Archives are a storage of knowledge.
Sometimes it is difficult to work with heavy and painful histories, but it is important and necessary—because history can always be reinterpreted, and sometimes also manipulated. That is why it is important to return to archives and to read them again from different perspectives.

Tonight, we spoke about Wenn Schatten zu flüstern beginnen / When Shadows Begin to Whisper — a research project by Christina Werner that looks at the members of VBKÖ during the time of National Socialism, and asks how images function politically: what they show, what they hide, and how they shape our memory today.

My guest was Christina Werner, visual artist.

In her artistic practice, Christina Werner analyses political image strategies, mechanisms of visual power and their circulation in the media. Her work focuses on global developments such as the rise of neo-fascism and the role of public space as a place of commemoration. The archive is becoming increasingly important as a source of knowledge and a starting point for many of Werner’s works.
https://www.christinawerner.com/

You can also visit the exhibition at VBKÖ: Polyphonic Archive, Entangled Voices
Exhibition period: March 14 – May 2, 2026

With this episode, Ženergija continues the radio series VBKÖ: When Archives Speak — a residency project that turns listening to archival work into a shared, living practice.

More info: https://cba.fro.at/podcast/zenergija
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