Artist Statement - Jodi Bieber, January 2026

As a South African arriving in Styria, I knew very little about the region. My first point of reference came from a distance—an online search that revealed the forest as the dominant visual and conceptual presence. By slowing down, through walking, observation, and introduction to those who live there. By working with people deeply involved in the community—Gunilla, Uli, and Karin—I was given the space to move with this flow and experience the place on its own terms.

From my South African perspective, Murau initially appeared immaculate, wealthy, ordered, and safe. The forest, however, carries a calming energy, a quiet rhythm that shapes the landscape and the way people live within it. Small flaws emerged—traces of use, human presence, and accumulated history—revealing a landscape shaped by people’s lives rather than by ideals alone.

My photographic practice has long been rooted in people. In Murau, this instinct initially felt misplaced. The absence of overt human presence forced me to slow down and recalibrate my way of seeing. Gradually, I became aware that people were present everywhere, even when absent from the frame. Their relationship to the forest—how they live close to or within it, move through it, protect it, and find refuge in it—is embedded in the landscape itself.

What became clear is that the forest is not a backdrop but a way of being. It shapes rhythm, identity, and belonging. I encountered people from different walks of life, each carrying a distinct but interconnected relationship to the land. These encounters shifted my focus from representation to resonance—from photographing people directly to sensing how their presence lingers within the environment.

This body of work is shaped by my position as an outsider. I look at Murau and its surroundings through a lens informed by South Africa—a place where land is contested, politicised, and unresolved. That distance allows me to notice order without mistaking it for simplicity, and the subtle ways history, humanity, and flaws are inscribed in every detail. The photographs reflect a process of looking beyond surface impressions toward quieter tensions and complex relationships between people, place, and time.

Murau and its surroundings asked for a different way of looking—one rooted in patience rather than urgency. The images do not offer conclusions but hold observations shaped by curiosity, respect, and the understanding that every landscape reveals itself slowly, carrying the weight of both its history and the humanity within it.

I am grateful to Gunilla Plank, Uli Vonbank-Schedler, and Karin Reinprecht, and to everyone they introduced me to, who welcomed me and allowed me to photograph them or their space. This work would not have been possible without their generosity, guidance, and trust.

Marlene Heidinger - Artist in Residence im September 2025

Marlene spürt in Murau ihren Ursprüngen nach. Die Ergebnisse ihres künstlerischen Nachdenken zu Trennung und Verbindung zwischen Menschen, zwischen Generationen zeigt sie im Herbst in Athen und in Murau vom 11. bis 14. Dezember im Anna-im-Zentrum des Kulturverein Murau. 

https://www.marlene-heidinger.com/

Jodi Bieber - Photographer/Artist in Residence im August 2025

The ZoNE - Residency zu Teil 1 INTANGIBLE - März 2025

The ZoNE (Bronwyn Lace, Marcus Neustetter, Johannes Jäger) entwickelten in ihrer Residenz im Salvatorhaus Murau im März 2025  Werke für die Ausstellung in der Galerie Rauminhalt in Wien.

Cynthia Schwertsik - Artist in Residence im Salvatorhaus