Maruša Sagadin: Fast legs (Marjetka), Bad mood without kiosk and kitchen (Juliana Three-Legged)

The two sculptures Juliana and Marjetka by the artist Maruša Sagadin, born in 1978 in Ljubljana/Slovenia, who now lives and works in Vienna/Austria, display playful humour in their cartoon-like forms. Who wouldn't want to take a seat on one of the objects made of concrete, wood and coloured paint? On a patch of grass where the rediscovered medieval pilgrimage route of the Saxon Way of St James makes a sharp turn in Adorf/Neukirchen, the artist cheerfully and cheerfully invites passers-by and residents alike to take a closer look at this place with her sculptures. With her sculptures, which reveal hints of feet or boots, and the use of bright colour, the artist invites viewers to discover and question social mechanisms, aesthetic codes and entrenched narratives in the social space of her installation site.

With their creative skills, their sensitivity to local history and regional customs, the citizens of Adorf have created a remarkable monument for themselves in their immediate neighbourhood based on a very similar impulse. Every year in the run-up to Christmas, a 6.40 metre high gable pyramid is erected and set in motion with a "manly march" by 24 Adorf residents dressed in the historical costumes of the pyramid figures. In the iconic formal language typical of the Ore Mountains, they convey the basis of their community: a deep and sensitive knowledge of specific stories, which they express in the special mixture of symbols, figures and colours from Christianity, the world of work and customs.

(Text: Alexander Ochs / Ulrike Pennewitz)