To comply with Covid distancing rules, some tables at Salzamt must remain free. The restaurant’s architect, Hermann Czech, made very efficient use of the space.
While these tables may not host people, they can still support objects. So I initiated a festival of small sculptures. It is named Saliera, after the epitome of table sculptures, a gold-and-ebony salt container commissioned by Francis I of France. This receptacle, apparently called a salt cellar in English, is on display at Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum. This wasn’t always the case though, it was abducted for some time.
Salt was once Austria’s most precious resource for trade. The restaurant Salzamt, the salt office, is built on the spot where the salt that was delivered on the river Danube would be taxed.
Karoline Dausien, Julia Goodman, Erik Haugsby, and Laurence Sturla kindly provided works for the first stage of Saliera. The festival will continue until all the tables may be taken up by eaters again.
