Crossing borders in Vienna by Rewa Walia

Crossing Borders in Vienna
By Rewa Walia : Artist and Travel Art Reporter

Travelling to Vienna via Hong Kong wasn’t the brightest of ideas, but the stop over to grasp the Art beat of Hong Kong before heading towards the architectural wonders of Vienna turned out to be the best appetizer before the main course. True, art can be enjoyed anywhere, and with artists from any continent; but when you fuse artists from India and Pakistan under an undivided roof, magic follows. Young artist Annem Zaidi from,Lahore, Pakistan and I from India twisted in unification like long lost sisters, exchanged our views and information on post partition, especially the current situation in the land that was once one. The topics ranging from Bollywood, to Art, to Food and its people, and we even spoke the same Punjabi language. And of course, if the roof is the eye grasping Moya in Palais Schonborn, all the more reason to look forward to dessert. ‘The Vienna showcase’, was a well planned exhibition organized by Global Art agency, where art meant a reason to meet like minded individuals from far and away places of the globe. Whilst in Vienna, and in between street food in the midst of awe struck tourists in the first district, where palaces and churches talk to museums across the street, were frequent visits to important exhibitions. Among them was the memorable tribute to Matisse and the Fauves, the important pieces of Kokoschka, Egon Schiele and Klimt. Mumok had a show that was worth a visit, especially on the last day of the tour, which made it a lasting visual and soulful experience; long enough to lay in the folds of the brain which lay idle above clouds, some thousands of feet above ground for eleven hours and more.

Rewa Walia and Annem Zaidi at Vienna Showcase meeting as two separated sisters.