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28 November 2023

Vienna X-Mas Street View by Fashion.at: What do the words in the light projection by artist starsky at MQ MuseumsQuartier mean?



At the end of Vienna's largest shopping street, Mariahilfer Strasse, near the city center, is the MQ Museumsquartier. It is one of Europe's largest cultural areas and offers a varied program throughout the year in several museums, art spaces and in its inner courtyard, which is currently hosting 'Winter at MQ' from November 8 to December 23 (article about the opening). The MQ Winter event is a beloved tradition among the people of Vienna. They come to socialize, enjoy some punch and snacks, and have fun at the curling rink. This year, the organizers teamed up with starsky, also known as Julia Zdarsky, an Austrian pioneer in using large-scale projections to communicate social and political messages.

When Fashion.at walked through the MQ yesterday, the first impression was to be immersed in a winter wonderland with changing light curves and lines running like waves across the terrain of the historical ensemble with accents of modern architecture, where the museums of contemporary art are located. The lines seemed like visualizations of sound waves of the words projected on the wall of the central building of the area, the Winter Riding Hall of the former imperial complex, which is now used for events such as music, theater and dance performances.

Yesterday, the text "niemand wird unterdrückt. ist eh alles ok." (no one is oppressed. everything is okay anyway.) appeared in the light show. The two sentences provoke the question of who is meant, and is it said by a person who doesn't want to open the mouth to speak about oppression. The tone of the sentences resonates fear, but also annoyance, a touch of self-sacrifice, resignation such as "I can lie and say that everything is okay because you don't want to hear the truth." There is no doubt that the statement "no one is oppressed" is not true, because we live in a world where people do not face inequalities only because they belong to underprivileged classes. Women are often oppressed even if they live in privileged classes. "Ist eh alles ok" is a way of saying in Vienna that "nothing is okay, but I don't want to have any more problems, so I'll stop talking," not believing that everyone has the right to real justice.

Recently, starsky, who is known for her involvement in feminist art projects, posted the image of a light projection on her Instagram with reference to the campaign '16 Days of Activism' for the elimination of violence against women and girls, part of UN Women's 'Orange the World' campaign. The 16 days started on November 25 and will end on December 10.

A total of 46 text snippets are announced to appear through the light projections at the MQ until December 23rd, each day a new one addressing different issues such as terrorism and wars that set back the development towards a prosperous and peaceful world society.

Among the upcoming events in the program of the 'Winter at MQ' event with 'Winter of Love' light projection by starsky is the Charity Punch on December 10 on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly (https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights). It's announced that the proceeds will be donated to Amnesty International. Details can be found at https://www.mqw.at/en/winter-2023.


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