To mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, the wannseeFORUM Foundation and its partners organized the international youth exchange "ART WORKS! European Culture of Resistance and Liberation." In 2020, young people from Austria, Italy, Germany, and Croatia met—first in person in Erlauf, then online due to the pandemic. Artworks from museums in their home countries, which bear witness to resistance against fascism and terrorist regimes and to the people's yearning for freedom, as well as the guiding principles of the Melk and Erlauf memorial sites, formed the basis for this exchange.
On September 10, 2021, starting at 7 p.m., the artworks will be presented to the public one last time at the ERLAUF REMEMBERS Museum and can then be seen on the following weekends (September 11, 12, 18, 19, 25 and 26, each day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.)!
Why Melk and Erlauf? Melk was home to the largest subcamp of the Mauthausen concentration camp in Lower Austria; in the peaceful community of Erlauf, the end of the Second World War was sealed. Based on their research and analysis, the young people – together with renowned international artists such as Alessandra Ferrini, Anderwald/Grond, OKO, and Katja Pratschke – created their works. The presentation of these pieces in Erlauf was intended to be the opening event of the Viertelfestival 2020. In keeping with the commemorative year of 2020, this exhibition was held as an online event with more than 23,000 visitors in four countries. And now, after these artworks have already been shown in Bolzano, Zagreb, and Berlin, the project will find a fitting conclusion in Erlauf as part of the Viertelfestival 2021. The project online: https://culture-of-resistance.eu/
Further information can be found at https://www.viertelfestival-noe.at/…/art-works…/ or by contacting info@melk-memorial.org or wsf@wannseeforum.de