Tanzquartier Wien

Performance Passage – a Space for the Poetics of the In-between is part of an initiative comprising nine artistic micro-museums, each dedicated to a single specific art genre. Based on the artistic concept by Christoph Meier, a ceiling solely consisting of mirrors will inherently and inwardly enlarge the space of Performance Passage. Analogous to the walls of a dance studio or the ceilings inside a disco, these mirrors will reflect the image of the person standing in front of them, initiating a moment of spontaneous self-reflection. Everyone can perform in this space, everyone can behold their own transformation in the mirrors.

Artist Andrea Maurer’s curatorial setup for the Performance Passage has been devised as a trap of a poetic nature. Whether passers-by merely stroll, pause and linger attentively or head for the quickest route through: no one can pass the passage without it having an effect on them. What was once below is now reflected above, beleaguered by words, letters and other signs. A row of seven light boxes supplies a subversive antidote to the common reading direction and creates an original set of grammar and time scales. This moving visual poem, choreographed text composition, flickering sentence, or whatever else you might want to call it, will hopefully transform many of those passers-by into self-conscious witnesses or observant spectators – even at the risk of losing sense of one’s direction or causing one to stumble.

Each year, two new artistic positions will be presented at Performance Passage, each time accompanied by a small-format publication, which will be available for purchase from the on-site vending machine. At the opening we look forward to a spoken-word concert by Gerhard Rühm with Monika Lichtenfeld with a specially designed rhythmic picture cycle under the title WOCHENSCHAU.

Opening programme:

17.00, Performance Passage
Welcome by
Christian Strasser (Director MuseumsQuartier Wien), Bettina Kogler (Artistic Director Tanzquartier Wien), Vitus Weh (Concept micro-museums).
Followed by a concert by Kinky Muppet.

18.30, TQW Halle G
Spoken-word concert Gerhard Rühm with Monika Lichtenfeld