Embodied (Hi)stories: Confronting the Art Collection

Curated by Frida Robles and Martina Gimplinger

As part of the exhibition, Never Final! The Evolving Museum, the program Embodied (Hi)stories: Confronting the Art Collection invites you to explore the embodiment of history in our museum collection. Artists Michael Turinsky and Rehema Chachage independently confront the work Fifty Hair Bones and Sun Disk (To the students of the Aachener Werkkunstschule), 1971 by the sculptor Nancy Graves, each in a three-day performative exploration. 

Turinsky works as a physically disabled artist and theoretician at the interface of contemporary dance and performance. He coined the artistic working method ‘crip choreography’, which he uses to question dominant movement patterns and create new forms of expression.
Chachage artistically explores inherited knowledge such as songs, names, recipes, building practices, healing rituals and scientific knowledge. This can be described as a performative archive exploring alternative ways of knowing and creating knowledge.

Curated by Frida Robles and Martina Gimplinger, the project is accompanied by workshops and talks, that explore the different stories that our bodies carry - stories of trauma, joy and healing. The program invites participants to actively engage with the sculpture Fifty Hair Bones and Sun Disk (To the students of the Aachener Werkkunstschule), 1971 by Nancy Graves.
Exercises from performative practice will be used to explore the space in connection with the artwork. Collective reading, selected texts and videos encourage participants to critically reflect on the relationship between body and archive.

 

Artists

Michael Turinsky
Nancy Graves
Rehema Chachage

Information:

• Participation in all events is free with a valid admission ticket. Advance registration is only required for the workshops.
• Talks, Open Studio, and Performative Explorations are open to all. In case of high demand, we reserve the right to limit the number of participants.
• All events will be held in English.

Embodied (Hi)stories: Confronting the Art Collection is a cooperative event between the curators Frida Robles & Martina Gimplinger and Benedikt Hochwartner & Hannah Imhoff from the Collection and Art Education Department of the mumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig.

By participating, you agree that the recordings made during the event may be published.

Header Image: Nancy Graves photographed in her Soho studio, 1980, Foto: Hans Namuth, © Nancy Graves Foundation / Bildrecht, Wien 2025