The Cluster of Excellence Circular Bioengineering invites you to the WASTE IS A MYTH opening reception on May 20 at the Semmelweisklinik Center for Arts and Culture!
Waste does not exist—at least not in the mindset of circular systems. Under the title WASTE IS A MYTH, an exhibition as part of the BOKU Future Conference 2026 explores this perspective and adds an artistic and aesthetic dimension to the conference theme “NO WASTE: Wie Bioengineering Kreisläufe schließt”.
Austrian Premiere: Bioengineering as an Artistic Vision
The focus is on the Austrian premiere of Kristina Pulejkova’s work “A Metabolic Guide to Space Survival,” which is being shown in Vienna for the first time following its world premiere in Venice in 2025. This multidisciplinary work combines scientific research with speculative narrative and follows the fictional bioengineer Mira Kordan aboard a spaceship. Holographic projections, biotechnological objects, and scenarios of microbial food systems make current research on yeasts, fungi, and fermentation a sensory experience.
The project was developed in close collaboration with leading scientists from BOKU University, TU Wien, and the University of Vienna, as well as with acib and the Cluster of Excellence Circular Bioengineering, translating its research on microbial material cycles, CO₂ recycling, and biotechnological food production into an artistic context.
Collaborations between the arts and science open up new perspectives
Alongside Pulejkova’s work, the exhibition also premieres projects by several artistic-scientific tandems. These collaborations emerged from an ongoing partnership (since December 2025) between the FWF-funded Cluster of Excellence Circular Bioengineering and the Research Cluster “Sustainability in the Arts” at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna—highlighting new ways of connecting research and artistic practice.
Another highlight of the exhibition opening is Michael Kalivoda’s performance “Taste The Space”: A three-course menu developed by Cluster researcher Diethard Mattanovich—based on microbial processes—allows visitors to experience potential space-based food systems through taste for the first time.
For more information, visit https://boku.ac.at/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/boku-future-conference/vernissage-zur-kunstausstellung-waste-is-a-myth.
Join us!
Opening Reception
When: Wednesday, May 20, 2026, 6:30–10:00 p.m.
Where: Semmelweisklinik Center for Arts and Culture
Hockegasse 37, Haus 4, 1180 Vienna
Please register here for the exhibition opening.
Exhibition
May 21 – May 31, 2026
Daily 3:00 PM – 7:00 PM