Nitsch never ceases to amaze: most attended performance ever in Tasmania

Hermann Nitsch (Vienna, 1938), considered one of the fathers ofViennese Actionism, set a particular record last Saturday (June 17): he directed the most attended performance of his entire career. At the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Tasmania (Australia), as part of the “Dark Mofo” art festival, his performance entitled 150.Action drew a record 900 tickets (the previous high had stood at 800: it was a performance dating as far back as 1988, which took place at Nitsch’s estate in Prinzendorf, Austria), compared with 2.650 people who had expressed interest (and were largely not accommodated, given the limited capacity of the venue where 150,Action was held).

Tasmania also witnessed the classic Nitsch script: nudity, crucifixions, orgiastic rituals, pieces of flesh, blood everywhere, frenzied dancing. All for about three hours in duration. And, as with any self-respecting Nitsch performance, there were petitions from opponents and protests from animal rights activists in Tasmania, who in the days leading up to the event collected more than 22,000 signatures against the “bloody ritual staged by the patriarch of Viennese Actionism” (and it had even appeared that, given the size of the protests, the performance was in danger of being canceled). And while the performance was taking place, some 50 animal rights activists were protesting outside the museum. Yet Nitsch, before his Tasmanian performance, said he agreed with the animal rights activists’ demands: “With my work, I show what we do against animals. This is the big misunderstanding.”

Meanwhile, the Dark Mofo Festival (which also had musical highlights, most notably the concert by German rock legends Einstürzende Neubauten) continues through June 21, and it’s a safe bet that the organizers were pleased with Hermann Nitsch’s performance: local sources report that the festival’s founder, David Walsh, left the museum after the event expressing lively enthusiasm.

Image: a moment from the 150.Action performance (Credit: Dark Mofo/Lusy Productions)

Sources: The Art Newspaper - ABC.net

Nitsch never ceases to amaze: most attended performance ever in Tasmania

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