In 2009, Linz’s year as European Capital of Culture, the annual May Day march was brutally broken up by the police for the first time since Nazi rule in 1945. Highly aggressive methods such as tear gas, beating with batons and ‘kettling’ were used to prevent protestors marching against the neo-Nazi NVP (National People’s Party), who had planned a rally in the city in order to take advantage of the heightened media coverage surrounding Linz ’09.
Despite the recent trend across Europe whereby the far right has mobilised and gained support, the Linz Capital of Culture programme conspicuously avoided the contemporary issue, opting instead to utilise Austria’s comparatively resolved Nazi history as a morbid but fascinating subject matter for their festival.
The video installation In Situ 66: Revealing Contemporary Struggles documents our endeavour to inscribe into the streets of Linz the troubling events surrounding the anti-fascist demonstration of 1 May 2009.
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Further information about this exhibition