Johanna Tinzl’s works are based on a sensitive and often participatory examination of the history of certain individuals, communities, and places. The photo series Back in Vienna is the result of a close collaboration with Helga Pollak-Kinsky, an Austrian witness to the history of the Shoah. Born in Vienna in 1930 to Jewish parents, Helga Pollak-Kinsky was able to survive the National Socialist persecution. In 1938 she was forced to leave the country and only returned to Vienna in 1957, with her husband and two children. The process of coming back and homecoming continues to this day. How does one reapproach a place where one personally suffered persecution and expulsion? Johanna Tinzl’s photography shows Helga Pollak-Kinsky, adopting VALIE EXPORT’s strategy of ‘Body Configurations’, encountering specific locations in Vienna. Both the body language and the search for a connection with certain sites and buildings reveal memories, emotions, and attitudes. The captions that accompany the photo series read like statements and were developed by Johanna Tinzl and Helga Pollak-Kinsky together.

Text: Jürgen Tabor

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