The Artvark

The Portuguese Capital exudes an everlasting magnetism. So I am once again in Lisbon to meet up with friend and cousin Julian Hönig. He is a prolific designer whose credentials include Apple Computers, Audi and many others. On his terrace overlooking The Old Man's River, the Tejo, we riff off on a plethora of topics and questions, from addictive algorithms in mobile phones to creative trip-lines when designing.   

On a wonderful early autumn day we meet with Vienna based artist Sarah Sternat. She is a multidisciplinary artist, whose work revolves around  painting, dance, theatre and sculpture. Her approach, more often than not, is based on collaborative forms of creation and concepts. She is also part of the art collective Club Fortuna. https://www.clubfortuna.net https://www.reykjavikdancefestival.com/    

Today we meet visual artist Constantin Luser in his studio in Vienna. This space is teeming with pedigree as it once belonged to famed sculptor Alfred Hrdlicka’s workplace. So we both were rather inspired to chat about art, life, his creative process and everything in between. NOTE: This episode is in GERMAN. So all those esteemed listeners who are at a loss with this language: Please bear with us. The next episode will be, as usual, in English.   IG: https://www.instagram.com/studio_constantinluser/?hl=en

欢迎来到我的播客 - The Artvark meets Rebekka Hirschberg on a rather nice late August day in Vienna. At the center of her work is an engagement with the city and urban development from social, participatory, economic, and ecological perspectives. A particular focus is on communal and nonprofit housing forms and the structural conditions under which they emerge. She is a co-founder of the collective 'wohnlabor,' which has been researching, exhibiting, and publishing topics related to housing since 2018. So we had a treasure chest of topics to explore and delve into. https://www.wohnlabor.at

On a rather windy and rainy day we snuggle up in Tina Dico’s and Helgi Jonsson’s fantastic summer house nestling high above the shores of Iceland’s biggest lake Thingvallavatn. We talk about their backgrounds, their music and their common and individual trials, tribulations, successes and learning curves as musicians and parents.  https://tinadico.com/ https://www.helgijonsson.com/ (There were slight problems with the recording gear so please excuse the occasional glitches in this episode)  

Once again in Lisbon, I had the great pleasure to meet up with Margo Gabriel. Hailing from Miami via Boston, MA she is a freelance food writer who centers her work on art, food, music and travel. She is, amongst a plethora of other creative outputs, hosting Haitian Pop-Up Dinners in Lisbon. We riff off on her background and ancestry, her move from the US to Lisbon but also the gentrification processes that make it increasingly difficult for many parts of society and the impact the so-called expat community has on these developments. Nonetheless, we were striving to keep a light tone in our late morning chat.   https://margoscreativelife.com  

This week’s podcast finds us in not-so-sunny Lisbon, where we meet up with Brian Ambulo, a ‘Non-Curator’ in his own words to talk about the concept of place-making or indeed place-proofing, as he puts it, and the many forms creative processes can be a part of or even the base for it. Born and raised in greater Manila area in the Philippines he is now, via London, based in Lisbon enrolled in a PhD program in Cultural Studies.  

This time we meet up with Zimbabwe-born interdisciplinary artist Masimba Hwati. He is currently enrolled as a PhD Candidate at Akademie Der Bildenden Künste Wien. His work touches on a wide variety of issues and hence our conversation was inspiring and insightful for me. We talk about his background as well as current hot-topics like “Cultural Appropriation” or the current limelight on art hailing from what is - nonchalantly, maybe even unreflected - termed ‘Global-South’. Masimba's Instagram Handle: https://www.instagram.com/masimbahwati/?hl=en    

Welcome to the ARTVARK podcast. We rattle brains and concepts. We riff about art, life, sociopolitical issues, trials, tribulations and everything in between. Our first talk finds us in Vienna, where I meet with artist Masimba Hwati hailing from Zimbabwe. It will be published on 27.10.2023. My warmest regards, Georg Hartwig     .