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Europavox Vienna : thank you !
The 2023 Austrian leg of Europavox’s festivals, hosted by WUK, took place on the 17th and 18th November, and it was a great success, to say the least: the festival’s sixth edition was sold-out two nights in a row !
European musical creativity’s crème de la crème shared the Austrian stage. On the program: Austrian, German, French and English rock music with Lucy Kruger & the Lost Boys, MNNQNS, Bipolar Feminin and shame. Belgium’s Ada Oda and their Italian lyrics also rocked, as did Serbia’s KOIKOI. In the midst of all these guitars, The Haunted Youth (Belgium) and Pom Poko (Norway) softened up the nights with some pop music. An explosive mix!
Many thanks to the audience, the artists and the teams, and see you next year Vienna!
SHAME (UK) • LUCY KRUGER & THE LOST BOYS (DE) • POM POKO (NO) • MNNQNS (FR) • BIPOLAR FEMININ (AT) • THE HAUNTED YOUTH (BE) • KOIKOI (RS) • ADA ODA (BE)
2022 edition
MATTHÄUS BÄR (AT – Europavox Kids) • THEODORE (GR) • MISCHA BLANOS (ROM) • DOPPELFINGER (AT) • EMILIE ZOE (CH) • SHISHI (LT) • FREEKIND. (AT) • ALESSANDRO BARIS (AT)
The philosophy behind the practice
WUK is an acronym and stands for “Werkstätten- und Kulturhaus”, roughly meaning “House for Workshops and Culture”. The building islaid out on 12,000 square metres and includes a stage, a concert hall, an exhibition hall and photo gallery, workshops and studios, work spaces for socio-political groups, a place for education and counselling, a senior citizens’ centre and school, rehearsal studios for music and dance, an intercultural centre, work stations and a party space.
The WUK is a place for study, for trying and doing things, for participation and sharing. The WUK creates leeway for creativity. It is a laboratory and a place of practice in one.
Measured in terms of square metres and versatility, the WUK is one of the largest socio-cultural centres in Europe. More than 200,000 people visit and make use of the WUK every year.
- The WUK is an open cultural space, a space for lived interaction between art, politics and social issues. An expanded cultural concept becomes manifest, which transcends the everyday meaning of the word culture.
- As a socio-cultural centre it focuseson advancing processes of emancipation, independence and help to self-help, cultural work in the community, self-management, self-organisation and autonomy.
- As a centre of art and culture, the main emphasis is on the promotion of the production and presentation of innovative, experimental, interdisciplinary, critical art and culture on a local, regional and international level.
The WUK gets itself organised: Three pillars
WUK’s organisational structure comprises of three pillars: Cultural Productions, WUK Education and Counselling as well as the WUK Socio-Cultural Centre. The Association for the Creation of Open Culture and Workshop Houses constitutes the legal umbrella organisation for these three pillars. About 650 members elect an executive board of six every two years.
The Association
The WUK legal entity is the “Verein zur Schaffung offener Kultur- und Werkstättenhäuser” (Association for the Creation of Open Culture and Workshop Houses). A six-member board heads the association and decides the strategic direction of WUK. At the annual general assembly of the members fundamental decisions are made, and every two years a new board is elected.
All of the current 650 WUK members have voting rights.