Hallstatt Air

Hallstatt AIR is an artist-in-residence program that offers a selection of Austrian and international guest artists the opportunity to realize contemporary and interdisciplinary art projects in a stay of several weeks in Hallstatt. The premiere of the future biennial event series took place in the summer of 2021.

The program is historically linked to the summer retreat that emerged at the turn oft he 19th and 20th century, when the aristocratic elite but also artists retreated to Lake Hallstatt to use this secluded and multifaceted place as a source of strength and inspiration for their work.

The project, organized by the cultural association Dezentral, uses existing potential such as local work spaces and exhibition areas and opens new spaces to the public. As a special highlight, a work exhibition with a festival-like character had been realized in the private rooms of Grub Castle, which was opened especially for this purpose.

The main concern of the program is to facilittate experimental exchange between the invited artists as well as interventions with the local audience and with cultural institutions and initiatives. The creative guests are provided with the essential means to produce art Salzkammergut region, which is – to them – a new and unique environment. The locals are offered the opportunity to broaden their cultural horizons by means of temporary events and their engagement with these events.

With the staging of Hallstatt AIR, a contemporary impulse is set, which will develope a more sustainable character through the biennial event rhythm and ensure a constant interaction of the Salzkammergut with experimental art.