Conchita Doll, by Atelier Wunderkammer, Vienna 2017/2018

Even before the drag queen Conchita Wurst won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014, she had given rise to political discussions about social normativity with regard to bodies and gender. For the House of Austrian History, Atelier Wunderkammer has transformed a Barbie Doll into a Conchita Doll. It is a reference to a hoax put out on social media by a Spanish LGBTQI channel. A Conchita Barbie was presented as part of a fictitious “Tolerance Edition” supposedly created by the toy manufacturer Mattel. The posting was shared hundreds of times and was circulated around the world by various media outlets – often, however, without the information that the photo montage was actually a piece of satire.

Associated date: 2017/2018

Place: Vienna, Austria

Height: 30 cm

Materials: Plastic, textile, synthetic fibres, diamanté

Acquisition: Purchase