My Cabinet: Bad Ischl / Austria
Art of the matter
How a small team is leading the Salzkammergut region’s charge as a European Capital of Culture.
Stretching east of Salzburg to the Dachstein mountains, Austria’s Salzkammergut region, once renowned for salt-mining, has a new currency: culture. Under the banner town of Bad Ischl, the Salzkammergut’s 23 municipalities are one of this year’s three European Capitals of Culture; for the first time, a region, rather than a city, was awarded the coveted title. Buoyed by this vote of confidence from the EU, and with €30m in funding, it is busily reviving its artistic heritage.
“We’re using this impetus to understand how the region can be attractive globally,” says the programme’s artistic director, Elisabeth Schweeger. As part of the yearlong initiative, about 300 projects, including art exhibitions, concerts, operas and operettas, panel discussions, guided hikes and public installations, will come to fruition. It’s a feat spearheaded by Schweeger’s efforts to revive the Salzkammergut’s postindustrial spaces and defunct railway infrastructure.
“We don’t have an impressive opera house or a vast state-owned museum so we must think outside of the box,” Schweeger tells monocle in Bad Ischl’s Trinkhalle, the town’s classical-style concert hall that was once a place for mineral water thermal baths. She has her work cut out: following its illustrious peaks during the imperial era, the town’s cultural clout dramatically faded over time.
In the 19th century, Bad Ischl was considered somewhat avant-garde. Artists and well-heeled Austrians seeking to escape the heat of the capital during the Sommerfrische, the summer holidays, would flock to the Salzkammergut’s mountains. Among them were members of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, who brought Vienna’s cultural prowess with them in the 1850s. One of the aims of this year’s events is to distribute tourism more evenly around the region. “We’re a team of 38 based across the area, looking at its cultural deficits but also at the possibilities of the Salzkammergut as a model rural region. This isn’t about urbanising the countryside. It’s about reviving dormant cultural facets, on behalf of the Salzkammergut and for Europe as a whole.” —
Elisabeth Schweeger
Artistic director
Born in Vienna, Schweeger studied comparative literature and philosophy in Innsbruck, Vienna and the Sorbonne in Paris. Since then, she has curated at the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna and the Venice Biennale. Between 2014 and 2022, she was the artistic director of the Academy of Performing Arts Baden-Wuerttemberg and of the Salzkammergut Capital of Culture programme in November 2021.
1. JanaLüthje Head of dramaturgy “Lüthje incorporates diverse international perspectives into her theatre, dance and discursive projects.”
2. ChristinaJaritsch Head of ecology, agriculture and social affairs “Jaritsch returned to the region after studies in Vienna, Nancy and Havana. Her focus is on climate change and gender diversity.”
3. EvaMair Head of building culture and crafts “Mair is responsible for areas involving the culture of buildings.”
4. Lisa Neuhuber Head of programme, remembrance culture, history and museums “Neuhuber focuses on the Second World War and remembrance.”
5. Maria Neumayr-Wimmer Head of production “The lead producer of the official opening ceremony this year.”
6. StefanHeinisch Head of communications and marketing “He helms the Tavern Culture Reloaded project, offering chefs a way to reimagine the regional gastronomy.”
7. Christian Haselmayr Head of music, youth and community building “A former music curator at Linz’s Crossing Europe Film Festival, Haselmayr leads experimental digital art festival New Salt.”
8. Martina Rothschädl Head of performing arts and literature “Rothschädl worked for Salzburg State Exhibitions and the European Art Forum before joining us in Salzkammergut.”
9. SimoneBarlian Head of visual arts “As an artist and curator from Gmunden, Barlian is interested in sociopolitical interaction through the medium of art.”
10. Gottfried Hattinger Curator for visual arts, performance and sound “Hattinger curated the ‘Art Your Village’ series, exploring the artistic gaze placed on local communities, traditions and rituals.”
