univie: winter school 2018 - From Bejing to Vienna
by Siriguna
Siriguna studies Literature at the Communication University of China in Beijing. In February she attended the univie:winter school for Cultural Historical Studies. Here she tells us about her experiences at the University of Vienna, where she successfully completed courses on „Art and Culture at the Turn of the Century” and „Society and Psychoanalysis in Sigmund Freud’s Vienna”.
Although two weeks are a very short time to study the offered subjects thoroughly, I gained a lot of knowledge and the univie: winter school for Cultural Historical Studies 2017 exceeded my expectations. I was most impressed by the fact that we could study the historical paintings both in the classroom and in Vienna’s museums.
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| Visit at the Museum of Art History |
The museum visits were patiently guided by the professors. Fortunately, with the guidance of the professors, we gained a deeper and more precise understandings for various aspects. I remember the perspectives of the artists we studied in class. “NUDA VERITA” were one of the most impressive words. They are painted on one of Gustav Klimt’s paintings and mean “Naked Truth”, which was explained to us in our art class. Those words inspired me to face the existential truth of my own life. As you can see, we have not only learned about art, but also how to walk well in life, to understand where life is from and where to go when death arrives.
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| univie: winter school 2018 participants |
Just as the Art Nouveau artists and the members of the Vienna Workshop had given a lot of thought towards their life choices and had explored their own existential conditions, we face these questions now. This is why it is so worthwhile for us to study their thoughts and attitudes in Vienna in our youth. In addition to gaining a wealth of knowledge of art history and social history of Vienna, we also had an unforgettable experience in Vienna.
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| Siriguna in Vienna |
Why was the univie: winter school an unforgettable experience? With our new friends from around the world, we were able to enjoy the many museums, restaurants, theatres and architectures in Vienna throughout the two weeks. It was definitely a great opportunity to get a deep insight of Vienna.
