Performance art that reflects Austria's tense relationship with Islam is raising eyebrows in downtown Vienna. The temporary walk-in installation, approved by authorities, is located on the city's regal Ring boulevard. It includes performance artists posing as a dead male racist and his daughter who is in the process of converting to Islam. Organizers, a Berlin-based group called Club Real and Vienna's brut Wien theater and co-production house, say their aim is to confront visitors with possibly uncomfortable realities and start a conversation aimed at overcoming cultural and religious divides. "I think indifference is the worst," Marianne Ramsay-Sonneck, who plays the headscarf-wearing daughter, said in an interview Tuesday. Visitors, who enter for free, can listen to audio in both German and English. Photos, including one of Yusuf Islam, the musician formerly known as Cat Stevens who converted to Islam, adorn the walls. The project, addressing the provocative issue of Islam's role in Austrian society, comes just days after the Turkish ambassador caused a stir by saying Austrians treat his countrymen like a virus and are only being interested in other cultures when they're on vacation. Muslims in Austria are often accused of failing to integrate and of jeopardizing the country's Christianity-based culture. They also have long been scapegoated by the far-right Freedom Party, which recently saw large gains in local elections. For tourists and locals alike, the installation is an eye-catcher. "It's original," said Tatiana Chernyshev, a visitor from Russia who stopped to take photos with her husband after passing by on a bus earlier. Eda Oktay, an 18-year-old Vienna student, said she was impressed and intrigued by the project. "Acceptance and tolerance are what's most important," she said. But not everyone was as open-minded. Organizers said a swastika appeared on the installation over the weekend.
