A 3D printer that can “restore” deceased people, a chip in the brain that translates all languages of the world, or aliens that try to integrate peacefully on earth – 2 classes of the vocational school Handel @ Administration have developed science fiction stories within the framework of the Kunsthalle Wien project Zukunft bist Du (Future is you).
Based on the exhibition Ydessa Hendeles. Death to Pigs, the multi-day workshop dealt with forms of memory, the emergence of community and our imprinting through history(s). The thematic focus “Young people survey 100 years of the Republic of Austria” was consciously expanded to include a look at the future of Austria in a hundred years’ time. This “look back into the future” is reflected in the 19 texts, which are now presented as a publication.
The students look into a time that we can only envision imaginarily, but that is precisely why it is shaped by the respective view of the present and its problems and opportunities. Science fiction says more about the time in which it was written and the history that shapes the present than about the future it speaks of. At the same time, the students were able to turn their ideas into stories and find their narrative voice.
Zukunft bist Du (Future is you) took place as part of the program Geschichte gemeinsam verhandeln (Negotiating History Together) as a contribution to the commemoration and remembrance year 2018. The results of these participatory work processes are presented from 12/12 – 14/12 2018 at the Haus der Geschichte Österreich.
The project was funded by the Federal Chancellery.
Program coordination: KulturKontakt Austria (funded by the BMBWF).