The art is female and is ALSO made by women!

Action 10.4.2013 and press release from 9.4. 2013 by FIFTITU%

So, it's almost time - the Upper/Austrian media have been counting down to the opening of the Linz Music Theater for months now. Everything is beautifully prepared, everyone is already excited.
But there are more reasons "to get excited" than just this one.

In 2000, in an amendment to the Cultural Promotion Act, the state of Upper Austria gave itself the binding mandate to invest 1.5% of the construction sum in "art in architecture" for public buildings.

With a funding framework for the music theater of 150 million euros, this is a "pretty penny". In fact, 1.2 million euros were spent on "art in construction". Wonderful! And where is the excitement, the outrage? Good question - obviously not among those responsible.

Here is a brief summary of what happened:
At the beginning of 2012, "14 renowned and internationally recognized artists from all over Austria" (information on the press conference, 5.9.12, Landeskorrespondenz Medieninfo) were invited by the Cultural Directorate of the Province of Upper Austria together with Musiktheater Linz GmbH to take part in the "Kunst am Bau - Musiktheater" competition."
To date, it has not been possible to find out who these artists were and the "oh-so-important transparency" has degenerated into lip service. A further 7 men and 2 women(!) gathered around the state cultural director Dr. Reinhard Mattes on the jury, which then had the task of nominating 5 proposals with a total value of 1.2 million euros.

On September 5, 2012, Governor Pühringer, Commercial Director of the Königstorfer Music Theatre and one of the selected artists - Oliver Dorfer - sat at the press conference and announced with beaming faces what a great success they had achieved. The provincial governor stated: "We also have to give such a once-in-a-century building the right artistic design."
apparently only the men can do it "properly".

All of the "Kunst am Bau" projects at the Musiktheater were awarded exclusively to men. The fact that not a single female artist is involved is not mentioned at all. (Even the ORF Upper Austria only timidly states on 5.9.12: "No work by a female artist selected" - not enough for more.)
But that's not all, even a generous donation from Gottfried Mairwöger also finds a place in the theater's "KünstlER-Lichthöfe". On April 10, 2013, a work by the Linz artist Elisabeth Plank will also be added (see info below)

So much ignorance and brute force is the bottom of the barrel. There is outrage and incomprehension in the women artists' scene. Protests are being voiced, culminating in the FIFTITU% "Women Artists in Construction" action at the Linz Music Theatre on International Women's Day on March 8.

So let's summarize:
The Musiktheater was designed by the architect Terry Pawson, "Kunst am Bau" and a donation come from 6 artists (the work of Elisabeth Plank was added later), the Musiktheater is directed by Messrs Mennicken, Königstorfer and Russel Davies. Until recently, not even the Musiktheater homepage was gender-inclusive. There was only THE audience and THE artist. FIFTITU% could now claim that this press release played a role in this - we'd rather it hadn't caught our eye at all.

Back to the art in architecture projects: This really can't fill us with pride, quite the opposite. It's a shame that at the beginning of the 21st century we still have to remind ourselves of things that are supposedly self-evident. We are fed up with Sunday speeches. - Art is female and is ALSO made by women!

Information and links:

11.4.2013 Governor Dr. Josef Pühringer: The music theater presents itself as a "House of the Arts"

Information on the press conference, 5.9.12, Landeskorrespondenz Medieninfo

ORF Upper Austria from 05.09.2012

PocketTV of the action of dorfTV

Report Oberösterreich heute from 10.4.2013

www.facebook.com/fiftitu.vernetzungsstelle

Women in construction - March 8