Workshop Crossroads and narratives: the beast Newspaper by Natalia Gruova

When: 01. 02. 2025

Time: 12:00 – 15:00

Where: Mz* Baltazar's Lab Jägerstraße 52-53, 1200 Wien

Workshop Crossroads and narratives: the beast Newspaper by Natalia Gruova

Join us for a 3-hour immersive workshop that combines writing, walking, discussion, and creative making to transform the unnoticed details of everyday life into meaningful narratives. Inspired by the process of recontextualizing objects and moments, this workshop invites you to engage with your surroundings and collaboratively create a newspaper capturing the hidden relevance and “news” of tiny, everyday realities.

Natalia Gruova’s recent focus on installations and objects has sparked a deep interest in exploring materials and their transformative nature within different contexts. In this workshop, we aim to dissect the fabric of the workshop’s surroundings, studying the objects and narratives they emit. We’ll endeavor to create portraits of the human inhabitants and the non-human elements that contribute to the local discourse.

What to Expect:

A guided walk through a public space with prompts to spark observation and uncover hidden stories.

Writing exercises to transform impressions, emotions, and micro-narratives into shareable text.

Collaborative discussions to explore the connections between personal experience, public space, and broader relevance.

A hands-on session to create a collective newspaper using your writing, sketches, and visual ideas. Together, we will craft a publication that amplifies the extraordinary within the ordinary.

Who Should Attend:

This workshop is perfect for anyone interested in exploring public spaces through a creative lens—writers, artists, and those curious about connecting narrative and materiality in new ways. No prior experience is needed, just a willingness to observe and create!

Details:

Feb 1st, 2025, 12:00

Duration: 3 hours

What to Bring: Comfortable walking shoes, curiosity, and an open mind. All materials for writing and creating will be provided.

Registration: workshop@speis.net

Natalia Gurova

Presenter Photo

Natalia Gurova’s (born in Belarus, raised in Russia, since 2014 lives and works in Austria) multidisciplinary practice encompasses sculpture, printmaking, drawing, poetry, site-specific installation, and curating. Working with the overlapping discourses of speculative storytelling, spatial experiments, post-Soviet contexts, time concepts, and collecting, Gurova refuses categorical distinctions. Natalia’s works have been exhibited at Vienna Art Week, Vienna Design Week, Parallel, Austrian Cultural Forum London, Queer Museum at Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art, Galerie Michaela Stock, Belvedere 21. She has co-curated student shows at Exhibit Studio, the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and organized projects for Office Ukraine in Vienna.

Door Policy: all genders

Registration: please send an email to mbl-orga@lists.metalab.at

Event date: 01. 02. 2025

Time: 12:00 – 15:00

Venue: Mz* Baltazar's Lab Jägerstraße 52-53, 1200 Wien

Organizer: Mz* Baltazar's Lab – Lale Rodgarkia-Dara