steirischer herbst 2016 does not only cross boundaries in the metaphorical sense. Not only is the border region in southern Styria artistically in focus – but culinarily too, as here, at an evening meal with an unusual blind date.
Austria’s border with Slovenia is rich in history: Once a theatre of war, it later became home to hiking trails and – just recently – fences. What will the border look like in autumn 2016? It’s a controversial issue and because, as they say, talking brings people together and the best talk is always over dinner, space and place with steirischer herbst invite you to a “Social Dining” in Leutschach.
The “Grenzlandgespräche” are a special kind of blind date, with people meeting other people with whom they don’t often have dinner with. People that talk about the current situation and about what it used to be like in the border area. The hosts of a three-course menu of local specialities include mayors, wine-growers, artists and many others. There will also be a menu of questions intended to engage the participants in a deep discussion of globe-spanning events and everyday affairs.
Monika M. Kalcsics from Graz has received international prizes for her documentaries and reports broadcast on Ö1. British artist Eugene Quinn is an urbanist and inventor of the Vienna Ugly Walks. Both live in Vienna and operate the urban organisation space and place that gives an artistic perspective to dialogues over dinner. The “Grenzlandgespräche” are an invitation to anyone who enjoys taking a different perspective in an unusual setting.
By and with space and place – Monika M. Kalcsics, Eugene Quinn & with 40 guests from politics, culture and the region
Translation Lisa Fuchs
Commissioned by steirischer herbst
steirischer herbst
Dramaturgy Petra Pölzl
Project Management Stephan Pfister, Jakob Schweighofer
Monika M. Kalcsics (AT)
Monika M. Kalcsics, born in Graz in 1974, lives and works as a cultural spatial designer and journalist in Vienna. From 1993 to 1998 she studied Political Science, Romance Studies and Spanish in Innsbruck, Madrid and Mexico City and has been working for Ö1 since 2000. In addition to her work as a journalist, Kalcsics was also a Caritas relief worker from 2003 to 2010 and was a partner in the media production firm name>it, that she cofounded, from 2007 to 2012. Kalcsics also joined Eugene Quinn to found the organisation space and place dedicated to urban spatial design.
Eugene Quinn (GB)
Eugene Quinn, born in London in 1967, lives as a journalist and spatial designer in Vienna. Among other things, Quinn worked as a chef, Greenpeace activist, DJ and radio host, before becoming event manager with the Vienna-based media production firm name>it cofounded by Monika M. Kalcsics. Together with Kalcsics, Quinn founded the multidisciplinary spatial design organisation space and place in 2011.
