Interview Directory 

ART

Name: Sithara Pathirana und Claudius Schulze

Occupation: Initiators and directors of the Vienna Klima Biennale

"Our concept is that we are not very interested in disaster images."

Can you tell our readers how this fantastic idea came about?

Sithara Pathirana: In autumn 2022, we organised a ten-day climate art festival in Hamburg with ClimateArtFe.st. In Vienna, there was a museum counterpart in the form of the Vienna Biennale for Change, which was organised by Christoph Thun-Hohenstein as the then Director of the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) in 2015-2021. With the Vienna Climate Biennale, we are now bringing these two strands together: an interdisciplinary festival that deals with the questions and challenges posed by the climate crisis.

Claudius Schulze: Our concept here is that we are less interested in images of catastrophe and more in constructive vigour. Many of the concrete ideas for realisation arose from the desire to involve urban society. This ultimately led to more than 70 partners from the Viennese arts and culture sector, as well as socio-political institutions, joining the Biennale.

How can you manage the Biennale in organisational and entrepreneurial terms?

Claudius Schulze: It was a challenge not only to organise the first edition in just over a year, but also to establish a structure that could support the Biennale for many years to come. We are organisationally linked to KunstHausWien, which supports us in many ways in communication and design tasks. We have also set up our own very committed team.

Sithara Pathirana: The programme consists of several tracks - the Biennale headquarters at KunstHausWien. Here, the Breathe Earth Collective's Climate Pavilion will create a place for get-togethers, exchange and active participation. An urban utopia will become reality on the festival site at Nordwestbahnhof. With Songs for the Changing Seasons, we are realising an exhibition here with great international artists from different generations that deals with the question: What does climate change actually feel like? With Immediate Matters, we are deliberately approaching local spaces and galleries that have been invited to participate in the project via an open call. In doing so, we are tapping into the great potential that the city of Vienna offers in the area of the independent scene.

Are large companies and politicians also involved?

Claudius Schulze: The Vienna Climate Biennale is jointly financed by the City Council offices for Climate and Environment, Culture and Science, Finance and Economics. There is also an intensive exchange in both directions. That's good and important - because we naturally want the Biennale to have a political impact.

Sithara Pathirana: In addition, companies such as Wiener Stadtwerke, Bank Austria and Siemens have offered to sponsor the Biennale, with whom we are implementing specific projects in order to address issues relating to shaping a climate-friendly future as part of the Biennale, but also to bring them to the attention of companies.

"As a cineaste, I will probably enjoy the Biennale's cinema contributions in my free time."

What are the highlights or which part of the programme do you particularly recommend to visitors?

Claudius Schulze: For me, the two exhibitions that were produced in-house certainly take centre stage here - at KunstHausWien the show Into the Woods curated by Sophie Haslinger, which approaches the forest ecosystem from different angles, and at the festival site the aforementioned exhibition Songs for the Changing Seasons curated by Lucia Pietroiusti and Filipa Ramos. I come from a photography background - so I'm particularly looking forward to the two exhibitions at Foto Arsenal Wien, the solo exhibitions by Beate Gütschow and Laure Winant.

Sithara Pathirana: I am very much looking forward to the collaboration with Volkshilfe Wien, with whom we are developing a "future lab" in which children and young people bring their questions and ideas into a joint participatory process. Personally, I am also very excited about the project together with the Wiener Festwochen and the Volkskundemuseum Wien, in which the Vienna Climate Biennale creates safe spaces for activist initiatives and groups. As a cineaste, I will probably enjoy the Biennale's cinema contributions in my free time.

"We want to provide positive impetus for society as a whole."

The expectations of you as a young team are certainly very high. Also, because it

immediately attracted worldwide media attention. How do you deal with this?

Sithara Pathirana: Of course we feel that the founding of a new biennial is being observed internationally and that there is a certain amount of pressure on us. At the same time, the topic is so important that we feel a great deal of support, interest and willingness to co-operate. And that is of the utmost importance to us, because it is about this community spirit.

Claudius Schulze: It is very important to be clear about our own aspirations: we want to provide positive impetus for society as a whole. It's not about doing everything right, but much more about learning from mistakes together. There will certainly be many good ideas that we were unable to realise in the end. However, we won't be sorry about this, but will see it as an opportunity for the next edition.

Radikale Töchter ©Meike Kenn

KunstHausWien ©Paul Bauer