Historically, women have served as vessels for tragic narratives, their experiences subordinated to the spectacle. RISE! at the Vienna State Opera subverts this hierarchy. On International Women’s Day, this storied space becomes a platform for a radical reality: the convergence of female voices and subjectivities in the exhibition Origo Alia (Another Origin).

To “rise” is to reject the status of a passive instrument. Drawing on the existentialist understanding of identity as a “becoming,” the exhibition dismantles the fossilized performative nature historically layered upon women. This intervention bridges the gap between individual reality and the collective imaginary, featuring five international and local female artists: Michela Ghisetti, Soli Kiani,
Johanna Lakner, Barbara Moura and Alina Sokolova

The exhibition at the Opera finds its continuation at Barvinskyi Gallery, opening on March 12th; here, the same artists are joined by Elham Hadian and Katharina Cibulka to further the dialogue on the tale of womanhood.