Capital of Culture Neighborhood of the Month: A Recap
The Capital of Culture Neighbourhood of the Month project got underway in January 2009 with THE THREE WISE WOMEN wending their way through the Old City in search of hospitality. Accompanied by a film crew, they visited more than 70 private homes, institutions, offices, food & beverage establishments, etc., and presented the results of their investigations at discussion events held later the same evening. What has emerged from this effort is a fascinating 40-minute film, which will be publicly screened for the third time on Sunday, July 19, 2009 when The Three Wise Women make a guest appearance at "Bellevue. The Yellow House."MARCH 2009 – KLEINMÜNCHEN/AUWIESEN – ONE DAY AND ONE NIGHT IN A SUBURB
After “The Three Wise Women” got things off to a very successful start in Alte Innenstadt in January 2009, the Capital of Culture Neighborhood of the Month honors headed south in March. In Kleinmünchen and Auwiesen, 25 hosts—private households as well as associations and institutions—welcomed guests into their midst. The visitors came from near and far: Vienna, Krems, the Mühlviertel and Innviertel regions of Upper Austria, Ottensheim, Germany, and even other Linz neighborhoods.
“One day and one night in a suburb” actually carried on what “The Three Wise Women” initiated by examining what hospitality actually means in real life. The project’s initiators—Anita Pehamberger, Margareta Huber Huber and Christa Haberlik—would like nothing more than to make this an ongoing effort.
Next Presentation:
What hosts and guests experienced within the scope of their interactions will come out at a project presentation on May 20, 2009 at 7 PM in Tuchfabrik Auwiesen.
Access via public transportation: Take street car line 1 to the end of the line (Auwiesen); from there, it’s a 2-minute walk in the direction of travel (i.e. along Weidingerbach)
Additional Presentation:
Guest appearance at Bellevue. The Yellow House on Sunday, September 6, 2009
APRIL 2009 – DORNACH-AUHOF/KATZBACH
INTERFAITH AND INTERNATIONAL ENCOUNTER WITH ART - DORNACH GIVES YOU THE SHIRT OFF ITS BACK
Idea/Concept: Roman Catholic Parish of the Holy Ghost, Protestant Church of the Reconciliation Linz/Dornach, KHG–Association of Catholic University Students
Produced in cooperation with Linz Art University’s Textile Art & Design program and Dornacher Stub’n
The Capital of Culture Neighborhood of the Month in April 2009 was Dornach-Auhof/Katzbach. The lineup got underway on April 1 with a project entitled “Interfaith and International Encounter with Art - Dornach Gives You the Shirt Off Its Back.”
Three places of tranquility—sacred spaces with special qualities and unique atmospheres—offered settings for members of different religions, cultures and generations to come together in fellowship, and also provided venues for three exhibitions of textile art.
The Holy Ghost Church hosted an exhibition of carpets by Fritz Riedl, the first large-scale show of the artist’s work in Linz. Paper objects by Marga Persson formed a lovely stylistic ensemble with the space built by Roland Rainer in the Protestant Church of the Reconciliation. The third generation of textile artists was represented in the KHG’s Room of Tranquility: Lee Chen-Hao and Chang Ming-Chi, exchange students from Taiwan, presented textile objects strongly evocative of their homeland.
The vernissage of the “Dornach Gives You the Shirt Off Its Back” exhibition was on April 20, 2009 in the KHG. It featured 70 favorite articles of clothing of local residents, each piece accompanied by the personal story of its donor. The exhibition designed by students in the Linz Art University’s Textile Art & Design program ran until April 30. Here, the accent wasn’t on artistry or craftsmanship, but rather the garment’s personal significance and its relationship to the individual’s biography.
“The project intensified cooperation among the churches in the neighborhood and fostered communication among residents,” said Lothar Prah and Father Galtur, two representatives of the project staff, as they handed over the “art light” on May 2 at the opening of the “Völkergarten, Garden of Diversity” that kicked off Neue Innenstadt’s stint as Capital of Culture Neighborhood of the Month.
MAY 2009 - NEUE INNENSTADT, FROSCHBERG
GARDEN OF DIVERSITY
“Völkergarten: Garden of the Peoples, Garden of Diversity” in Linz’s Volksgarten Park was the highlight of Neue Innenstadt’s stint as Capital of Culture Neighborhood of the Month.
The program’s content dealt primarily with the linguistic diversity to be found in this part of town; accordingly, local residents made up the heart of this project. In conjunction with “Sprichcode – Export,” pupils at Goethe Elementary School wrote multilingual texts and gave dramatic readings of them in the park. In a “round-robin run” through the parks of Neue Innenstadt, youngsters played ping pong, boccie, badminton, soccer and lots of other games.
A Chechen, Croatian and Austrian cast performed Tim Etchells’ play “Quizoola!”
”From Off-sides to Integration” was an international soccer tournament featuring teams representing Linz’s immigrant associations.
Artistic interventions on site in Volksgarten recontextualized preexisting objects—monuments to Franz Stelzhamer and Friedrich Ludwig Jahn—and also dealt with the situation of Linz’s immigrants and asylum-seekers. There were performances of Pia Schauenburg’s “Hoamatgsang – A folk song” as well as Alexander Jöchl’s “Ain’t I a woman?” and “Vo(l)kabel.”
There were two open-air film screenings: short films—Ünal Uzunkaya’s “Vitrin,” Michael Petri’s “Butterbrot” and Sinisa Vidovic’s “Vater Morgana”—as well as “football under cover,” a documentary film by Ayat Najafi and David Assmann.
The GastGarten, the series of culinary offerings that accompanied the entire program of events, got underway with an international barbecue. Then, a rotating lineup of chefs showed off their gastronomic skills.
Juni 2009 – Bindermichl, Spallerhof, Keferfeld-Oed
On 3 June 2009 “Völkergarten” and Neue Innenstadt/Froschberg passed on the mantle of “Culture Capital Neighbourhood of the Month” to Bindermichl/Spallerhof and Keferfeld-Oed. What makes the new neighbourhoods at the centre of the two projects outlined below interesting is the circumstances to which they owe their existence. Built in the Nazi era as fallout from the construction of today’s voest, they also share certain architectural characteristics. In the two projects, “Zsammsitzn”, sponsored by VolksschuleV3, Stadlerschule, and “St Peter is dead. Long live St Peter!”, sponsored by Geschichteclub Stahl and three SPÖ housing sections, it was social, architectural and historical aspects of the neighbourhoods of Bindermichl/Spallerhof and Keferfeld-Oed that were showcased. More than 1,000 people paid the two projects a visit, both from nearby and from all over.
Zsammsitzn. Revitalising an interior courtyard in Bindermichl as a communication centre
The objective of the project was to infuse a Bindermichl interior courtyard with new life and to turn it into a place where residents and passers-by might want to drop in for a chat.
The pupils of Volksschule 43, Stadlerschule, spread the word that chairs were needed as gifts for a charitable project and managed to get hold of more than 150 of these. In June the chairs were given a thorough make-over by the school kids, who had professional guidance to realize their ideas. Part of the newly painted chairs will remain in the court¬yard as furniture for this open-air living room, part will live out the rest of their days in the school’s garden, and the rest was sold at an auction that netted around Euro 1,000, which went to the mother of a handicapped child in the neighbourhood.
Everybody thoroughly enjoyed the painting sessions, the project’s opening and closing events, both of which included a musical programme, and the visit to “Bellevue. The Yellow House” on Sunday, 12 July 2009. From autumn 2009 a photo documentation of the project will be on display in VS 43, Stadlerschule.
St Peter is dead. Long live St Peter!
An expedition into the past: The history of Linz turns over a new page
The project’s historical point of reference is the village of St. Peter/Zizlau, which had occupied an idyllic location on the bank of the Danube until its demolition in 1938. The site was needed for the construction of the Hermann-Göring-Werke, a project that had top priority for the Nazis. The 4,500 inhabitants were rehoused at short notice, and the suburbs Bindermichl, Keferfeld and Spallerhof were constructed in next to no time.
The rationale underpinning this project was to document 70 years of one aspect of Linz’s history in an intelligible manner and to make it accessible to as many people as possible. The exhibition will go on tour to Volkshäuser (Workers’ clubs) and to nearby parishes. The exhibits and a model of the village of St Peter will be brought to life on these occasions through music and contemporary witnesses.
August 2009 – How Did a Seahorse Get to the Danube?
Alt-Urfahr has maintained its small-town character to this day. The project crew set up a public living room amidst riverbanks, city squares and meadows that encouraged people to get together casually at meet-&-greet events and picnics, as well as to partake of a diversified series of events and productions. Gala opening and closing ceremonies featuring several local bands, a festive gathering to welcome the swimmers participating in Culture Bathing, summer film screenings and artistic interventions were staged in lovely public settings. Lots of locals expressed the wish for a reprise next year!
September 2009 – 1001 Tales of Franckviertel
Where structures are already in place, it’s easy to find narratives and things people have in common. The Neighborhood Center served as the hub of a network that included the Dorfhallenschule elementary school, HBLA secondary school, pro mente artistic & cultural association, and many other initiatives and individuals. The project staff collected countless stories told by local residents and presented them in a variety of forms: as photos printed on fabric banners hung in housing project courtyards, as posters displaying texts, as forum theater, and in casual fashion at the permanent breakfast. To be continued …
www.franck4.at
October 2009 – Wanderbank (The Wandering Bench)
Ebelsberg became expansive. An old pew made its way though Linz’s southern neighborhoods (Ebelsberg, solarCity, Pichling, Kleinmünchen and Auwiesen) for come-what-may encounters. And what came about was quite a bit: festivities, discussions, parties and get-togethers of a rather reflective, spiritual nature. The Wanderbank became the focal point of a broad spectrum of social groups and interests. It was transformed, realigned, occupied and relocated, and thereby came to symbolize communication. An idea that was as ingenious as it was simple!