Katharina Mayrhofer

The table that doesn't belong to us. An attempt to give back using the Wertheimer family as an example.

Beginn des PhD-Programms / Start of the PhD-Program: WS 2020

Betreuung / Supervision:
Amalia Barboza

The starting point for the following work is a black table that came into the possession of my family in the course of the “wild Aryanizations” between 1938-1945. Oral tradition and fact-based evidence show that it originally came from Gut Ranshofen and belonged to the former landowners, the Wertheimer family.In the search for answers to the questions of who stole the table and how it ended up hidden in the attic of an inn for many decades, I came across a previously unknown, dark chapter of family history.
Since then I have been asking myself: How do you deal with Nazi looted property in family ownership?
This artistic-scientific work should be an impetus to develop an awareness of injustice about stolen objects in one's own family possession and encourage an unbureaucratic return to the original owners family, if possible. Based on this exploration of the subject, I will show that this discourse is of public importance.

Kurz-Biographie / Short Bio
Katharina Mayrhofer (1987) is an artist and employee at the Oö. Landesbibliothek in research and lecturing. In her artistic work she is dedicated to the dynamic phenomenon of space and with her installations  she explores various places in Switzerland, Germany and Austria.Currently she is a PhD candidate at Kunstuniversität Linz.

Email-Adresse / Email-Address:
info@katharina-mayrhofer.net

Weblink:
www.katharina-mayrhofer.net