Josef Dabernig: Lacrimosa

Lacrimosa is an exhibition centered on the Austrian premiere of Josef Dabernig’s latest film, carrying the same name. The film portrays an unconventional farewell ritual led by Dabernig’s aunt, Anni Dabernig, who was an organist and teacher. Together with his grandchildren, she orchestrates a procession through her home in Kötschach-Mauthen, the Austrian village in which he grew up. At the center of this ceremony is a child-sized, enigmatic coffin whose journey through the house transforms both into silent protagonists. Folded hands, furtive glances, rosaries, and a commode chair are the elements of an eccentric children’s game in which the illustrious group navigates between intimidation, rebellion, and a dangerous staircase, all the while grappling with existential questions. 

In keeping with Dabernig’s practice of working closely with friends and family in his moving image work, the film is interwoven with a monologue written by Dabernig’s longtime collaborator, Bruno Pellandini, and performed by his wife, Johanna Orsini, describing Pellandini’s grandparents’ home in Ticino, Switzerland. Through Dabernig’s exploration of the overlapping architectures of the two homes—one in Switzerland and the other in Austria—these buildings become repositories of memories, capturing the domestic infrastructures of lives lived, lost, and ultimately rediscovered. Five days after the shoot of this cinematic requiem was concluded, Anni Dabernig passed away.

Lacrimosa sets the tone for a retrospective exploration of Dabernig’s moving image oeuvre, suffused with the themes of death, mourning, elegy, and the resonant presence of organ music. Set against a scenography of film props and objects from his aunt’s Krassnig Villa, the exhibition unfolds in two chapters, spanning early and recent works. The first chapter (September 20–October 20) presents Heavy Metal Detox (2019) and Gertrud & Tiederich (2018), while the second chapter (October 23–November 17) features All the Stops (2020) and Stabat Mater (2016). Central to both chapters are Lacrimosa (2024), Rosa coeli (2003), and Parking (2003).

To celebrate the beginning of the second chapter of the exhibition and to underscore the prominent role of organ music in Dabernig’s most recent works, the American composer and artist Charlemagne Palestine will perform Schlingen Blängen, an ongoing exploratory organ composition he has been developing since the late 1970s, on October 23 at 8:00 pm in the Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Graz.

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication featuring an essay by Krzysztof Kościuczuk and a visual essay by Dabernig, with photographs of his aunt’s villa. The publication is designed by Julie Peeters. Both the exhibition and publication are curated and edited by Tom Engels.

Josef Dabernig (b. 1956, Lienz, Austria) is an artist and filmmaker living in Vienna. Recent solo exhibitions include Lancia Thema, The Black Box, Wschód, New York, USA (2023); Wisla, Museum Jorn, Silkeborg, Denmark (2023); and Equally Not Nothing, Galerie Stadtpark, Krems, Austria (2020). Dabernig’s work was a part of the 49th and 50th Venice Biennale in 2001 and 2003, Manifesta 3 (2000, Ljubljana) and 10 (2014, St. Petersburg), and the 9th Gwangju Biennale (2012). His films have been featured across various film festivals internationally, including the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Locarno Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Mar del Plata International Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2004, Dabernig presented his exhibition Josef Dabernig: Proposal for a New Kunsthaus, not further developed at Grazer Kunstverein, which was accompanied by a namesake publication.

The exhibition is a cooperation in the context of steirischer herbst ’24.