Gudrun Schmidinger – My Favourite Things

Democracy: yay or nay? How can we organise our life together? Who’s got the power, who hasn’t? How can we cherish individuals while prioritizing co-operation, community, and solidarity? Is political apathy a bourgeois privilege? Or: How can one create joy, courage, comfort, and connection? The performance My Favourite Things asks the audience all these questions and takes them along on a costume-heavy, banger blasting, persona packed journey. That’s because Gudrun Schmidinger loves funny shows and popular culture. And she just can’t stop asking questions.

Gudrun Schmidinger is a director and performer whose work moves at the intersection between theatre, performance, and politics. For her show Every Wednesday she received the The Avrom Greenbaum Players Award For Direction 2022.

Jannis Neumann – neither fish nor meat

Fabulous creatures of the sea: The mermaid has a human torso and a fish-like lower body. The selkie can transform from human to seal. neither fish nor meat is an attempt to discard the typical images of the hybrid entity or temporary shapeshifting and replace them with a physical in-between: a creature that has both human limbs and seal fins. And along the way, Jannis Neumann questions the representation of maleness, animality, and gender.

Jannis Neumann is a student at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and the University of Applied Art Vienna and holds a degree in visual art, biology, and education studies from the University of Gießen, Germany. In his art, he focuses on performance, painting, and sculpture.

On HUGGY BEARS and the Handle with care series:

 HUGGY BEARS is a support platform by artists for artists, established by Caroline Madl and Philippe Riéra. It offers mentoring in various areas to up-and-coming artists to support them in developing their work. Huggy Bears take the selected junior artists under their wing for seven months, during which time they get a studio space, workshops, artistic and organisational support, networking opportunities, public showings, and feedback whenever they need it. In the end, a professional premiere is facilitated under professional conditions. This year’s Huggy Bears artists present samples of their pieces as part of brut’s Handle with care series.

brut’s Handle with care series grants sneak peeks into processes of artistic creation, experimenting with new formats and creating spaces for talking and the exchanging of views. Artists get the chance to try out parts of their work in front of a small audience, to receive feedback, and to turn spectators into accomplices.