Arts and Culture
-Artists create space and freedom for inspiration and critical reflection. During the European Forum Alpbach, their visions and poetic idylls invite new perspectives on the issues facing society. Installations and performances, alongside literature, visual art and music come together to probe the complex interplay between liberty and security, rendering it audible, visible and tangible.
ART NON STOP stands for the exhibitions and installations running for the duration of the European Forum Alpbach. Whether indoors or outdoors, they promise all Alpbach’s visitors some unusual encounters.
Under Construction: Conditio Humana
Installation, Lois Anvidalfarei, Congress Centrum Alpbach
Attention! Please come into the construction site!
Scaffolding leads directly into the Congress Centrum. Above it hover six larger-than-life figures, bowed and tilted and truly alive. The Ladin sculptor Lois Anvidalfarei situates his creations directly and unavoidably within a system of tensions in the here and now, in dialogue between ephemeral delicacy and the gravitational force: whether you see them as safe or trapped, depending on your point of view, the universal dimension is evident.
Of All The People In All The World
Performance, Stan’s Cafe, Schulhäusl
For this beautifully simple performance installation, every grain of rice represents someone, somewhere. The artists build small and large mounds of rice representing the political and social realities in the world: one grain for Karl Popper, a heap for millionaires in Europe, and a mountain for people fleeing from war and disaster. By making formally abstract statistics tangible, this powerful work of art is witty, shocking and moving.
europamemoria
Installation, Ruth Beckermann, Congress Centrum Alpbach
Europe as a territory, as a space of individuals and of diversity. European memories no longer represent the memories of nations but the individual experiences of the people who live in Europe here and now. Many people leave the place where they were born; some voluntarily, others forced to do so because of war or the conflicts caused by National Socialism, Communism or colonialism.
europamemoria shows the ruptures in our collective stories; still more, the collapse of the concept of a binding narrative. A Europe of faces. No matter where someone goes, the luggage they take with them is their face, in all its radical singularity. Close-up images tell stories of pain and its overcoming, of things lost and gained. An experimental reflection in film.
Bad Seeds /Painted Contacts
Exhibition, Elfie Semotan, Congress Centrum Alpbach
Elfie Semotan‘s series “Bad Seeds” shows the young model Natalia Vodianova at various stages of anger. The portraits are juxtaposed to a scenic photoseries showing the peak of the outburst. At the time, Semotan gave “Painted Contacts” its colourful markings and borders to make it stand out from the crowd. Today, these charming interventions fulfil quite another purpose.
EFA Loggia - A Space for Encounters
Congress Centrum Alpbach
The loggia is a space for relaxation and for debate! Or you can just let your eye wander. Up on the roof of the Congress Centrum, it’s an inside and outside space in one. Take some time for yourself, alone or in company.
Speakers' Library
Congress Centrum Alpbach
Open the Door to the “Speakers’ Library”! What books have inspired you lately? We’ll also be asking this question of the speakers at this year’s Forum, and expanding our open access library based on their recommendations. This means you can get to know the speakers from a whole new angle. Browse books across all genres and languages, from poetry to specialist publications! The Alpbach “Speakers’ Library” is open to all.
Dark Codecs
Hans Weigand plays with the cultural identity of the consumer society, manipulating and commenting on its corporate language. The pop-utopian moment is strongly present in his work, and the most varied of media converge in alternation: photography, computer graphics, painting, film, literature and architecture.
ART EVENTS are made up of the artistic openings* to each Alpbach Symposium and the daily programme of events. Unexpected constellations of concerts, readings, interventions and specially-developed formats can lead you to expect some thematic and aesthetic surprises.
In the Tyrolean mountains, you can look forward to stimulating and creative approaches to exploring social and contemporary phenomena.
* Details on the artistic openings can be found in the sub-events of the respective Symposia.
