Rainer Prohaska brings ratchet straps and beams used in timber construction to Leibnitz and Leutschach, calling on people to build a tea house together. An appeal for flexibility and openness: And an invitation to engage in a dialogue between all cultures.
In the Middle and Far East, tea rooms serve as centres of social interaction. Drinking tea is an everyday mode of communication in states such as Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Syria and Lebanon. Japan and China even erect buildings dedicated to tea drinking – a source of inspiration for Rainer Prohaska.
The Krems-born artist has been invited to solo exhibitions and lectures in numerous countries and has got to know about different forms of tea ceremonies. Inspired by this, Prohaska invites people to build a “Mobile Tea House” together. With the aid of ratchet straps and beams used in timber construction, the aim is to build a social site that will serve tea for the whole community.
In this combination of architecture and performance, Prohaska builds a bridge between cultural differences. The special mode of construction and aesthetic embody flexibility and the positive handling of change. By means of contributions from guest artists, the tea house becomes a hub of talk, discussion and chat. But what may not be missing: Tea ceremonies from a wide range of cultures around the world.
By and with Rainer Prohaska
Project management Julia Gaisbacher
With Sabeth Tödtli
Co-produced by steirischer herbst, Institut für Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Steiermark
Rainer Prohaska (AT)
Rainer Prohaska, born in Krems an der Donau in 1966, lives as a multimedia and multidisciplinary artist in Vienna. Prohaska worked as a graphic and industrial designer before studying Experimental Design, Experimental Media Art and Digital Art in Linz, Vienna and Kraków from 1999 to 2005. He has since explored all facets of installation and performance art, his oeuvre ranging from architecture (”Un Vol De”, 2011) to transportation construction (”Cargo”, 2014) and classical exhibition (”Résidence Modulaire”, 2012) and graphic design (stamp series for the Austrian Post Office, 2011). Prohaska, who was awarded the 2015 Austrian State Grant for Fine Art, was also artist in residence in Finland, South Korea and China.
