SUMMER 2016 WAS EXCITING!

IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD FESTIVAL 2016 LOWER AUSTRIA MOSTVIERTEL THE PROJECT
” 99PLUS1 – NUSSDORF IN PORTRAIT ” WAS A PART OF IT.

From May 5 to August 7, 2016, the Austrian artist Wilfried König painted 99 people from his village Nussdorf and one person from the partner town Matrei.

While portraying the people should tell something about themmselves and about their village Nussdorf.

The portrait painting sessions were recorded on video.
The film records are handed over to the community as a historical document
A documentary movie is in progress.
A book is planned.

The unique project is remarkable not only in its form and extent but also stands out for its social component.

THE PROJECT

99 plus 1 – Nussdorf in Portrait

was exciting, social, educational, on everyone’s lips, inspiring, surprising, sustainable ….

THE HOW

Men, women and children, 4-94 years participated in this project

99 Nußdorf people and one citizen of Matrei – sat on the throne and were portrayed.

During this portrait session they were also filmed in order to leave their stories as well as their emotions for eternity.

Contemporary documents in the form of 500 hours of video material were given to the community council and will give later in history a valuable insight into the “today” of the village and its inhabitants.

THE WHY

To get to Know and Perceive

“Immigrants” and “Natives” often do not have the opportunity to meet each other or do not use opportunities.

I consider myself as an “Immigrant”. This happened many times in different places, on different continents with different cultures. There I could see how important it is to get to know others which can pick up differences and may disappear misunderstandings or misinformation, leading to a good cooperation.

A “we” makes it easier to develop empathy. In order get to a “we” it needs to discover similarities that often appear during a conversation during the portrait session.
If the similarities are sometimes just the joint residence this awareness can be a first step.

But over the strong relationship of “we” we must not forget that there is also the “other”. Therefore, the decision was taken to not only paint “people from Nussdorf” but also someone from another area due to the idea that “we” not should not stay a “Gallic village”.

Perception is respect.