2011: Begging Machines in Austria

In February 2011 a Graz theatre company used the centrally located Herrengasse of the Styrian capital city to stage a performance piece: It hid a well-known cabaret artist behind a cardboard box and labelled it “Begging Machine”. This performance, which involved collecting money, was not just a protest against the general ban on begging, which had been passed that day by the Styrian state parliament, but also an ironic commentary on the proposals that had long been circulating in the political sphere. For example, in 2008, the Graz municipal council proposed replacing beggars with “artistically designed pillars or sculptures”, and then giving the beggars the money donated there. Obviously, this was above all else about making poverty more "bearable" for the passers-by. That many of the beggars at the time were not from Austria and included Roma people among them, repeatedly led to bitter political debates.

The principle underlying this performance piece was exactly the opposite of an earlier begging machine that had been presented by an inventor at the 1928 Trade Fair of Vienna. This earlier version of a begging machine was supposed to give out donations (rather than collect them), and thereby deter peddling. It was meant to be mounted next to the entrances of houses and flats. But even the media coverage of the issue at the time had predicted that this idea would ultimately fail.

Both begging machines were based on the idea that people who are able to give some money should ideally not have to come into contact with the people who needed it. However, begging implies just how fraught poverty is with emotions. It is precisely the visibility of beggars that is required to appeal to people’s conscience.