Johannes Steidl's football field installation at Artpicnic in Wabern

The first edition of Artpicnic in Wabern, near Bern, Switzerland, took place from May 10 to July 6, 2008, as part of the cultural program for Euro 2008. The event featured around sixty artists along a three-kilometer 'artistic promenade' from Mount Gurten to the Aare River. Austrian multimedia artist Johannes Steidl created a site-specific installation: a grid of white bands resembling a football field in a meadow near a campsite, where locals gathered to relax, picnic, and play ball. Other notable works included Anne-Claire Budin's flag tablecloths in the forest, Erik Hable's phosphorescent lights, Jürg Hugentobler and Barbara Wiggli's ephemeral house, Hilda Staub's luminous discs near the funicular, and Rudolf Steiner and Barbara Meyer Cesta's life-sized horse suspended from the bell tower of St. Michael's Church. Steidl was one of the few artists to directly engage with the football theme. The event was a partnership between Bern, Salzburg, and Vienna.