class="">Holy Hydra @Timișoara (online performance)

Performing Austria & Romania, the dialogue of performing arts from the two countries

presents the performance: HOLY HYDRA by the Austrian art collective HYDRA.

The Austrian Cultural Forum presents the performance “Holy Hydra“, with an original concept at the intersection of several avant-garde performing arts genres – contemporary dance, performance, video installation, traditional and contemporary music, etc. The performance had a special one-off online performance on the occasion of Timisoara 2023 – European Capital of Culture, at the Millennium New Reformed Church in Timisoara, on October 13th, 2023.

On the occasion of the National Theater Festival 2024, the performance can be watched exclusively on the dedicated page on the Austrian Cultural Forum website.

Since 2016, the Austrian artistic collective Hydra has been transforming various religious buildings into veritable centers of alternative contemporary culture for a day, in an attempt to bring these sacred spaces even closer to the communities in which they are located and to highlight their potential to truly become meeting places for everyday life outside of the worship calendars.

“The present research is concerned with the role of the sacred in contemporary times. This project illustrates the concrete social importance of religious buildings and highlights new opportunities for intercultural exchange. In terms of content, the event focuses on an extended use and possible redefinition of sacred spaces as performative spaces, with the aim of bringing the discourse between religion, society and art to a new, broader level.

Central to our approach is the intention to open up these unique, culturally and historically valuable architectural spaces so that they can be experienced as a meeting place, in addition to their religious significance, for all people, regardless of their beliefs,” Holy Hydra states in its curatorial argument.

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Hydra is a cultural collective in Linz that has been developing specific strategies and performances for spaces that can host cultural events since 2016. The collective consists of five creative minds (Amanda Augustin, Lorena Höllrigl, Anna Friedinger, Björn Büchner, Klaus Reznicek) and is known for its site-specific installations presented in new or previously unused spaces for this purpose.

HOLY HYDRA is part of the cultural initiative #newTogether of the Austrian Cultural Forum and is supported by Residența9, LinzEXPOrt, the Province of Upper Austria.