Oma Forest

The Oma Painted Forest (Bosque de Oma) is one of the most unusual and memorable art experiences in the Basque Country — a pine forest near the village of Kortezubi in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve in Bizkaia whose trees have been transformed into an open-air gallery by Basque artist Agustín Ibarrola. Between 1982 and 1996, Ibarrola painted geometric patterns, human figures, eyes, and abstract motifs directly onto hundreds of the pine tree trunks, creating an artwork that exists only in relation to the landscape and to the movement of the viewer through it.

The experience is deliberately perceptual: the painted elements are positioned on adjacent trees in such a way that when viewed from specific angles and distances, they combine to form complete images — a face emerges from the patterns on three separate trunks when standing at the right point on the path, or a series of concentric circles on widely spaced trees align into a single eye when viewed from the correct position. Moving through the forest constantly reveals and dissolves these compositions in a kinetic visual experience unlike any conventional gallery.

The forest is located on a hillside above the Urdaibai valley, reached via a track from Kortezubi. A self-guided trail with interpretive panels follows the principal painted sections and takes approximately one hour to complete at a leisurely pace. The forest is freely accessible throughout the year, though the path can be muddy after rain.

Ibarrola has been a controversial figure in the Basque Country — ETA members destroyed many of the paintings in 1998 in opposition to the artist's political views, and some trees have since been repainted or remain scarred by axe marks. This history of art and political violence gives the forest an additional layer of meaning.