Passers-by have begun to notice a building site in front of Kunsthaus Graz. As part of SHOWING STYRIA at Kunsthaus, which is devoted to what will be. Towards a Plurality of Futures, Alfredo Barsuglia is constructing a small art space on the forecourt of Kunsthaus in collaboration with students from the Ortweinschule Graz. The urban sculpture, which also serves as an experimental art space, will be open whenever Kunsthaus is closed.

Led by Otto Mild and Josef Konrad, students from the Ortweinschule have been working in front of Kunsthaus since Monday, 22 February on a special project created by the artist Alfredo Barsuglia, who was born in Graz in 1980. Suahtsnuk—Kunsthaus read backwards—is both an urban sculpture and an experimental art space. As ‘the Other Alien’, it will always be open and freely accessible when Kunsthaus Graz is closed. The interior will house changing exhibitions announced on the website suahtsnuk.at. The accessible flat roof will hold a snailery—about 350 snails from the Viennese snail farm Gugumuck will take up temporary residence here. Covered in climbing plants, the Suahtsnuk is set to become a spontaneous oasis for passers-by. The project is opening as part of SHOWING STYRIA on 9 April and will remain until 9 October 2021.

Alfredo Barsuglia’s diverse works explore artistically and socio-politically relevant themes such as the economy and ecology, our interaction with nature and the role of art and culture. The artist designs alternative spaces that he positions as artistically usable foreign bodies in public space and so in our everyday life, briefly interrupting our familiar perception. Suahtsnuk, for example, can be seen as food for thought about future scenarios for art institutions.

A project by Alfredo Barsuglia within the framework of SHOWING STYRIA.what will be. Towards a Plurality of Futures