A 19-Mile-Long Stage In Germany Gives You The Art Of The Moment

One of the best things about taking the train is enjoying the scenery while you travel. On today’s trains, passengers are most likely looking down at their phones while the beautiful landscapes rush by outside. However, if you chance to tour the German countryside in August, and actually raise your gaze from the mobile screen, you may see some strange things out of your window: bushes chasing the train, traffic lights in the middle of the field… Wait! What?Show more

This is the Bewegtes Land Project. The term “Bewegtes Land” means “moving land”, and it is the brainchild of two Bauhaus University professors. Flashes of art are provided by 400 volunteer residents along a 19 mile (30 kilometers) stretch of track. The art mixes reality and fantasy and is presented at a rapid pace. It ranges from people racing the train on foot, to catching a great white shark. The idea is to surprise passengers and make them laugh with performances that last only a few seconds.

Bewegtes Land offers live-action snippets of entertainingly simple theater for train passengers on a real-life 19-mile-long moving stage.

The art reflects a fast-moving world with so much information that we cannot absorb it properly. For the volunteers, it is a fun way to spend their summer weekends and it brings the community together. These days, we could all do with some eye contact, community engagement, and a little more laughter in our lives.