The Elephant In The Room

The Elephant In The Room: Queering The KHM While Talking To The Director
Aktion, 90 min. (2022) Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

‚The elephant in the room‘ is a metaphorical idiom for an overpowering, important, or controversial topic that is personally, socially, or politically embarrassing, conflictual, or dangerous to address.
Em Schwarzwald embodies The Elephant In The Room within the KHM before and while she is meeting director general Sabine Haag for a one-to-one conversation in which she shares with the director general her observations as a queer artist invited to create art within the art project Queering The KHM. Em Schwarzwald addresses her critique of the process from a queer-feminist and organisational perspective.
The action begins opposite Kunsthistorisches Museum – in front of the Naturhistorisches Museum – to start by pointing out the construction of (colonised) nature and (European) art as opposition built into the urban and cultural landscape of Vienna.

Soft Sculpture The Elephant (2022)
Wool, Synthetic Textile, Metal

Fotos: Marisel Bogola