Residencies at the Salzburg Festival Archive
Residencies at the Salzburger Festspielarchiv
The two media artists Iz Paehr and Merve Sahin are artists-in-residence at the Salzburg Festival in 2025 as part of the S+T+ARTS Ec(h)o Residencies Programme*.
In this one-year programme, funded by the EU, the Salzburg Festival is working as a dissemination partner with Ars Electronica and the HLRS – High Performance Computing Centre Stuttgart. (In cooperation with Ars Electronica, a virtual recreation of the famous Faust city was already realised in 2023 on the occasion of the Reinhardt Year in the Felsenreitschule.) It brings together science, technology and art under the aspect of ‘Cultural Heritage Through New Technologies’ and envisages close cooperation between all participants.
Following a kick-off meeting in Dresden in December 2024 and various working meetings in Salzburg, Vienna, Stuttgart and Linz, Iz Paehr and Merve Sahin returned to the Salzburg Festival Archives in October 2025. Both presented and discussed the status of their respective projects, which will be presented to the public in the summer of 2026.
The concept of Berlin-based artist Iz Paehr, entitled Feeling Virtual: An Archive of Touch, focuses on the tactile approach to art. Real objects from the history of the festival – such as costumes from the 1960 production of Der Rosenkavalier and props and costumes from the 1997 production of Die Zauberflöte – can be experienced as virtual objects through vibrations, tactile descriptions and touch, thus making them accessible to people with disabilities.
Merging Visions is a two-part immersive installation by Vienna-based artist and architect Merve Sahin, which offers a new perspective on the built environment, highlighting its constant change and interconnection with nature and historical cycles in the context of the architectural transformation of nature through the venues of the Salzburg Festival. The project reveals the historical, cultural and ecological layers that determine the festival complex.
* This project has been developed in the context of S+T+ARTS Ec(h)o. S+T+ARTS Ec(h)o is funded by the European Union under the GA. 101135691.
