Photo: Dominik Rosner
Daniela Lehner

Railway Studies – Exhibition in the former water tower, railway station Spitz an der Donau

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The Wachau Railway as a research topic calls for an exhibition venue with a link to the railway. We therefore presented the results of our Railway Studies in the former water tower at the railway station in Spitz an der Donau. The vacant building – until recently used by the railway maintenance – was transformed into an exhibition venue over two weekends. The opening took place on 11 October.

The exhibition showcased artistic and landscape architectural explorations of the Wachau railway. Artistic films by Hubert Lobnig and Iris Andraschek were screened. One contribution to the exhibition examined how the railway line cut through the villages and the resulting spatial situations. The exhibition also highlighted the engineering and protective structures that were necessary for a flood-proof route along the rock faces, as well as the plants that have colonised along the tracks and protective structures. As galvanised metal creatures, these plants entered into a dialogue about the history, present and future of the railway.

We would like to thank Niederösterreich Bahnen for the opportunity to present our project at Spitz railway station. We appreciate the continued support of the Lower Austrian State Department of Art and Culture / Art in the Public Space (KOERNOE), which has once again provided us with the ‘Inventour-Bus’. We would like to thank Lucas Nunzer, honorary municipal archivist in Spitz, for sharing his insight into the railway history of Spitz. We are grateful to the municipality of Spitz an der Donau and Deputy Mayor Maria Denk for their hospitality.

Team

Invitation: Presentation of the Railway Studies with Exhibition and Short Films

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What does the image of the Wachau look like that corresponds to the contemporary understanding of landscape? The interdisciplinary team is asking this question from the perspectives of art and landscape architecture in a four-year research project. Last year, the Wachau railway was investigated. The results will be presented in Spitz.

Presentation
Friday, 11 October 2024, 17:00
Short films from 18:30

Exhibition
12/13 and 19/20 October
Saturday/Sunday, 13:00 – 18:00 with free admission

Location
Railway Station Spitz an der Donau
in the former water tower
Bahnhofstraße 2, Spitz

Photo: Dominik Rosner
Roland Tusch

Heritage Science Café

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At the end of May, Heritage Science Austria organised the Heritage Science Café at BOKU together with ICOMOS Austria, the Vienna University of Technology and BOKU University. Daniela Lehner and Roland Tusch presented the Wachau Routes project and discussed challenges and opportunities of arts-based research in their lecture. Arts-based research offers the opportunity to question traditional research approaches and initiate open-ended processes. Artistic works are open to interpretation and contribute to a holistic understanding of the object of investigation. Following the lecture programme, a lively exchange took place among the participants. We discussed the potential of arts-based research with researchers from various disciplines, for example in the context of inventories of cultural landscapes.

Photo: Dominik Rosner
Daniela Lehner

Wachau Routes – exhibition next to the Wachau Road

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Located right next to the Wachau Road, the Georg Prunner Square in Emmersdorf provided the perfect setting for our presentation of the first results of our Road Studies. The public space served us as an exhibition space and open-air cinema until the evening hours. At the central town square we were able to present our micro-exhibition and short films.
Four folders illustrating the creation, design and perception of the Wachau Road were presented, exhibited and distributed to the visitors. Aerial images of the Wachau showed traffic routes as an integral part of the landscape. The exhibition opened up new perspectives on the everyday traffic route. For some visitors, memories of the construction period of the Wachau Road were awakened. Over bread and wine, visitors shared their personal connection to the Wachau Road with us.

At nightfall, the short films were screened: phantom rides with experimental recording techniques allowed us to experience the relationship between time, speed and landscape perception. Another film contribution recorded in slow motion the overtourism in the Wachau Region. Herbert Ursprunger, the landscape architect of Wachau Road, also laid out and designed Georg Prunner Square in the 1950s. An interview with him was presented as a short film. The informative and entertaining film document was complemented by artistically reworked photos. Although the exhibition was only of short duration, we have left our mark.

We would like to thank Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Niederösterreich (Public Art Lower Austria) and in particular Johanna Reiner for complementing our exhibition with the Inventour-Bus. Special thanks to the staff and Richard Hochratner, mayor of the municipality of Emmersdorf, for their great support and hospitality.

Photos: Herbert Ursprunger, LArchiv, Archive of Austrian Landscape Architecture, BOKU University Vienna
Team

Invitation: Short films and micro exhibition in Emmersdorf

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What is the image of the Wachau that corresponds to the contemporary understanding of landscape? This is the question the interdisciplinary team is asking itself from the perspectives of art and landscape architecture in a four-year research project. Last year, the Wachaustraße was put under the microscope. The first results will be presented in Emmersdorf.

Friday, October 6, 2023, 5 p.m.

Georg Prunner Square, Emmersdorf
from 18:30 Short films

A project of the Institute of Landscape Architecture at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna and the Department Art and Practice at the University of Arts Linz. Funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Programme for arts-based Research (PEEK) [AR 762-G]

© , Wachau Routes