In her work, Chiharu Shiota explores how everyday objects can be used to express the memory of their owners’ existence. Shiota tries to grasp these memories by collecting ordinary objects such as shoes, keys, beds, chairs and clothes and weaving them into thread structures. For her, clothing is a second skin that offers us protection, but also allows us to conform to norms. Our inner self contains characteristics that we have not chosen. Family, religion, culture, all these are the boundaries within which we move or decide to break through. In the installation, the clothes are caught between red ropes that veil the figures like a mist. A way of recognising and feeling that leaves visitors room for their own interpretation. The installations create a feeling of “presence in absence”.
A project of the European Capital of Culture Bad Ischl Salzkammergut 2024 in cooperation with the Zeitgeschichte Museum and the Ebensee Concentration Camp Memorial with the kind support of the EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee.
Contributors
Chiharu Shiota (Artist)
Atelier Chiharu Shiota
Marian Holzmüller (Production)
Roman Widmann (Technical Director)
Simone Barlian (Head of Visual Arts)
Teresa Kranawetter (Assistance Visual Arts)
Contemporary History Museum & Ebensee Concentration Camp Memorial (Co-operation partner)
Visitor information
The temperature in the underground tunnel is approx. 8°C all year round. If visiting in summer, it is advisable to bring warm clothing.
Opening hours
Please note the different opening hours of the tunnel.
Group tours (10 persons or more) are also possible outside opening hours by appointment (Tel: 06133/5601).
How to get there
…by train:
The concentration camp memorial can be reached by local bus from the railway station “Ebensee Landungsplatz” or on foot from Ebensee railway station (approx. 30 minutes).
The memorial is located outside the town centre.
…by car:
On the B145 to Gmunden or Bad Ischl, take the “Rindbach” exit. From there the way to the memorial is well signposted.
Limited parking is available in front of the concentration camp cemetery. The walk from there to the tunnel complex takes about 5 minutes
