The site-specific performance will be presented in the main exhibition hall of the Belvedere 21 on June 20 and 21, 2025. Admission is free.
With JANUS, artist and researcher Katrin Hornek and choreographer and performer Karin Pauer explore the complexities of the Atomic Age, tracing its cultural and political legacies alongside its contemporary dynamics.
The performance was developed specifically for the Belvedere 21—a building of historical significance initially conceived as the Austrian Pavilion for Expo 1958 in Brussels. A key theme of this first post–World War II World’s Fair was the “peaceful use of nuclear power,” manifested not only in the exhibits of numerous national pavilions but also in the radical proposal to power the fair itself with an on-site nuclear reactor. Its cooling water was intended to irrigate the gardens of the so-called colonial section.
JANUS juxtaposes the era’s exuberant optimism toward nuclear technologies with the discovery of radionuclides in Vienna—remnants of atmospheric atomic bomb tests conducted during the same period. Belvedere 21 thus transforms into a living narrator, where polyphonic, embodied knowledge intersects with geological traces and geopolitical nuclear narratives.
In this performance, celebratory, energetic, resistant, dissolving, and reassembling bodies intertwine in a condensed, multi-sensory exploration of what it means to live in the nuclear Anthropocene. Hornek and Pauer create an immersive, physically experiential space for collective reflection on the traces of atomic science in bodies, plants, soils, and waterways. Through movement, sound, and collected voices, they negotiate the unprecedented alliance between technology, the military, and science—from the first atomic tests to the nuclear industry’s renaissance unfolding today.
JANUS is part of an interdisciplinary research project that builds on Katrin Hornek’s earlier project The Anthropocene Surge (2019–24, in collaboration with Michael Wagreich) and the exhibition testing grounds (at the Secession, March 8 – June 2, 2024, in collaboration with Karin Pauer, Sabina Holzer, and Zosia Hołubowska). The aim is to bring scientific knowledge into the public sphere and to foster interdisciplinary dialogue. As part of JANUS, the artists have engaged in collaborative research encounters with invited experts from various disciplines, in an effort to transcend academic boundaries and create an “embodied archive” that serves as the foundation of the performance.
DATES
JANUS: Performance by Katrin Hornek and Karin Pauer
Friday, June 20, 2025, 6:30 pm and Saturday, June 21, 2025, 3 pm
JANUS: Artist talk
Saturday, June 21, 2025, 4:30 pm
Concept, artistic direction & set design: Katrin Hornek
Choreography & artistic direction: Karin Pauer
Performers: Martina de Dominicis, Camilla Schielin, Karin Pauer, Gergő D. Farkas
Sound: Katrin Euler
Scenographic advice and production: Hektor Peljak (Studio Peljak)
Production: Mollusca Productions/Nefeli Antoniadi
Curator: Christiane Erharter
JANUS is funded by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF–NXT22-002) and supported by the University of Applied Arts Vienna (Department of Site-Specific Art) and the University of Vienna. Co-produced by Kunstverein ARGO, with support from the City of Vienna (MA7) and the Belvedere.
For more information visit: belvedere.at/janus.
Complimentary tickets are available at: https://www.belvedere.at/programm
High-resolution press photos are available for download HERE
For inquiries, please contact:
Belvedere Public Relations
Irene Jäger
+43 664 800 141 185
presse@belvedere.at
www.belvedere.at |
