Enchanted 
Garden
© Enchanted Garden 2026
                           

ABOUT


Enchanted Garden is a trans-media platform celebrating the garden. In an annual gathering we bring together ideas and impressions about this topic from different approaches and disciplines. Originally conceived as a film festival, other art forms – performance, photography, music, etc.—were later integrated.

It is in the nature of the garden to be a shape-shifting place – which is one reason why we want to make this our concept. As we contemplate it for its beauty, it does not cease to grow – ever expanding, weaving, whispering, deceiving, listening, understanding. While the first edition was a three-day event in the city of Vienna, with a programme including an exhibition, performances, concerts and workshops, the second took place in the Gesäuse National Park, a less tamed landscape, with film screenings, artist talks and hands-on workshops under the stars. An exhibition in the forest followed 2025.

ENCHANTEMENT (n.)


c. 1300, enchantement, „act of magic or witchcraft; use of magic; magic power,“ from Old French encantement „magical spell; song, concert, chorus,“ from enchanter „bewitch, charm,“ from Latin incantare „enchant, cast a (magic) spell upon,“ from in- „upon, into“ (from PIE root *en „in“) + cantare „to sing“ (from PIE root *kan- „to sing“). Figurative sense of „allurement“ is from 1670s. Compare Old English galdor „song,“ also „spell, enchantment,“ from galan „to sing,“ which also is the source of the second element in nightingale.

This website was designed by Ilka Gilvesy. 
You can view more of her work in her website: ilkagilvesy.com or contact her via igilvesy1@gmail.com
Contact us via DM on Instagram or send us a mail to enchantedgarden2024@gmail.com <3


Touching Grass Exhibition 2026
August 23rd
outdoor location TBA (Donauinsel)



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The feeling of someone’s fingers on your skin. Water embracing you as you take your first stroke across the river. Grass beneath your bare feet. Wind brushing through your hair. Gentle, tender, curious. A tattoo on your hip that reminds you of someone. A gentle touch moving up your leg. A kiss pressed against your collarbone. bed sheets left on the floor. Rope marks, imprinted on your wrist. The vibration that moves through you when you see someone you love. Your body relaxing in the arms of someone you trust. A playful tongue grazing your neck. Naughty, cheeky, sweet. A stronger breeze pushes you against a tree. 

What is sexuality, and what is sensuality? Where does the line between them lie? Can the line lie?

This year, in the second edition of Touching Grass, we are focusing on sexuality, with nature as a space that can hold our feelings - a quiet, meditative environment where we can listen to our bodies, where no sounds or movements interrupt that listening. A place where we do not have to wear a mask or perform, where we can simply be ourselves. Together, we will reflect on what sexuality means to us in relation to our own bodies, following the delicate boundary between the sensual and the sexual.

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The exhibition is a community-based, non-hierarchical event taking place on Sunday, August 23rd, 2026, on Donauinsel (exact location TBA).


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APPLICATION

We welcome submissions in all artistic media. In particular, we encourage proposals for happenings, performances, lectures, and other experimental forms. As the event takes place outdoors, we will not be able to exhibit works that require electricity. However, we are planning an evening screening with a portable projector, so films and video works are very welcome. 

The event takes place in a public outdoor space rather than a n enclosed gallery, so please keep this in mind when choosing your work. While this exhibition focuses on sexuality, we would like to maintain a mediative and reflective environment centered on artworks, happenings, and our feelings, without entering the realm of a sex space. Please also be considerate of other beings - human and non-human -whom we may encounter in the forest. 

To apply, please send us a short description of your work or idea, along with images or links if available, and links to your social media accounts. We strongly encourage all participants to be present at the event to that we can find the most suitable placement for each work together. If you are unable to attend, just let us know - we will do our best to find a good solution. 

Submissions are open until August 1st. Please send your application to touching.grass.exhibition@gmail.com with the subject „Open Call Application“.

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ARCHIVE

Touching Grass Exhibtion 

August 29th, 2025 // Vienna, Austria


We say nature heals. We say “touch the grass”. Nature softens the weight we carry, the invisible heaviness of anxiety, fear, sadness, feelings that we carry around. When you are feeling overwhelmed, down, anxious, or depressed, when everything feels too much, going into nature - touching trees and plants, swimming in the icy cold water, being away from people, disappearing - often brings relief, but it’s not just nature itself that heals and soothes us. In nature, there are no social expectations, no roles, no norms. There are no names, no pronouns, no right ways to behave. Nature offers freedom - from performance, from rules. It allows space to be who we are. Who we want to be. Who we are becoming. Who we imagine ourselves to be. A man, a woman, a person, a living body. Alone and in tune with oneself. No one needs to call a name and it’s enough to just be.

Can we become “one with nature“ again? Have we ever been separated? Do we want to be? Nature has long been seen as a healer, a parent, a caretaker, an infinite giver - do you remember the children’s story “The Giving Tree”? - but we are or can be a part of nature too - see it as our equal, a friend, a lover. Nature cares for us, can we take care of it in return? Can we meet it as our equal? 


2025 version of the Garden was showing itself in the form of an outdoor exhibition, curated by Elias Strebkov and Johanna W. Olivier.








IMAGES FROM THE ARCHIVES