Turning the Tide: Embodied Waters Adrian Dorfmeister-Pölzer & Simeon Ohlen

As part of the European cooperation project Turning the Tide and supported by the River // Cities Network, artists Adrian Dorfmeister-Pölzer and Simeon Ohlen explored how water can serve as a metaphor for connection, movement and collective responsibility. Developed in Vienna’s Seestadt Aspern, their project contributed to a broader European dialogue about environmental awareness, participation and the future of sustainable cities.

Through a series of workshops, rehearsals and collaborative movement exercises, participants were invited to engage with questions of climate change and ecological interdependence through the language of the body. Rather than approaching environmental issues through facts and figures alone, the artists encouraged people to experience relationships between individuals, communities and natural systems in a direct and physical way.

The project culminated in a public performance that transformed shared space into a site of reflection and exchange. By combining choreography, participation and environmental themes, Adrian Dorfmeister-Pölzer and Simeon Ohlen demonstrated how artistic practice can create new ways of understanding our relationship with water and the changing world around us.

Publication Date: 15 October 2025
Event: Local Urban Lab III – Public Performance
Location: Seestadt Aspern, Vienna, Austria