The art and power of celebration
Vienna (OTS) – The VOLXFEST with the two parts “Eindrahn” in Gmunden and “Aufdrahn” in Gößl shows that different forms of folk culture can be brought together through the art and power of celebration. Traditional dances, disco dancing, queer elements as well as performative-artistic and intercultural forms of expression have a place in the VOLXFEST so that different people can celebrate together. The next date “Ausdrahn” follows on November 23, 2024 in one of the Capitals of Culture Salzkammergut communities.
The VOLXFEST is a multi-part project by the Austrian Folk Song Institute together with the choreographer and performance artist Simon Mayer as part of the European Capital of Culture Bad Ischl Salzkammergut 2024. Together with an international team of eight artists and the Austrian Folk Song Institute under the direction of Irene Egger, traditional associations such as the Altausseer and Atterseer folk dance groups, the Altbadseer Musi, Salzkammergut Geigenmusi, Grundlseer Geigenmusi, Salzkammerqueer and hip hop groups from the Salzkammergut are jointly creating the VOLXFEST. The VOLXFEST therefore experiments and plays with the coexistence of traditional forms of expression and contemporary art. Whether traditional or artistic – the planned meets the spontaneous, choreographies meet the open dance floor.
The woodcutter march by the Attergau folk dance group is performed both as a traditional Schuhplattler and in a new version with a chainsaw and other sound motifs from Simon Mayer’s woodworking, a spinning wheel creates beats from traditional melodies and music is played on a “cigarette box violin”, elements from hip hop can be found in the folk dances… In this collaboration between the Austrian Folk Song Institute, artistic team and traditional associations in the context of the Capital of Culture, the individual acts are enriched with historical source material on folk music, dance, costume and customs from the archives of the folk song institutes. On the basis of this and current field research, forgotten dances and pieces of music, such as the upholstery dance, are reconstructed and embedded in contemporary, social contexts in order to re-establish them as a parlor game.
The aim of the folk festival is to incorporate diversity as well as international and intersectional perspectives into regional folk cultural expressions. In the artistic process, questions about origins and developments in social, contemporary and international discourses are answered differently than in conventional settings. Given norms of celebration are taken up, questioned and combined with new, diverse forms of expression. These hybrid forms are intended to contribute to a better understanding of different people, take away fear of change and open up a personal approach to celebrating through body awareness. All of these facets of the VOLXFEST lead to new paths in folk cultural settings. In the last part, “Ausdrahn” on November 23, 2024, European forms of celebration will be brought together in the Salzkammergut together with dancers, performers and musicians from the cultural capitals of Norway and Estonia to form a folk festival or village party.
Inquiries & Contact:
Austrian Folk Song Institute
Austrian Folk Song Society
Mag.ª Irene Egger (Management)
irene.egger@volksliedwerk.at
T: +43/1/5126335-14
www.volksliedwerk.at, www.volksmusikland.at
www.volksmusikdatenbank.at
#Volxfest #Austrian #Folk #Song #Institute #18.06.2024
