterated the complexity of the project, which requires the involvement of various areas of knowledge so that each from their perspective, their knowledge and their practice can contribute to and enrich the project". Bilbao Ibarra added that "The Forest of Oma is now facing its second and final phase of painting. The multidisciplinary team is once again starting to work on the ground to continue the painting process and will do so over the next few months until the work is completed".
In the first phase, carried out during the summer period of 2022, 14 artistic sets were completed as planned, with a total of 454 trees painted. The second phase of the transfer begins in March and will continue until the end of the summer with the painting of another 400 trees and 19 artistic groups, until the 33 artistic groups that make up the Oma Forest are completed.
Visit by reservation only
The Forest of Oma will remain closed to the public until its opening in October with The Forest of Oma completed. Until then it can only be visited on guided tours and by appointment by calling 944 65 16 57.
A more faithful and complete forest
The Forest that will be opened in October will be more cared for and sustainable, as the treatment and periodic care given to the plant element will be more appropriate to the biological rhythm of the forest, respecting the original vegetation and avoiding tasks that could affect its plant biotype. At the same time, the condition of each of the trees will be monitored individually and a safety system will be activated to act in case of fire or to react to emergency situations.
In addition, to make the experience more pleasant for visitors, the paths are being conditioned with an ecological substrate made up of crushed pine and cypress bark, and rest areas will be created along the route. And in order to make the visit even more fruitful, the points where visitors will have to place themselves in order to properly appreciate each artistic ensemble will be indicated.
The Forest will have connectivity, which will facilitate the use of resources to provide visitors with references to the artist or information to contextualise the work.
Incorporation of more trees
As a result of the detailed research, a re-reading of the Forest has been carried out, which has resulted in a project comprising 33 artistic ensembles captured in more than 800 trees. With this project launched by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and thanks to the work of the team headed by Fernando Bazeta, errors of concept and inadequate titles have been corrected and it has been possible to precisely define the elements that make up each of these groups and also their significance.
Likewise, the incorporation of a greater number of painted trees to various artistic groups such as Eyes, Coloured Circles, Enveloping Rhythms and Forest Animals complete these in the dimensions and characteristics in which the artist conceived them in his original design, and the recovery of three other groups that were already lost -Little Mosque of Cordoba, Homage to the Oak Tree and Nuclear Threat- allows us to enjoy the totality of the work in the Oma Forest. These groups were lost in 1989 due to felling by the owners of the land at that time.
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