TIME TRAVEL

'TIMELESS KNOT' with Historical Photographer : MICHAEL MOSER 
“His first voyage full of difficulties. When I imagined the waves the boy crossed, an ukiyoe by Katsushika Hokusai came to my mind. I felt that the splashing waves and their momentum were a perfect expression of the young energy and passion with which he decided to leave for a foreign land and the drastic changes of the Meiji era he spent in Japan. ‘Japan Blue and the Great Wave’ that became a symbolic image of his young spirit. The waves of color across the blue are a story born of the link between his gaze as he took these photographs and my timeless heart. In his gentle, tender gaze as he aged, I felt a deep prayer for the people reflected in these historical photographs. Imagining the beautiful landscapes of Japan and Austria at that time, and the future of the people in the photographs from actual episodes, I created a new story to be close to them.” 
Group show: Zeitreise – Time Travel .~ European Capital of Culture Salzkammergut 2024
Historical photographs of the Salzkammergut are reinterpreted by contemporary photo artists – between lived tradition and cliché.

"Promise of Sunrise" from the Timeless Knot Series, 2023, embroidered photograph Hahnemuehle Photo Rag Baryta, 31 x 21 x 3 cm 


"Romantic Poetry" from the Timeless Knot Series, 2023, embroidered photograph Hahnemuehle Photo Rag Baryta, 31 × 21 x 3 cm


"Moonlight Lullaby" from the Timeless Knot Series, 2023, embroidered photograph Hahnemuehle Photo Rag Baryta, 31 x 21 x 3 cm

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About Michael Moser
"In 1867, at the age of 14, Michael Moser, son of a miner and woodcarver, was taken to Vienna as an apprentice by Viennese photographer Wilhelm Burger. In 1868 the young boy accompanied Burger on the imperial and royal mission to East Asia, travelling via Cape Town, Java, Singapore, Bangkok, Saigon and Hong Kong as far as Yokohama. Moser, constantly sea-sick, decided to stay in Japan in 1869, working first in a dockland pub and then as a photographer for “Mr. Black”, publisher of the Japan Gazette / Far East. He learned to speak and write perfect Japanese and accompanied the Japanese delegation to the World Expo in Vienna in 1873 as an interpreter. On his return Moser was employed by the Japanese government as a photographer and moved to Tokyo. In 1876 he travelled as an interpreter with the Japanese delegation to the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, fell ill and decided in 1877 to return to Altaussee. There he opened a successful photo studio, first in Altaussee, later in Bad Aussee. In 1889 he married Franziska Frühwirth, and a year later their only son Philipp was born. Moser was awarded the Silver State Prize for his photographic work. He is recognized as one of the most important photographers of Japan’s Meiji epoch." Text by Yvonne Oswald, Column, EU Japan Fest, 2025.

Original Photographs :
(L) The solemn family had their picture taken before they left the village for good to emigrate to the US due to poverty. / (C) The 3 boys are army recruits and as it was the custom, before the went to the army they adorned their hats with flowers and had a crazy night out./ (R) The wealthy people from Vienna that spent their summer in the area and dressed up like locals, it was the time of Romanticism and a longing for being near nature.


"All three exhibitions were made possible thanks to the European Capital of Culture Bad Ischl Salzkammergut 2024 and their heads of program. Both the exhibition in Grundlsee in the Salzkammergut and the one in the Mozart’s Residence attracted 50,000 visitors. This encouragement clearly showed that the contemporary view of history and traditions is an important contribution to the examination of one’s own self-image. In the work of Yukimi Akiba two cultures come together that emphasize contrast and commonality – a togetherness that creates enrichment. An important sign in times when the other is seen more as an enemy than a friend." Text by the head of program European Capital of Culture Bad Ischl Salzkammergut 2024, Column, EU Japan Fest, 2025.
About Exhibition
Zeitreise – Time Travel .~ European Capital of Culture Salzkammergut 2024
Historical photographs of the Salzkammergut are reinterpreted by contemporary photo artists – between lived tradition and cliché.
 
Curator: Yvonne Oswald
 
Historical photographers: Michael Moser, Wilhelm Burger, Friedrich Simony, Erich Bährendt, Albert Rastl, Konrad Mautner, Friedrich Ernst Brandt, Alois Eisenwenger, Hans Gilge, Victor Angerer u.a.
 
Contemporary artists: Yukimi Akiba (JP), Kim Boske (NL), Tamas Dezsö (HUN), Pawel Jaszczuk (POL), Zhang Kechun (CHN), Marco Lanza (IT), Stefanie Moshammer (A), Zuzana Pustaiová (SVK), Patrick Lambertz (CH), Yvonne Oswald (A)
18/05 – 30/08/24 : Narzissendorf Zloam, Graz (AT)
06/09 – 31/12/24 : Mozart Residence, Salzburg (AT)
30/01 – 18/05/25 : History Museum - Universalmuseums Joanneum, Grundlsee (AT) 
Historical photographs of the Salzkammergut from private and public archives are made available to contemporary photographic artists. These artists comment on and interpret the classic images, thus creating a link between tradition and cliché and contemporary photographic art. In doing so, it is not only a matter of works from a variety of archives (e.g. Trautenfels/Johanneum); the inhabitants of the Salzkammergut region will also be asked to make private historical photos available.
The historical motifs presented are intended to serve international artists as inspiration for the current era to work with the Salzkammergut region of today in photographic-artistic form as a geopolitical space. Photography will be used as an artistic means of expression to create new interpretative, sociocritical, comparative or ideological-political works with an eye on the historical motifs.
Photography is used as a means of artistic expression to recreate interpretative, socio-critical, comparative or ideological-political works with a view to the historical motifs. Special attention is paid to the works’ relation to the region and its inhabitants.