Students publish their very own sci-fi stories!
A 3D printer that “restores” the deceased, a brain implant that translates every human language, or aliens who just try to fit in peacefully on earth – two classes of the Berufsschule Handel@Administration wrote their own science fiction stories, and their works were published in a book: Zukunft bist du! (2018).
This project was realized in the context of the program “Negotiating history together” (Geschichte gemeinsam verhandeln), an initiative by Kultur Kontakt Austria as a contribution to the commemorative year of 2018, focusing on 100 years of the Republic of Austria. The result of the participatory working process was presented from December 12 – 14, 2018, at the House of Austrian History (hdgö; Haus der Geschichte Österreich).
The thematic focus of this project was deliberately expanded to not only focus on the past, but to include visions of the future, or indeed consider multiple possible futures. Departing from the exhibition Ydessa Hendeles. Death to Pigs the participants researched (within multi-day workshops) different forms of remembrance, and how communities are shaped by history and stories.
The construction and narration of future visions have always offered a way of sharpening the view on the present from the safe distance of fiction. This way of working can offer new perspectives on the status quo, and make it possible to develop different potentials for society in addition to rethinking humanity’s relations to work, nature, or to one another. The students turned their ideas into stories, and therefore found and articulated their narrative voices.
The 100-page publication Zukunft sind Du is available in the Kunsthalle Wien shop.
With forewords by Gerhard Kowař (Director, KulturKontakt Austria) and Nicolaus Schafhausen (Director, Kunsthalle Wien), a detailed project report by Wolfgang Brunner, Daniela Fasching and Michael Simku (members of the Education Department, Kunsthalle Wien) and nineteen short stories with numerous illustrations.
Workshop participants and authors: Hamza Aziri, Lisa-Marie Bahr, Béla Békési, Kaan-Alper Celik, Celine Denk, Dario-Andrei Dragomir, Alwin Entner, Laura-Larissa Faderny, Lea Giefing, Lukas Hödl, Bianca Janicijevic, Jana Kammerzelt, Fatma Kircioglu, Sena-Nur Korkmaz, Wiktoria Krzyzowska, Edmond Lekaj, Sanela Niculovic, Elif Oz, Jana Pokitsch, Erijon Pulaj, Jonas Rieger, Milos Savic, Tobias Schweitzer, Dardan Shala, Maximilian Stanojevic, Jennifer Jolanta Wagner, Wen Xuan Xu, and Dilara Yazar.
