Floating Histories
29.5.–26.6.2026
Lill Carr, Christina Gruber, Kathrin Gruzei, Gabriele Sturm, Kombinat Nordwest (Pual Papalacca & Max Weidacher), Temporäre Hafenarbeiter*innenkapelle
The works in this exhibition refer to the site’s history, when a navigable branch of the Danube flowed through the area that would later become the Nordwestbahnhof, where a shipyard was located at “Am Tabor” until the 18th century. Just as the shipyard and shipping did, railway operations from 1872 onward constituted a world of work and life whose network extended far beyond the borders of the city of Vienna. We wish to recall this, as well as the river’s actual purpose—which for a long time was perceived solely as a massive nuisance—namely, to transport and deposit sediments. Based on a preliminary project, a large-scale installation was created using objects found on site, which now serves as a ready-made display for the exhibition and the accompanying program.
https://tracingspaces.net/habitat-hybrid/werft/
Under the label “Museum Nordwestbahnhof,” Tracing Spaces collects narratives and artifacts from the rich history of Vienna’s Nordwestbahnhof, which are made accessible to a wider audience through various exhibition formats both indoors and on the vacant lot of the decommissioned freight terminal. The long-term goal of this initiative is to reintegrate these narratives as identity-forming markers into the newly emerging urban development area here and to establish the museum as a local cultural center in one of the historic warehouses on the site.