Zeit Geschichte vermitteln

It’s not mandatory, it’s not permitted … to say anything, write anything, react to anything. Cultural programs are mostly consumed passively; those partaking of them just sit around, stand around, walk around. This project reacted to this inactive state by launching new discourses and instigating response.

This initiative interlinked a number of individual Linz09 projects. Its approach was to make the city itself a setting in which to experience what went on here in the not-too-distant past. Because Linz is a place of memory and of commemoration. Because history is omnipresent here. And it’s everybody’s business: Linzers old and young, school classes, tourists, visitors, friends, guests and fans. They all posed questions, sought answers, got worked up, wrote, became enraged, were delighted or astounded. Some even laughed as they personally unraveled the threads of historical narratives, made them visible and integrated them into their daily lives. MEDIATING THE ENCOUNTER WITH MODERN HISTORY went forth in pursuit of traces of the past. Project staffers designed 10 discursive educational programs designed to make the past come alive for various age groups. From March to December 2009, children, young people and adults were invited to rediscover this city and its history.

WHAT // Mediation programms
WHEN // Throughout 2009
WHERE // In Linz and Upper Austria

IDEA / CONCEPT // Hannah Landsmann, Daniele Karasz, Adam Wieczorkowski

Linz under the Magnifying Glass

This series takes a close-up look at addresses and situations within the cityscape. Six times a year, the people of Linz will have the opportunity to get reacquainted with places that have played a key role in the recent history of this city—for example, the train station, the Main Square, the Jewish Cemetery. At each location, participants will be able to meet a guest who has his/her own special story to tell about the particular place, a narrative that raises thought-provoking questions. For instance, what role did the train station play for someone whose life as a so-called guest worker in Linz began here? This program is by no means a classical city tour; rather, it invites participants to pose questions, to voice their own views on issues, to get involved in a dialog between people and places, in conversations and discussions.

WHEN // April 2009

WHERE // Meeting point: Linz09 Infocenter

Category: History, Exploring the City

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