Artistic Interventions in the »Tröpferlbad«

Bezirksmuseum Wieden in cooperation with Stabstelle Bezirksmuseen at Wien Museum

In Klagbaumgasse 4, located in the fourth district of Vienna there was a public shower bath – in Vienna colloquially called Tröpferlbad - from 1892 to 1977. At a time when most apartments did not yet have their own bathrooms, visiting the Tröpferlbad was part of many people's everyday life, but also an important subject of social reformist health policy. Since 1978 parts of the building have been used by the Bezirksmuseum Wieden, one of Vienna’s 23 district-museums. While most of the rooms were redesigned for museum use as part of a renovation in the 1990s, the original shower room for men on the first floor was retained in its original interior design. In this particular place, the Bezirksmuseum Wieden is now planning an exhibition on the subject of public baths and hygiene in Vienna in cooperation with the Wien Museum's Stabstelle Bezirksmuseen. The interdisciplinary exhibition team consists of designers from the fields of fine arts, scenography, architecture and media design as well as volunteers and professional museum staff. In the course of the project, the space - currently used as a depot - will be cleared out and painted.

We would like to use the short period of vacancy and reorientation to open up the museum - and thus create space for artistic positions on the architecture and history of the site, situated in a museum with a regional historical focus.

The call is aimed specifically at students of visual and performing arts of all semesters who would like to develop a site-specific project.

On October 13, 2020 a site visit with a 3-hour introductory workshop will take place. This event is mandatory if you want to participate. On the one hand you will receive site-specific historical information on the Tröpferlbad, on the other hand there will be an input on the museum as a professional field for artists and on scenographic work. There will also be the opportunity to get to know the other participants and to eventually form teams.

Since we have to limit the number of participants*, we ask you to register for the workshop by October 5, 2020 with a short statement about yourself and your interest (see schedule). Those who are interested in the intervention can submit a short exposé after taking part in the introductory workshop. 3-5 works will be selected. We pay attention to the diversity of artistic working methods and media. It is also important to us not to reproduce any institutional discrimination in the selection process, but rather to support in particular persons affected by sexism, racism, and abelism. During the production phase, the scenographer of the exhibition team Susanne Quehenberger will supervise the works if necessary.

At this stage, various grants for material (250 Euro PP) as well as reimbursements for your project (500 Euro PP) have been applied for. We will try to inform you about the actual amount as soon as possible.

Please hand in a short self-description (subject of study, main interests), so that we can consider it when selecting the participants if there are more than 20 registrations. Unfortunately we have to limit the number of participants to a maximum of 20 students. We will inform you about the acceptance or cancellation of your participation and further details on October 7, 2020 by e-mail.

3-hour mandatory introductory workshop with site visit. The event will be adapted to the conditions depending on the current corona situation. Any changes will be communicated as early as possible.

By mail to Alina Strmljan: alina.strmljan@wienmuseum.at

Whether we will present all of the resulting artistic interventions at the same time or divide them into several events will depend on the artistic methods as well as the corona situation and will be decided in coordination with all participants.

Alina Strmljan

+43 650 324232