Gletscherschmelze Wiener Eistraum

On 30 August 1873, the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition, stuck in the ice, reaches the mainland. Up until today, this Russian claimed island is called Franz-Josef-Land and a street in Vienna is called Nordpolstraße. Austrian history is closely entangled with polar and alpine expeditions and the associated territorial claims were reinforced by the production of images of ice, polar regions and glaciers - an aesthetic legacy that continues in its coloniality to this day. An expedition is a journey into the so-called unknown, a search for extractable resources, peoples to exploit and brutalize, trade routes, territories that could be colonised or for colonial scientific legitimization. We have undertaken several explorations into Vienna's polar culture and searched for continuities in the contemporary aesthetics of ice. What remains of the colonial spirit of polar “discovery” in the face of melting glaciers and polar ice? Are ice parlours and skating rinks part of this aesthetic tradition? We present our daring ventures into the urban space in the form of a video diary.