Experimental arrangements in the political-feminist field of tension 

FIFTITU% - Networking Center for Women* in Art and Culture and Medienwerkstatt Wien in cooperation with the University of Art and Design Linz present We are working on it: Experimental arrangements in the political-feminist field of tension 

Participating artists and collectives
Fatima El Kosht / Gerda Lampalzer / Martyna Lorenc / Aline Matuschek / Hanna Schimek / Adriana Torres Topaga / fem*-Kollektiv-Voice / das kollektiv / maiz / VIMÖ / YOUnited / students of the University of Art and Design Linz in cooperation with Rebekka Hochreiter and Oona Valarie Serbest

Opening:
Wednesday, 6. March 2024, 19:00
Opening talk with the artists: Nora Landkammer

Where:
splace am Hauptplatz
Hauptplatz 6, 4020 Linz

Exhibition duration & opening hours:
6. March - March 22, 2024
MI / DO / FR 13.00 to 17.00 h

The dialogical spatial installation WIR ARBEITEN DRAN explores the interweaving of art, actionism, research, knowledge exchange and institutional critique.

The starting point is a playful yet serious artistic dialog between Gerda Lampalzer and Hanna Schimek from 1990/91, in which the artists' specific expertise was shared. In the form of "exercises", mini projects were proposed to each other by letter, which were in the sender's field of expertise. In this way, Gerda Lampalzer and Hanna Schimek were encouraged to make "dilettantish" attempts, which were then assessed professionally in further correspondence. Parallel to the artistic practice between image and text production, an extensive humorous correspondence developed, which makes the atmosphere between artistic friendship and serious debate even more vivid.

What was still a personal exchange between two female artists in 1990/91, which was not placed in a theoretical context, can be seen in an updated context in 2024 "revisited". Under the title KEINE NATURSTUDIE, KEIN ERLEBNISAUFSATZ, PHILOSOPHISCH, MÖGLICHST GROSS (Produktion: Medienwerkstatt Wien), the retrospective project presentation is the impetus for the collaboration with FIFITU% to connect to ideas of anti-hierarchical knowledge concepts, shared artistic research, non-institutional knowledge production, visualization of tacit knowledge, horizontal knowledge transfer as a potential, model and catalyst for a sustainable change in society. Emancipatory community building is more necessary than ever.

The artist* Adriana Torres Topaga creates multiple and participatory experimental arrangements that illuminate feminist practices in the context of SUMAK KAWSAYthe right to a good life. Her work, which critically examines the global impact of consumption and the appropriation of natural resources by multinational corporations in Colombia, forms the basis for the integration of transformative and generative processes. These approaches transform the entire project into a political act and a working space for feminist and collective practice.

The fem* collective Voice, initiated by Fatima El Kosht and Martyna Lorenc, will develop an open laboratory for interdisciplinary collaboration and the exchange of communication through movement and repetition. Through the practice of body percussion, current feminist struggles will be contextualized and a common language will be developed in transformative processes to create new forms of communication and understanding.

maiz and das kollektiv, two migrant organizations in Linz, present inventories and demands regarding the design of public space in the city centre of Linz. Students from various courses in both organizations call on urban planning to fulfil one of its important social functions: to realize the right to the city for disadvantaged groups. By poetically taking possession of the steps in front of the splace on Hauptplatz, they are expanding - in collaboration with VIMÖ - Verein Intergeschlechtlicher Menschen Österreich and YOUnited, a queer youth group in Upper Austria - brought the exhibition into public space. Inspired by the motto "Last year I died, but this year I won't die!", they unite their voices with the many other queer feminist voices in resistance and in the fight for a good life for all living people.

And finally, in cooperation with Rebekka Hochreiter and Oona Valarie Serbest, students from the University of Art and Design Linz will use the intergenerational format to promote self-determined articulation and change through their own interventions for a political-feminist practice. Among other things, a rest/break room will be set up and equipped with vulva cushions by Aline Matuschek. By activists for activists! 

Production: FIFTITU% -Vernetzungsstelle für Frauen* in Kunst und Kultur and Medienwerkstatt Wien in cooperation with the University of Art and Design Linz

FIFTITU%
FIFTITU% has been consistently campaigning for better conditions in the arts and culture for women* in the arts and culturefor over 25 years and cultural sector for Fwomen, Lesben, Inter, N non-binary, Trans and Agender people. As a feminist forum and innovative association, FIFTITU%closes the gap between regional culture, contemporary art and digital projects. The inclusion of current site-specific cultural work and process-oriented collaborations play a key role in this. With a comprehensive range of advice, professionalization and cultural policy initiatives, FIFTITU% contributes significantly to the promotion of fairness and diversity in Austria. The recognition of this work is reflected in the awarding of the Grand Provincial Culture Prize for proactive cultural work by the Province of Upper Austria in 2023 and 2002 and the State Prize "outstanding artist award" in 2018.

Medienwerkstatt Wien
The Medienwerkstatt Wien was founded in 1978 as a non-commercial video studio. With the implementation of several participatory media projects, it became the most important Austrian center for independent media production in the early 1980s. This makes it one of the longest functioning models, which - run as a collective of artists - has reflected, communicated and helped shape the ongoing development of media art in both technological and theoretical terms.

Financially supported by the exhibition and event funding of the University of Art and Design Linz

Collage © Adriana Torres Topaga