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‘Salon d’Amour’ explores love as a transformative power in the context of a polarized world and invites us to reimagine our relationships with ourselves and with other. The poems, love letters, excerpts from novels and guest contributions included in this publication are carefully chosen and are meant as a tool for exploring our own inner dimensions and the intricate tapestry of human existence. Meandering through various historical times and world locations, into transient spaces that invite an exploration of love as an antidote to its commodified version, readers are introduced to a world of beauty, uncertainty and imagination. The texts included in my publication are only slivers of literary gems by renown artists and writers that I encourage anyone to explore further.
This publication is released in parallel with the eponymous performance, a long-term project, developed in collaboration with various institutions, organisations and independent curators around the world. These performances, engage members of the public through written and spoken language and wearable props, specifically the masks that I developed for ‘Salon d’Amour’, some are included in the publication. They symbolise distance, darkness, mystery, fear, invisibility as well as intimacy, protection and beauty. These ambiguous qualities reflect the complexity of love relations. The masks as props assist in building bridges between self and the other(s), during what could be described as a ritual or exercise, a performative act and multifaceted journey where spoken words become material, collectively engage participants in a dynamic interplay. Explore the performance via underneath video documentation.
Video documentation performance at Kultur- und Gemeinschaftshaus in Wattens, Austria. 2023.
Salon d’amour, a participatory performance. Kultur- und Gemeinschaftshaus Neuwirt in Wattens, Austria. 2023.
Concept, art direction, choreography, manuscript and masks: Margret Wibmer / Soundscape: Robert Poss / Videodocumentation: Styleconception / Light: Daniel Kolb / Translations: Astrid Tautscher / Graphic Design: PEACH Wien / Actors: Robert Egger, Judith Erler and participating public / assistant: Dorothea Hartmann, Lea Schneider, Magdalena Schweiger, Lydia Steiner.
Produced by Kunstraum Wattenbach (Markus Strieder and Alexander Erler).
Funding was provided by Stadtgemeinde Wattens, Land Tirol, Kunstraum Wattenbach.
Teaser announcing release of artist publication. January 2024. © PEACH Wien and Studio Margret Wibmer
Love, that most loaded word, is the subject of artist Margret Wibmer’s unapologetically intimate work, Salon d’amour. Without screens or networks, recordings or photographs, love is expressed through language, in the present moment, from one person to another.
From the first ceremonious moments of this performance, visitors become attuned to the tensions of love, the flirtatious hiding and teasing.No longer a traditional theater space, the stage area has been reinvented as a semi-private chamber where people can comfortably sit in pairs. A Love letters in hand, participants read out loud to each other. While they can choose to be readers, listeners, or observers, only listeners have the privilege of wearing one of the unique masks designed for Salon d’amour.
Crossing generations and languages, these expressions (or confessions) of love by globally recognised artists, poets, composers, and others, reanimate the words on the page: breathing life into letters from the past. Intermittent live readings from two actors give focus to the act of reading and listening, while a soundscape composed by Robert Poss supports the warm atmosphere of this unusual setting.
From ‘A Decisive Moment: Margret Wibmer Salon d’amour,’ an essay by Marianna Maruyama, 2016
Salon d’amour, a participatory performance. Natlab, Eindhoven, 2016.
Concept, choreography, video editing, masks: Margret Wibmer / Soundscape: Robert Poss / Video and photography: Florian Krepcik / Actors: Megan M. Garr, Mario van Brakel, Marianna Maruyama, Jaïr Tchong and participating public.
Special thanks to the students from Design Academy Eindhoven (Maria Caye, Pranav Kochatta, Giulia Pompilij, Martina Huynh, Thea Christy-Parker, Virginia Vivaldi) and volunteers.