In 2008, a group of Vienna based artists and friends initiated a project that approached the city’s cultural landscape with both precision and wit. At its centre stood the well known monument of Empress Maria Theresia, whose gaze is firmly directed towards the Hofburg, while the MuseumsQuartier, one of Vienna’s key sites for contemporary art, remains outside her field of vision. This spatial arrangement became the point of departure for a performative reimagining.

At the heart of the project was a carefully staged ritual. In a gesture inspired by shamanic practices, the spirit of Maria Theresia was symbolically transferred from the monument into a newly created figure, constructed on site. This charged sculptural body, understood as a temporary vessel, became the central protagonist of the work.

Carried within a demonstration that called for greater visibility and support for contemporary art, the figure was led along Vienna’s Ringstraße. The procession combined elements of political gathering, ceremonial act and performative intervention, weaving together public space, historical reference and present day concerns.

The sculptural figure was then brought to the brut theatre, where, in the evening, a mystery play was performed in her honour. Drawing on historical theatrical forms while remaining attentive to contemporary realities, the performance gathered a wide range of participants, including artists, aspiring performers and other voices from the city. Through a sequence of scenes and contributions, they reflected on questions of everyday life, social change and the role of art within society.

Rather than offering a single narrative, the work opened a space of encounter between past and present, between inherited images of authority and the plurality of contemporary perspectives. In doing so, it invited audiences to reconsider how history is positioned within the living fabric of the city.