Performance besides Itself. Infra- and Parastructures of a Contemporary Liveness

Symposium: Fri, 06.12. – Sat, 07.12.2024 

Participants: Kathrin Bieligk (The City of Vienna’s Kuratorium for Theater, Dance and Performance), Claudia Bosse, Katrin Brehm (brut Wien), Sabeth Buchmann, Carola Dertnig (Art and Time / Performance, Academy of Fine arts Vienna), Katharina Ernst, Freda Fiala, Andreas Fleck (WUK performing arts), Vasilena Gankovska (IG Bildende Kunst), Mariella Greil-Möbius, Peter Kozek und Charlotta Ruth (Angewandte Performance Lab, APL), Annie Jael Kwan, Sara Lanner, Bettina Masuch (Festspielhaus St. Pölten), Lisa Moravec, Carolina Nöbauer (Tanzquartier Wien), Johannes Maile (Partner in Crime), Denise Palmieri, Amanda Piña, Clémentine Proby (Mudam Luxembourg), Frederike Sperling (Kunstraum Niederoesterreich), Marlies Surtmann, Daliah Touré, Frank Wasser 

Curators: Freda Fiala & Frederike Sperling

Performance thrives on the physical presence of its actors and the spatial conditions where it takes place. It is eminently context-bound and site-specific. In this way, performance always draws attention, directly or indirectly, to the framework of its presentation and the material and social infrastructures that enable (and limit) it.

The symposium Performance Besides Itself. Infra- and Parastructures of a Contemporary Liveness examines the dynamics between performance and its institutional-infrastructural contexts. How do performance and the institution relate to one another? To what degree does the institutional set conditions for performance and to what extent may performative practices, in turn, transform the working methods and infrastructures of art institutions in the long run? 

Other than usual, this two-day symposium pursues a praxis-oriented approach. In the course of panel discussions, artist-led workshops and presentations it assembles theorists, curators and artists as well as experts from the fields of production and artistic advocacy. This interdisciplinary interest is also reflected in the deliberate linking of experiences from the visual art as well as dance context, with the aim to reflect the lived experience of a growing number of professionals today.

The symposium takes places in English, unless otherwise stated. 

The participation in the symposium is free for all and does not require prior registration. Of course, the individual formats on the program can be attended separately, too. Small refreshments will be provided for everyone.

2pm

Welcome and introduction

2 .15– 3.30pm 

Rethinking politics of care

Workshop hosted by Denise Palmieri

This workshop explores how performance, curation, and the concept of care come together in art institutions. Through interactive discussions and creative activities, participants examine how care can be redefined through practical, action-oriented approaches within these spaces. How can curatorial and performative practices rethink and transform how institutions handle care, collaboration, and collectivity?

Participation in this workshop is free of charge. No registration required. 

3.30 – 4.30pm

Impulse I

Frank Wasser: On Unstated Conventions

Impulse II

Sara Lanner: Weaving Infrastructures. Choreographic scores shaping bodies, materials and future memories 

4.30 – 5pm

Coffee break 

5 – 6.30pm

Panel I: De-skilling and re-skilling. Improvising the institution?

Andreas Fleck (WUK performing arts), Johannes Maile (Partner in Crime), Bettina Masuch (Festspielhaus St. Pölten), Clémentine Proby (Mudam Luxembourg), Amanda Piña, moderated by Frederike Sperling

Performance is becoming structurally anchored in art institutions – with new positions such as the ‘live’ or ‘performance curator’. In terms of infrastructure, however, very few institutions are actually designed to focus their programs on living, i.e. moving and sweating bodies: In many places, the lack of rehearsal rooms, backstage areas or showers, among other things, requires everyone to improvise. This panel explores the transformative potential of this moment: To what extent does performance expose vulnerabilities in the usually rigid structures of institutions? And what does this imply for the role of the performance artists?

6.30 – 7.30pm

Artist Talk: Katharina Ernst in conversation with Clémentine Proby

The symposium takes place in the framework of the H13 Prize 2024, the only prize for performance in Austria at the intersection of visual arts. In this talk, this year’s winner, Katharina Ernst speaks with Clémentine Proby from Mudam Luxembourg about her interdisciplinary practice and her winning project “metrics” – a performance and exhibition in which the symposium is also physically embedded.

10 – 11.30am

Generous gestures and small acts 

Workshop hosted by Daliah Touré

The focus of this workshop is on deceleration. We explore physical approaches of entering and opening spaces which tend to require a separation from our bodies. At this meeting point we tune in to the potential of bending and stretching familiar structures and in doing so experiment with the ability to transform our experience by introducing generous gestures and small acts.

Participation in this workshop is free of charge. No registration required. 

11.30 – 12am

Impulse III: Angewandte Performance Lab

Mariella Greil-Möbius, Peter Kozek and Charlotta Ruth 

12am – 12.45pm

Lunch Break: A small lunch is provided for everyone

12.45pm 

Welcome and recap of day 1

1 – 2.30pm

Panel II: Materialities in question: Production as an embodied process

Sabeth Buchmann, Kathrin Bieligk, Vasilena Gankovska (IG Bildende Kunst), Katrin Brehm (brut Wien), moderated by Freda Fiala

In German 

The art of recent decades has been profoundly influenced by conceptual approaches, often sidelining the question of an aesthetics that must inherently embody an ethics of production. In performance, this question takes on a profoundly different dimension, as the work is directly and inextricably linked to the artist body. Within the context of ‘infrastructural critique’, this panel will discuss infrastructure as curatorial practice in relation to strategies and reflections on funding systems and fair pay.

2.30 – 3pm

Impulse IV:  

Claudia Bosse: translocal and local infrastructures with/ in landscapes and institutions

3 – 3.30pm

Coffee break 

3.30 – 4pm

Impulse V: 

Annie Jael Kwan in conversation with Freda Fiala: The center is the margin of the margin. The margin of the margin is the center. 

4 – 5.30pm

Panel III: Practices of archiving and participating

Annie Jael Kwan, Carola Dertnig (Art and Time / Performance Academy of Fine arts Vienna), Carolina Nöbauer (Tanzquartier Wien), Marlies Surtmann, moderated by Lisa Moravec

This panel explores horizontal approaches in archiving and participation, and examines the logics of attention that guide related (para-)institutional practices. Emphasizing alternative and queered archives, the discussion will highlight decentralizing strategies that challenge linear and hierarchical models of production and documentation, taking into account insights from performance activism, practice, teaching, and curation.

5.30 – 6.30pm

Lottery, moderated by Frank Wasser

To round up the symposium everyone is invited to contribute (anonymous) questions, comments, critique or unfinished thoughts that shall be discussed collectively. 

The participation in the symposium is free for all and does not require prior registration. Of course, the distinct formats on the program can be attended separately, too. Small refreshments will be provided for everyone.

The symposium is part of the H13 Lower Austria Prize for Performance 2024. More information about this year's winner Katharina Ernst and her project metrics can be found here.