shaping democracy – the republic in 24 frames per century

Curated by Doris Bauer and Daniel Ebner (both VIS Vienna Shorts)

100 years, 8 topics, 24 short films: the audiovisual exhibition shaping democracy—the republic in 24 frames per century takes visitors on a participative tour through the history of the Austrian Republic based on its guiding principles and paradoxes. How the country sees itself and how it is seen from outside, its political and cultural self-image, and the Republic’s individual and collective memory are illuminated from a contemporary perspective. The exhibition, which marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the First Republic and is on show at the frei_raum Q21 exhibition space until June 3, has been curated by Doris Bauer and Daniel Ebner from the short film festival VIS Vienna Shorts. The opening takes place on March 21, 7pm, with a press tour at 11am.

The eight topics of the exhibition cover a range of different aspects such as the question of the culture of remembrance, the role of the media, as well as migration and integration. For each theme, three short films by notable international or Austrian artists take what is sometimes a very direct, sometimes a more associative approach to the subject matter in question and provide impulses for critical thinking and discussion. In each of the eight themed sections, visitors are invited to choose just one film—and therefore stake out their own position in their relationship to the Republic. Their participation structures the exhibition, just as democracy constantly demands active co-creation.

While the title “shaping democracy” draws attention to the choices made by visitors and to the aspect of democracy itself, the subtitle points to the inherently filmic character of the exhibition: the republic in 24 frames per century. Instead of 24 frames per second (the usual frame rate for motion pictures), here the Republic has been divided into 24 (moving) images per century. The selection of works, many of them prize-winning—16 from Austria, 8 international—cover a wide spectrum in terms of form and content, last between 3 and 19 minutes, and adopt different standpoints within their topic area.

The Oscar® qualifying event VIS Vienna Shorts, based at Q21 in the MuseumsQuartier, is Austria’s leading festival for short films, animation and music videos and shows around 300 films each year in several venues. The 15th edition of the festival will take place from May 29 to June 4.

Artists:
Gregg Biermann (USA), Bojana Bregar (SVN)*, Robert Cambrinus (AUT), Gita Ferlin (AUT), Gabriel Gauchet (FRA), Katarzyna Gondek (POL), Santiago Bou Grasso (ARG), Katharina Gruzei (AUT), Lutz Henke (GER), Peter Hörmanseder (AUT), Florian Kindlinger (AUT), Timo Klöppel (GER)*, Peter Kutin (AUT), Boris Labbé (FRA)*, Maria Lassnig (AUT), Mischa Leinkauf (GER), Johann Lurf (AUT), Bjørn Melhus (GER/NOR), Mischa Milinović (Peng!)* (GER), Jean Peters (Peng!)* (GER/FRA), Norbert Pfaffenbichler (AUT), Britta Schoening (AUT), Volker Schreiner (GER)*, Veronika Schubert (AUT), Hubert Sielecki (AUT), Michaela Taschek (AUT), Peter Tscherkassky (AUT), Lisa Weber (AUT), Paul Wenninger (AUT), Matthias Wermke (GER), Sandra Wollner (AUT), Daniel Zimmermann (AUT)
*Q21 Artists-in-Residence

shaping democracy—the republic in 24 frames per century was organized in cooperation with the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, and with the support of the Austrian Future Fund and the Cultural Section of the City of Vienna. The exhibition design was developed in cooperation with the Department for Stage and Costume Design, Film and Exhibition Architecture at the University Mozarteum Salzburg.

Director of MuseumsQuartier Wien: Dr. Christian Strasser

Contact:
Press, MQ: Irene Preissler, ipreissler [​at​] mqw.at
Artistic Director, frei_raum Q21 exhibition space: Elisabeth Hajek, ehajek [​at​] mqw.at