steirischer herbst ’19: Grand Hotel Abyss

19.9.–13.10.19
Opening days: 19.–22.9.19
Various venues in Graz and Styria, Austria

The title of the core program of steirischer herbst ’19 is Grand Hotel Abyss—a striking metaphor used by philosopher Georg Lukács to describe the European intellectual and cultural scene as it faced the approach of fascism. “The Grand Hotel Abyss has been thoughtfully decorated for every taste and every direction,” he wrote in an eponymous text, dated 1933 and published in German after his death. “Both intellectual intoxication and asceticism or self-flagellation are not only permitted in all their forms; there are brilliantly stocked bars for one purpose and amazingly manufactured exercise equipment and torture chambers for the other. Not only solitude but sociality too is on offer. . . . The danse macabre of worldviews plays out every day and every evening in this hotel. It becomes a jazz band both pleasant and thrilling, providing the guests with some rest after their exhausting daily regimen at the spa.”

→ Grand Hotel Abyss curatorial concept
→ Opening Speech by Ekaterina Degot

Director and Chief Curator
Ekaterina Degot

Concept
Ekaterina Degot and David Riff

Curatorial Team
Mirela Baciak, Ekaterina Degot,
Henriette Gallus, Dominik Müller,
Christoph Platz, and David Riff

Participating Artists

Venues

Visitor and Press Center → 1
Kaiser-Josef-Platz 4, 8010 Graz

Alte Galerie in Schloss Eggenberg → 2
Eggenberger Allee 90, 8020 Graz

Befreiungsdenkmal, Burggarten der Grazer Burg → 3
8010 Graz

Congress Graz → 4
Sparkassenplatz 1, 8010 Graz

Dr. Hans-Kloepfer-Büste near Türkenbrunnen → 5
Schloßberg, 8010 Graz

Forum Stadtpark → 6
Stadtpark 1, 8010 Graz

Girardigasse 8 → 7
8010 Graz

Grand Hotel Wiesler → 8
Grieskai 4-8, 8020 Graz

Grazer Kunstverein → 9
Burggasse 4, 8010 Graz

Griesplatz → 10
Corner of Griesplatz and Griesgasse, 8020 Graz

Großer Minoritensaal → 11
Mariahilferplatz 3, 8020 Graz

Gsellmann Weltmaschine → 12
Kaag 12, 8332 Edelsbach

Helmut List Halle → 13
Waagner-Biro-Straße 98a, 8020 Graz

herbstkantine → 1
Kaiser-Josef-Platz 4, 8010 Graz

Historic Hotels in Graz
Das Weitzer, Grand Hôtel Wiesler, Hotel Mariahilf, Palais-Hotel Erzherzog Johann, Parkhotel Graz, Schlossberghotel – Das Kunsthotel

Jahn-Denkmal → 16
Europaratweg, Stadtpark, 8010 Graz

Kloepfer-Denkmal → 17
Hans-Kloepfer-Platz, 8580 Köflach

Kunsthaus Graz → 18
Lendkai 1, 8020 Graz

Künstlerhaus, Halle für Kunst und Medien → 19
Burgring 2, 8010 Graz

Landhaushof → 10
Grazer Landhaus, Herrengasse 16, 8010 Graz

Literaturhaus Graz → 21
Elisabethstraße 30, 8010 Graz

Maria Verkündigungskirche → 22
Kroisbach, Am Rehgrund 2, 8043 Graz

Markthalle Eggenberg → 23
Corner of Hofbauerplatz and Krausgasse, 8020 Graz

Museum für Geschichte → 24
Sackstraße 16, 8010 Graz

Office of Open Questions → 1
Kaiser-Josef-Platz 4, 8010 Graz

Orpheum → 25
Orpheumgasse 8, 8020 Graz

Palais Attems → 26
Sackstrasse 17, 8010 Graz