21.05.2026 – 24.05.2026
Once again, the whole of Hohenems becomes a stage: under the theme of ‘Travel’, this year’s cultural festival once again invites visitors to experience and enjoy a wide range of cultural offerings – this year featuring a disco evening for the first time.
emsiana 2026 is dedicated to travel in all its facets: spanning music and art, history and architecture, literature and performance.
At 14 venues, artists present their exhibitions in unusual locations often overlooked in everyday life. In the Löwenbergkeller, Lucia Buchberger, Anna Lalouschek, Verena Repar and Kristin Wadlig explore travel as a state of in-between; in the ossuary, the duo Heller.Ulmer examines the concept of homesickness.
At the Alt-Ems ruins, ‘Wanderbilder’ by Vorarlberg-based artist Aaron Stöckel are on display – the name says it all: visitors are invited to borrow the original pictures – whilst a replica remains on the Schlossberg during their ‘journey’. Roland Adlassnigg’s spatial installation “Der Ring” is set up on Hohenems’ church square, an open setting of unstable furniture. It also serves as the backdrop for Silvia Salzmann’s dance performance “Perfect Match”, which explores the theme of domestic violence and the fragile relationship between security and insecurity.
The Story Bus in the Jewish Quarter, a well-worn Ford Transit, invites visitors to talk about their travel experiences. Or they can simply listen to stories: Jürgen-Thomas Ernst, a writer born in Hohenems, guides visitors through the 19th-century city in the footsteps of his novel *Anima*. And Hanno Loewy reports on a video recording straight from his journey through Mediterranean landscapes and reads from Béla Balázs’s “A Baedeker of the Soul”.
In a musical, cabaret-style and literary manner, Dietmar Illmer and his band explore the central theme of emsiana: an entertaining hour in the spirit of a country outing, filled with anecdotes, stories and somewhat different perspectives. The band “The Disorientalists” traces the winding paths of the writer Essad Bey, a Jew who converted to Islam and felt drawn to National Socialism, in their revue of numbers.
Further concerts will be given by the ensemble Quadro Nuevo – which is also staging a children’s concert – the emsiana quartet (jazz matinee) and the singer-songwriter Philomena Juen, who will provide an intimate musical experience with her piano and voice.
emsiana – Hohenems Cultural Festival 2026
21.05.2026 – 24.05.2026
Hohenems
various locations
www.emsiana.at
