Wachau Routes: arts based perspectives on a riverine landscape

Wider arts-based research context Painters have played a significant part in generating an awareness of the scenic beauty of the Austrian region Wachau at the end of the nineteenth century. Since then, there has been a continuous artistic engagement to contemporary artistic works. The region transformed into a touristic hotspot finally listed in 2000 as UNESCO World Heritage Site. The transformation of landscape involved a constant expansion of transport routes. New forms of mobility and velocity also changed the way the landscape is perceived–from a slow movement to a panoramic perception–which influences not only the artist perspective. Objectives Wachau Routes examines the region on a topic that has received little attention so far: the routes through the cultural landscape and the way these routes are seen from different perspectives. The project aims the following question: What does a contemporary image of the Wachau look like that builds on the users' perception with arts-based scientific methods and corresponds to the contemporary understanding of landscape? Methods A variety of current and past perspectives—views of the routes themselves and the vistas enjoyed by people using them—are analysed, produced, performatively brought out, communicated, and critically reflected on using methods from visual arts and landscape architecture. The methods can be summarized in three types of image usage: image interpretation (image-based analyses, historical narratives), image production (phantom rides, drawings, photographs), and communication (in-depth interviews, site-specific activities and engagement with people). Level of originality The routes through the Wachau have rarely been depicted in artistic works. The research project puts the traffic routes in the spotlight and explores them through the lenses of visual arts and landscape architecture. The interdisciplinary cooperation makes it possible for methodological boundaries to be transcended, new perspectives absorbed, and skills and tools acquired and developed.