Looking back on 2025: Pilgerland – Pilgrimage Landscape of the Novohradské Mountains

12. January 2026

Pilgerland is a project that aims to build and spread a soft version of nature conservation in connection with the spiritual experience of the landscape. The pilgrimage landscape of the Novohradské Mountains is intended to be a widely understandable concept that will outlive the Pilgerland project. Pilgerland is a kind of incubator for the pilgrimage landscape – it chooses art as a tool for igniting and spreading the idea.

The artistic approach was also a common thread running through our first activities in 2025.

Meeting in the countryside in 2025

During 2025, we organized several meetings with associations, institutions, and individuals who are actively involved in cultivating life, places, and the landscape of the Novohradské Mountains and foothills. We met in Pohoří na Šumavě and Pohorská Ves – places of historical pilgrimage significance. The main goal was to present the Pilgerland project and invite all participants to collaborate.

The program of both meetings included a workshop called Sluneční líheň (Sun Incubator) by artist Michaela Casková. Participants tried out the technique of natural dyeing of sheep's wool and at the same time paid attention to details in the landscape of both places. It is this more conscious perception of the landscape that is one of the general goals of the entire project.

Sunday, June 22, 2025, Pohoří na Šumavě, 910 m above sea level, solstice, sunny, 27°C, wind 4 m/s

Friday, August 8, 2025, Pohorská Ves, 760 m above sea level, harvest season, sunny, 25°C, wind 3 m/s

Workshop Sluneční líheň (Sun Incubator

The art of dyeing

Sun dyeing is the process of extracting dye from plants using the heat of the sun. The sun heats water (in a glass container) in which sheep's wool and plants are immersed. The dye is gradually released from the plant material and colors the wool. The geographical location and season affect the temperature and thus the resulting color. Over the course of several weeks to months, the soaked wool is thoroughly dyed and reaches its maximum color.

Ingredients

Preserving jar with lid, alum (pickling agent), small spoon, cloth bag, marker pen, wool yarn, collected plants, stone, water, sun, and time.
The wool we used comes from sheep from the Novohradské Mountains and Janov in Czechia.

Procedure

1. Go

where the plants lead you—through their appearance, scent, or touch
where you hear chirping, buzzing, rustling, or other sounds of the animal kingdom
where the air smells good or you feel the touch of the wind
where the landscape opens up
where you hear water or feel its coolness
where the shadows point
where the rhythm of your steps will lead you
where the landscape bears the imprints of human labor
where the landscape enchants you
where you can touch the history of the place to a place that remembers a lot
where the morning sun illuminates the front of the church
where you can devote yourself to contemplation

2. But keep in mind that you can only go so far or so deep without losing sight of the church, the meeting place.

3. When you stop, collect two handfuls of plants in a bag, ideally one species that grows most abundantly in the area.

4. And don't forget the stone.

Remember what the Gathering Community says:

Gather only as much as you need.
Eat only what you know.
Always leave some for others (organisms).
Gather sensitively.
Be a mindful visitor and a good neighbor.
Do not gather endangered and rare plants.

Do not pick mountain Arnica and May lily of the valley in Pohoří na Šumavě at the beginning of summer.

5. Stuff the collected plants and wool into the preserving jar. The wool should be in the middle, surrounded by as many plants as possible.

6. Add a pinch of alum. Alum is a mordant that binds the dye from the plants and preserves it in the wool.

7. Fill with water to the brim. Then weigh down the plants with a stone to keep them submerged. If necessary, add more water to minimize the air pocket and prevent the dye from fermenting too quickly.

8. Close the lid and write a message, memory, or thought from your day on it.

9. Place the jar in a sunny spot. The contents will mature over a period of several weeks to months.

What was your journey like, and where did it take you?

We also see the Pilgerland project as a shared journey, the goal of which is to connect local active groups and individuals and create opportunities for everyone to get involved. The direction of this journey is based on the landscape and specific ideas that arise from meetings and discussions.

As part of our collaboration, we offer curatorial support to all those who have decided to participate in the project, with the aim of helping them cultivate and direct selected themes. This also includes connecting with contemporary artists with whom we will develop these themes in 2026-2027.

10. The harvest is complete. Open the containers and separate the wool from the plants. Throw the plants on the compost heap and pour out the water. Rinse the dyed wool thoroughly in cold water and leave it to dry out of direct sunlight.

The dyed yarn made its way back to its creators. With sunny memories of summer, we all met again by the autumn fire, where we handed it over.

The entire process of the workshop and dyeing the wool, which had been macerating in jars for several months, is a metaphor for our annual meetings and preparations. Just as it takes time for plants to release their essence in the sun, the themes that emerged from our meetings are slowly maturing into specific artistic activities that we will launch next year.

Saturday, November 15, 2025, chapel at the former Mýtiny, 490 m above sea level, All Souls' Day, partly cloudy, 12°C, wind 6 m/s

The author of the Sun Incubator workshop is Michaela Casková.

Michaela Casková is a visual artist, educator, nomadic gardener, hostess, papermaker, illustrator, and collector with an eye for atmospheric phenomena. She has long been involved in collecting plants and mushrooms, which she uses to make her own pigments and inks, with which she paints and creates color palettes of places. In her studio, she continuously works on exhibitions and projects that often feature hand-woven wall carpets made of wool dyed with heather, spiderwebs, or kitchen scraps.

She is a member of the Finnish association Mustarinda, whose program focuses on the socio-ecological transformation of society by connecting contemporary art with interdisciplinary research, hosting residency programs, and educational and publishing activities.

Since 2019, Michaela has been working at the Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä, where she is part of the Evolution in Action team, co-creating teaching materials focused on the phenomena of evolution. In 2023, she collaborated on the Forest Pavilion for Children representing Lithuania at the Venice Architecture Biennale. She lives and works between the Czech Republic and Finland.