LINZ TEXAS A City Relates
Press Conference
11 June 2008, 11 a.m.
Architekturzentrum Wien
12.06. – 08.09.2008
OPENING: WEDNESDAY, 11.06.08, 6PM
PRESS CONFERENCE: WEDNESDAY 11.06.08 11AM
Opening speakers:
- Dietmar Steiner, Director Az W
- Martin Heller, Artistic Director Linz09
- Angelika Fitz, Curator of the exhibition
- Andreas Mailath-Pokorny, Executive Councillor for Culture and Science, Vienna
- Franz Dobusch, Mayor of Linz
- Martin Heller, Artistic Director Linz09
'KLANGWOLKE — REVIVAL', LIVE ON Ö1 AT 7.30PM, ANTON BRUCKNER'S SYMPHONY NO. 8
Immediately following the opening ceremony, and in commemoration of the first 'Linzer Klangwolke' (concept: Haupt/Leopoldseder) performed in 1979, the 'Klangwolke — Revival' is being celebrated in a collaboration with the LIVA/Brucknerhaus Linz. Just as the residents of Linz were asked to put their radios in their windows 30 years ago in addition to the installation at Donaupark, small radios are now being distributed free-of-charge over the entire MuseumsQuartier grounds for an audio experience in the city centre, bringing the original cloud of sound back to life.
Distribution of radios: from 6pm on the grounds of the MuseumsQuartier
THE EXHIBITION
The capital of the federal state of Upper Austria, Linz, is a prototypical middle-sized town. Making use of its position in the middle, between industry and culture, a commercial metropolis and its natural setting, and between the major tourist hotspots of Vienna and Salzburg, the town has recently shown a remarkable talent for reinventing itself. While it still has image of a dull industrial city rooted in its Nazi heritage, it also hosts internationally established culture events like Forum Design or Ars Electronica. The exhibition LINZ TEXAS A City Relates, a cooperation between Linz 2009 European Capital of Culture and the Architekturzentrum Wien, aims to show affinities with other towns and cities playfully, using strips of images, film excerpts, videos and objects.
In 2009 Linz is to be European Capital of Culture. This calls for a new profile. Who can Linz learn from and what can others learn from Linz? What does Linz have in common with Madrid, Wolfsburg or Seattle? Which of its attributes are also to be found in Moscow, Manchester or Davos? An urban road movie pursues the answers to these questions.
In the exhibition LINZ TEXAS A City Relates, the city of Linz and the visitors are sent on an imaginary voyage. Not only to Texas, but all around the world. Around twenty towns, cities and regions are shown with highlighted affinities. Size or location are secondary in the drawing of parallels. More important are events and peculiarities etched on a collective cultural memory, or those that have unjustly been forgotten. In Seattle, for instance, a music scene that can conquer the world from a local arena. Or with Salzgitter as an example, question what it is like to live in a city where the urban fabric and commercial structures bear the signature of the Nazi regime. Some cities appear almost identical, others share just a few similarities — as is often the case among people who are related.
The aim pursued by the exhibition LINZ TEXAS is a daring one. 'A City Relates' alludes to individual facets and attributes of the town that link Linz to both obvious and apparently absurd aspects of other towns and cities. The categories of images are as varied as the cities' narratives are: the stories of the cities concerned are told in private snapshots, professional photographs of architecture, newspaper photos and souvenirs for tourists. The result is an adventurous line-up of comparisons intended to refresh one's view of the city of Linz and its affinities, and to inspire the imagination.
A catalogue of the same title, LINZ TEXAS A City Relates, is being published to accompany the exhibition.
The exhibition is also being shown at the following venue: Stadtmuseum Graz, from 25.09. – 02.11.2008
Details:
SUPPLEMENTARY PROGRAMMECREDITS
