Kon.klave no. 5

In the summer of 2018 the Kon.klave will take place for the fourth time. During this special week, the Saalbacher Hof will offer seven different artists a stage for their creative expression. The word "conclave" is of Latin origin and means a room that can be locked up.

The Saalbacher Hof provides a room for one week to seven international artists in which to work. This artistic focus marks a dialogue between artists, guests, and the population.

Retrospectively, a lot was also going on again last summer. Ina Loitzl (who was also chosen as patron for the 2017 con.clave) inspired all with her paper-cut technique and DI Tanja Prušnik led her Spurensuche (Search for Traces) to two old trees in the garden where she impressively displayed her installation during the show.

Through exceptional interest generated by Michael Jank’s cloud paintings, the artist spontaneously invited our guests to a “cloudspotting talk” in the library. Then Ina Loitzl and Tanja Prušnik shared their TED-Talk with us. The Artist Talks were thus born.

Particular attention was paid to Anamari Hrup’s Abandoned Plants Sanctuary, with a possibility to adopting a plant with certificate during the vernissage and which was also the theme of her Master’s thesis.
The search for abandoned plants, however, turned out to be extremely difficult, because Anamari—according to her own statements—did not find half-dried out or half-dead plants in Saalbach to take care of—because everything in Saalbach was so “taken care of” already. Fortunately, she discovered the old plant container at the cemetery, and so, at the vernissage, many potted plants awaited people willing to adopt and take care of them. From our guests and hotel colleagues to the mayor, there were enough people interested in the art to give them a new home.