Free admission
‘Reading Performance’
with Juliane Werner – narrator
and Lens Kühleitner – live electronics, voice
Curated by Sabine Mitterecker
"There is no war and peace… It is war. And you are the war. You yourself."
The Great Novel by the Great Ingeborg Bachmann Ingeborg Bachmann: To mark the author’s 100th birthday, *Malina* will be presented in a “reading performance” featuring Juliane Werner and Lens Kühleitner, directed by Sabine Mitterecker, on August 28, 2026, on the Summer Stage at the Museumsquartier in Vienna. MALINA, published in 1971, continues to captivate and stir the soul—the experiences of its literary characters still resonate today. In the shadow of her abysses, the struggle for the beauty of language is ever-present—a language that, as Ingeborg Bachmann put it, serves as a placeholder for the human voice, clinging to hope no matter how the word “future” is spelled. Using radically poetic means, Ingeborg Bachmann—in this sole novel published during her lifetime, which serves as the prelude to the “Ways of Death” cycle—was the first woman in post-1945 German-language literature to describe, in an incomparable way, the lingering effects of war, destruction, and betrayal in society—as reflected in the relationships between men and women—in an incomparable way. Let’s banish the image of the delicate, shy, young Ingeborg Bachmann from our minds—with this evening, we celebrate one of the most important Austrian and German-language authors, who perhaps can only now be read, freed from the clutches of a male gaze and biographical attributions.
“…a biography is too soft a bed for Bachmann’s works, and we are not entitled to such a bed.”
A production by INNSBRUCK INTERNATIONAL. Biennial of the Arts 2026, premiered on May 1, 2026, Rights: Suhrkamp Verlag
Juliane Werner
Juliane Werner lives in Berlin. After training at the Mozarteum and holding permanent engagements at the Schauspielhaus Graz and the Residenztheater in Munich, she has worked as a freelance actress at the intersection of theater, performance, live art, film, and music, including at the Berliner Volksbühne, the Sophiensäle, and HAU Hebbel am Ufer. In collaboration with Ernst M. Binder and Nicolas Stemann, among others, she has performed in world premieres of Jelinek’s plays (“Das Werk” at the Burgtheater in Vienna in 2003, invited to the Berliner Theatertreffen). Since 2003, she has collaborated repeatedly with Christine Gaigg on 2nd nature, most recently as part of the ImPulsTanz Vienna International Dance Festival. Her first collaboration with Sabine Mitterecker was in 2026 on “Malina” by Ingeborg Bachmann.
Lens Kühleitner
Lens Kühleitner lives in Vienna and works at the intersection of music, performance, and composition—regularly in theater, dance, and performance contexts. Central to her work are a particular sensitivity to resonance and collaborative composition. Kühleitner’s practice combines experimental music, vocal work, movement, and performance. Recent works include the sound performance “trace my layers, thrust your guts” with Olivia Hild (brut Wien), as well as numerous collaborations at venues such as the Schauspielhaus Wien, Kosmos Theater Wien, Tanzquartier Wien, Köttinspektionen Dans, TdK Zurich, the Slovak National Theater, and Dansverkstædid Reykjavik. Under the name Lan Rex, Lens Kühleitner has released three EPs on the Tender Matter label as well as an album as part of the duo TEARING with Manu Mayr.
Sabine Mitterecker
Sabine Mitterecker lives in Vienna. She studied theater studies and Romance languages at the University of Vienna and has since worked as a director at venues including the Schauspielhaus Wien, the Volkstheater, the Landestheater Linz, the Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, the National Theater in Tirana, and the SARTR Theatre of War in Sarajevo. Under her label theaterpunkt, she produces and co-produces plays in Vienna and internationally. Her work includes numerous world premieres and first performances, productions in German, English, Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian, and Albanian, featuring texts by Elfriede Jelinek (RECHNITZ, SCHATTEN/SHADOW), Thomas Bernhard (HELDENPLATZ, AM ZIEL, FROST), Johann N. Nestroy, Heinrich von Kleist, Sarah Kane, Molière, Werner Schwab, and others. Nestroy Prize 2000, Nestroy Prize 2010 for FROST at mumok Vienna.
MQ Summer Stage
MQ Main Courtyard
