Anatomy of a Vortex

In her lecture performance, artist Klara Hobza recounts her endeavour of diving through Europe and illustrates her stories with temporary drawings on the asphalt, created using water from the adjacent Landwehr Canal. Water, as a central element, connects the venue, the exhibition, and the performance. At times it seems impenetrable, at times frightening, at times soothing. It appears in streams and cycles—and it tells stories.
The artist invites the audience to accompany her across the bridge as she shares some of these stories. In her 30-year project “Diving Through Europe” (since 2009), Hobza sets herself an enormous challenge: In predetermined stages, she dives through Europe’s waterways, from the mouth of the Rhine into the North Sea all the way to the Black Sea. And just as she recounts her experiences, a diver might be moving through the water beneath the bridge, invisible to the naked eye.

Narrative, whimsical, and at times daring, Klara Hobza’s artistic practice navigates the tension between experimentation, the playful acquisition of skills, and a humor-infused pursuit of the nearly impossible. Her work draws on observation, reflection, and insights from scientific and historical research, as well as from the narrative worlds of folk mythology. At the center is always a task that seems almost impossible to accomplish—and yet: the plausibility of what is feasible remains.

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The performance will be held in German.
The meeting point is the entrance to the Kunstbrücke.
Duration: approximately 25 minutes
Participation is free of charge; no advance registration is required.