“Austrian Frieze” and “Pod Worlds” at Schlossmuseum Linz (2023)

An exhibition of the Crochet Coral Reef is on show at Schlossmuseum Linz  which also debutes a new Austrian Satellite Reef.

Over 100,000 hours of female labor; 30,000 coral pieces; and 2,000 contributors. The Austrian Satellite Reef is a mistress-ful retort to the modernist obsession with “individual genius.” Here is art collectively produced on a scale rarely seen in the contemporary world, and dynamically illustrating mathematical underpinnings of textile craft.

For this installation, Christine Wertheim and Margaret Wertheim collaborated with Schlossmuseum Linz to design a suite of crochet reefs based on Upper Austrian folk-art traditions. 2,000 people contributed to this intense, sparkling installation which includes a vast coral Frieze – 7 meters wide x 2 meters high. All contributors names are projected on the gallery walls and can be seen here. Also on show is a freshly curated selection of Crochet Reefs by the Wertheim sisters, and the remarkable coral ‘wall painting’ Five Fathoms Deep, from the Baden Baden Satellite Reef, co-created with the Wertheim’s in Germany at Museum Frieder Burda and containing coral pieces by 4,000 people across the German speaking world.

Exhibition dates: October 5, 2023 – April 2, 2024//Now extended by popular demand to July 7,2024.

See here for photo-report on the Austria exhibition and Austrian Satellite Reef.

“Five Fathoms Deep” coral wall painting from the “Baden Baden Satellite Reef”.