Pfingstspiel Holzinger

Florentina Holzinger to Perform in Vienna and Prinzendorf
Satellite Event of the Austrian Contribution to the Venice Biennale 2026

Vienna / Prinzendorf

With Pfingstspiel, Florentina Holzinger realizes a new, multi-hour performance as the official satellite event accompanying her Austrian contribution to the Venice Biennale 2026. The production is created as a co-production of the Nitsch Foundation in cooperation with the nitsch museum and VERBUND, as well as the Wiener Festwochen | Freie Republik Wien, More Spirit Please together with KÖR -Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Wien. The premiere will take place on May 23, 2026, in Vienna and Prinzendorf.

The extraordinary day-long performance unfolds in two parts: A prologue at the Wiener Eislauf-Verein takes shape as an oratorio for bodies and machines. This is followed by a collective bus journey to Schloss Prinzendorf — the site where Hermann Nitsch developed his Orgien Mysterien Theater over several decades. Pfingstspiel draws on the symbolism of Pentecost as well as on the idea of art as a communal, physical experience.

Two years after her internationally acclaimed operatic performance SANCTA, a co-production with the Wiener Festwochen, Holzinger once again engages with religious imagery, body politics, and questions of community. Pfingstspiel positions itself as a performative invocation — an exploration of transformation, memory, and collective practice.

“For me, it feels very fitting to create a Pentecost étude in Nitsch’s Prinzendorf. Even in his works, technological civilization repeatedly inscribed itself: machines built by humans that at the same time seem almost autonomous, nearly ‘robotic’ in carrying out their warlike processes. In this place, we want to evoke memories and continue and retell the stories that were created there,” says Florentina Holzinger.

“For the Nitsch Foundation, this project represents a conscious opening of Schloss Prinzendorf to leading positions in contemporary performance art and a consistent continuation of Hermann Nitsch’s artistic legacy. Since his passing, I have been working together with my nephew Paul Breitenfelder to carry forward his work in his spirit and to anchor Schloss Prinzendorf as a place of artistic freedom in the present. A key milestone was the posthumous performance of the second version of the 6-Day Play. Numerous performances have been realized here in recent years that further develop this path. All the more, I am delighted that this year the internationally celebrated performance artist Florentina Holzinger will present her work in Prinzendorf,” says Rita Nitsch.

Paul Breitenfelder, Board Director of the Nitsch Foundation, adds: “It is our ambition to further establish Prinzendorf as an internationally recognized site for performance art. Pfingstspiel powerfully underscores this direction.”

Christoph Mayer, Managing Director of the nitsch museum, points to the art historical dimension: “Like few other artists, Florentina Holzinger stands for a radical, physical practice in the tradition of Viennese Actionism. Her work in Prinzendorf connects international contemporary art with one of the defining sites of Austrian performance history.”

On behalf of the Wiener Festwochen | Freie Republik Wien, dramaturge Iris Raffetseder states: “Pfingstspiel expands Florentina Holzinger’s Biennale contribution through a powerful intervention between public space and a historically charged site. For the Wiener Festwochen, it is a key program highlight of their anniversary edition.”

VERBUND emphasizes: “VERBUND assumes social responsibility and supports social, sporting, and cultural projects. We are pleased to support a performance by Florentina Holzinger at the Wiener Festwochen 2026. Her engagement with the transformative power of water and the female body connects central themes of her work with VERBUND’s values.”