wahreswien
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In Search of the Real Vienna
An A-Levels Project in Cooperation with a KKA Artist in Residence
In a project they will be submitting as part of their A-Levels requirements, four students at HLMW9 Michelbeuern, an upper secondary school focussing on business professions, fashion and dressmaking, in Vienna’s ninth district, have proven that dialogue events with artists in schools can be more than just interesting and inspiring moments.
When, in March 2010, the Croatian artist Tonka Malekovic came to their school to give a workshop, no one could have predicted that a longer-term cooperation project would develop out of the visit.
At the first workshop meeting, Malekovic, who at the time was spending three months in Vienna as a KKA Artist in Residence, told the students about the artwork she had created during her stay. Her theme had been the Vienna underground and the different architectonic designs of several of the stations. She had supplemented her videos with snapshots of Vienna in late winter.
Patrick Denk, Alexander Külcü, Christoph Schörg und Daniel Weilinger also wanted to use the theme of public spaces in their A-Levels project, and they had the idea of developing and realising their project in cooperation with Tonka Malekovic. They hoped that she would give them inspiration, new points of view and new methods of working, but above all technical support with their photography and filming.
The four students contacted the artist, and she was ready and willing to work with them. Their teachers also promised their support for the project.
After e-mail correspondence lasting several months, the students met with the artist in person. They presented their initial ideas and all the questions that they wished to consider in their search for a different, real Vienna: How do the residents of this city relate to its public spaces? Do they perceive them as their own? And how public is public space altogether? How are public spaces used, and how does this reflect the social fabric? What clichés determine – and sometimes distort – our perception of our public spaces? After intensive initial discussions, the young people explored Vienna with Malekovic, from the Lobau wetlands to Wotrubakirche church. The photos taken by the artist during these explorations are currently being examined, and will serve as signposts for further exploration and research. The students will document the process with photos, videos and audio recordings, with Malekovic providing technical support and advice.
The artistic and documentary results will be publicly presented at KKA’s Gallery ArtPoint.
KKA, Annemarie Türk
Exhibition: 29. 02. 2012, 07.00 pm
Location: Gallery ArtPoint, Universitässtraße 5, 1010 Vienna
Artists in Residence go to School
Since 2007, KKA Artists in Residence have also had the opportunity to work in cooperation with Austrian schools: In the context of KKA dialogue events, artists from South Eastern Europe and Turkey working in the fields of fine arts and literature introduce their techniques and approaches to pupils of all school types and levels in process-oriented workshops.
