The Art Trail of the Orti Nature Reserve

Parking on Rue de la Gare in Amberloup, near the Post Office.

(S/E) With your back to the N826 and the football pitch on your left, walk to the junction with the N829. Cross over and head diagonally left onto the path running behind the bus stop and the municipal garages.

Signposting:^GR®14and 57 variant via the Orti Reserve

(1) Ignore the steps on your left; you’ll come back this way. Keep to your right and walk past the barbecue area with picnic tables, orchard and apiary. Approach the^{1st waterfall}and then continue along the path, which becomes more enclosed. Take the footbridge over the Laval and look up to see the^{2nd waterfall}. Continue along the boardwalk, which allows you to cross the valley without getting your feet wet and reach the pond in the Orti Nature Reserve.

(2) Carry on to the left and at the next junction keep left. From there, look out for the^third artwork along the route: 13 words written in gold leaf on standing trees, on the ground, or on stones... Then discover the^fourth artwork, which allows you to wade across the stream crossing the path. Enter the forest and walk until you reach a fork.

(3) Keep left and follow the stream. On your left, you’ll find a beaver dam, and on the opposite bank, the^fifth artwork: a red vine about 100 metres long. Ignore the paths on your right and you’ll come to a footbridge. Discover the^sixth artwork beneath it. Cross over and head straight on until you reach the house. Turn left to see the^7th artwork. Retrace your steps and continue along the path to the crossroads.

^GR® 14 and 57 signposts

(4) Turn left and walk along the old Marche-Amberloup-Martelange railway line. Discover the^8th artwork after the bridge over the Ourthe Occidentale and, a little further on, the^9th and final artwork. Return to the steps and climb them.

(1) At the top, turn right and follow the path back the way you came to reach the car park near the Post Office (S/E).

It is not advisable to walk this circular route during prolonged periods of rain or during floods, as the meadow before the (4) will sometimes be under water up to calf height. It is impossible to go round it.

Picnic tables: a little further on from the (1), at the (2).

It’s a short distance but cannot be done with a pushchair.

From October to December, please be aware of hunting dates; we use part of the Orti walk.

No water along the route; refreshments are available near the Town Hall at the roundabout on Rue des Trois Ponts (N829) or at Fritestop, Rue de la Vallée de l'Ourthe (N826).

During

1/ This is a tree by Koen Van Elsen (Warempage). A dead tree that ‘comes’ to life – a metaphor. A tree connects the sky to the earth, like the tentacles of an octopus. The vertical glass veins symbolise water and minerals drawn from the earth and rising upwards. Combined with solar energy, new cells develop.
The glass at the tips of the truncated branches reflects meadows, clouds, the sky... They draw our attention to the environment.
Materials: oak, glass – 2019

2/ Maiandros by Alexandre Rossignon ‘Norska’ (Coutisse). Maiandros, or meanders, to evoke the confluence of the Laval and the Ourthe. A work that welcomes and sets the tone through the symbolism of arms, of the meanders formed by a river as it winds through a wetland. The meander of life, the passage from one bank to the other. A riverbed that shifts with the seasons, water levels and rainfall; one could almost speak of a braided riverbed…
A mural made of steel blades that vibrate in the wind, undulate, not to say flow… A flow, a current, a movement in the plane, that of arms and meanders.
Materials: twisted steel, cables – 2019

3/ At the Fontaine Ford by Alexandre Rossignon ‘Norska’ (Coutisse). A stream, a playground, a child’s dream – of the channel, the waterfall, the fountain. A work embodying the movement of water.
An experience: that of crossing the water on a small, simple yet sturdy structure. A monolithic work to embody movement and offer substance to the passer-by.
The intention is also to enhance the quality of the site by removing obstacles and improving oxygenation of the watercourse.
Take the time to build a waterwheel using materials provided by nature. Follow this link to find out the dimensions.
Materials: 12 mm steel sheet – 2019

4/ Poetic writings by Alexandre Rossignon ‘Norska’ (Coutisse) with Francesca Scarito (Brussels). Words (13) like waves, affixed to gold leaf, on a tree trunk, a stone… in the wetland, the spruce forest, along the route. It’s up to you to find them!
Materials: gold leaf – 2019

5/ Alga by Alexandre Rossignon “Norska” (Coutisse). A thread, a flow, a stream, a horizontal line, a continuity, a length, an infinity. A vine, an organic filament ~100m long, a long seaweed… blood-red… a plant vein? A vital flow… From a distant source towards an unknown beyond.
Materials: ash branches, rope, paint – 2019

6/ The Swimmer by Alexandre Rossignon ‘Norska’ (Coutisse). The playfulness, the magic of swimming, of diving, of movement, of the wave. A silhouette, half-fish, half-man, a swimmer. A light silhouette made of golden metal filaments. A silhouette gliding through the current.
Materials: steel, gold paint – 2019
A work that is both substantial and discreet, yet unexpected.

7/ Domino d'Orti by Kris Rabaut (Erneuville). A work that expresses the complex, fragile and sometimes paradoxical balance found in wetlands and nature in general. “During my visits to the Orti site, I was struck by the constant changes: the water level rising or falling, the current growing stronger or calming down, trees falling,… a dam forming,… a complex interplay of forces and actors at work… arising from nothing; forces that one day collaborate with one another and the next day, fight against each other.” Domino d’Orti expresses this interplay of tension between these forces, sometimes in collaboration, sometimes in conflict, whether apparent or invisible. Like a spiral of dominoes, when one element is removed, the balance is broken and the whole collapses.
Some may also interpret this as the work of the beaver, which is very much present on the site.
Small holes drilled into the wood provide a home for our pollinators.
Materials: Douglas fir, black locust pegs, Paalupiste galvanised steel piles – 2019

8/ Water, Source of Life by Georges Blaise (Grune). “Drop by drop, it drips, becoming a puddle, a pool, a pond, or trickling towards the river. It feeds the water table and creates the wetlands essential for combating flooding and soil erosion during storms and thunderstorms. Woman and man unite and give life. By holding the drop of water at arm’s length, woman and man are the guardians of the preservation and restoration of wetlands, on which countless species of aquatic plants and animals depend.”
Materials: Belgian blue stone, 10 mm steel – 2019

9/ NATURA JURA SUA SEMPER RESUMIT or "Nature always reclaims its rights" by Guy Fagny (Vance). “Like a wide-eyed child who carefully picks up what they have found on the ground and protects it in a makeshift container, the cylinder simply encircles the chosen trunk and whispers a message of caution and preservation to passers-by.
The tree will continue to produce its branches. It will grow within a casing that jealously reveals its richness. From time to time, as the seasons pass, depending on its vigour, if necessary, it will be tended… If, unfortunately, the plant falls ill, or worse still, dies, the casing will be moved and serve as a case for another tree…
Nature will reclaim its rights, but man will once again be able to harmoniously control the excesses of new branches or encourage them by balancing, as he sees fit, the steel placed there and the vegetation’s growth.”
A small insect hotel is concealed behind the perforations in the steel.
Materials: 5 mm Corten steel – 2019