Whereas birthdays regularly draw attention to one's own transience, birthday presents make up for it. In the case of exile and expulsion, they sometimes bear witness to a bygone era, as was the case with David Josef Bach (b. 1874, Lemberg, d. 1947, London). The music critic and cultural mediator was an early member of Freud's Wednesday Psychological Society, which met regularly between 1902 and 1906 in Freud's first practice on the mezzanine floor of Berggasse 19. Like Freud, David Josef Bach also fled to London to escape National Socialism. A few years ago, a casket was found in Bach's estate in England, which was presented to him by his artistic companions on his 50th birthday in Vienna in 1924. It contains 88 birthday letters with artistic dedications in the form of compositions, poems and drawings, including from Hanns Eisler, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Oskar Kokoschka, Lina Loos, Arthur Schnitzler, Arnold Schönberg, Richard Strauss, Stefan Zweig and many more.

Freud's practice rooms on the mezzanine floor now house selected works from the Sigmund Freud Museum's conceptual art collection. A multimedia lecture performance and live improvisation will transform those rooms into a soundscape for “Facing Time”, bringing a selection of the letters to life in an artistic-scientific approach.

Lecture:

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Christian Glanz

Musik:

Haruki Noda, Live-Elektronik

Lisa Hofmaninger, Bassklarinette

Helene Glüxam, Kontrabass

An event as part of VIENNA ART WEEK

Supported by

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