A project by the House of Austrian History

Twice daily, at 12:30 pm and 6:30 pm, the sound of glass could be heard on Vienna's Heldenplatz square from March 2018 to May 2019.

Filled to different levels with water, the four glasses were rubbed around the rim to produce an ethereal, crystalline and constantly changing tone. Rising and falling in volume, then fading almost to nothing, likes echoes of voices. At a site where National Socialist propaganda rallies drowned out everything else, The Voices stands for the voices of those who were silenced by the regime of terror and about whom the Second Republic long remained silent. With its location between the Neue Burg, the historical site of 15 March 1938, and the two temporary pavilions of Parliament, which currently provide an architectural counterpoint, the sensitive sound installation creates a tangible tension precisely through its quiet presence. And it is in this tension, this charged space, that the key challenges facing society in the present and future lie.

The publication accompanying the project can be downloaded on this page.

Edited by Monika Sommer

Preface:
Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen
Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz
Federal Minister Gernot Blümel

Introduction:
Oliver Rathkolb, Monika Sommer

Contributions:
Heidemarie Uhl, Thomas D. Trummer

Interview:
Susan Philipsz in conversation with Eva Meran

Publication:
64 pages, German/Englisch
House of Austrian History
Austrian National Library
Vienna, 2018
ISBN: 978-3-01-000043-7

The sound installation was realised with support by the Austrian Federal Chancellery