As a result of
industrialization and the
digitalization of the means of
production many traditional
crafts, rites, rituals and
celebrations are ceasing to
exist or have already vanished
in the face of globalisation.
The extinction of these dances,
or disappearance of cultural
forms and movements, often
implies a loss of specific
knowledge in alternative forms
of communication within
human communities, but also
with non-human living
entities, such as animals,
plants, the cosmos, the earth/
soil, and the weather.
Endangered Human
Movements is an artistic
inquiry into human practices
which have been cultivated for
centuries by different cultures
around the world.
In order to reestablish old
forms of communication with
the world – a world thought
of as a sentient being – already
extinct dances will be
actualised and danced again
and movements that are
disappearing will be reinforced.
Due to the growing awareness
of the fragility of ecosystems
and the insight that these are
affected by our actions, a
critical revision of the life
forms prescribed by the
neoliberal market is currently
taking place. As the negative
effects of the human species‘
behaviour upon the
environment is becoming
visible more than ever before,
the heritage of concrete
practices that enact knowledge
of more sensitive ways of
dealing with the world
becomes increasingly
important and valuable,
because these practices
represent a different, less
capitalist, less objectifying or
less hierarchical relationship
between human and nonhuman
life forms.
Radically differing from the
UNESCO-Intangible Cultural
Heritage initiative, which aims
at simply conserving such
practices, the project
Endangered Human
Movements will focus not only
on the conservation of the
movements, but will also take
care of the knowledge inherent
in these practices and
translates these movements
into contemporary media
through a process of
abstraction, re-distribution
and re-appropriation. The
analysis of the movements
performed and the
understanding of the functions
these activities had or have for
the communities that practice
them will
»We have drunk the Soma; we have become immortal.«
Nuo ceremony of the Tiger dance in the region of Lang Xiaodong.
Brahmin death priest:
Communication between the world of Gods of the dead and the living.
Welcome to the website of the Federal Ministry of Movement Affairs (BMfB) of the Repubic of Austria.
At www.bmfb.at we provide comprehensive up-to-date and easy-to-access information regarding all agendas/services of the Ministry.
With the internet being an interactive medium we invite and encourage you to get in touch with the FMMA and send us your suggestions, critique and any other matters of concern.
We hope you find all the information you need. Our staff will always be happy to assist you.
With best regards,
BMfB
Federal Ministry of Movement (BMfB)
The BMfB is the youngest ministry in Austria, and so far the only one of its kind in the world.
The official Anthem of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Movement Affairs is the first Anthem in world history that was created to be danced instead of sung.
The 9 New Austrians will enhance well-being in Austria by way of transforming typical Austrian activities into sequences of exercise. The exercises foster health and support a relaxed way of dealing with Austrian myths, history and everyday life.
As a result of industrialization and the digitalization of the means of production many traditional crafts, rites, rituals and celebrations are ceasing to exist or have already vanished in the face of globalisation.
The Dept. of Movement Affairs if the Swiss Confederation (EDfB)
In the framework of the “Plan for the International Promotion and Distribution of the Activities and Principles” of the BMfB the initiative for the founding of a Department of movement Affairs of the Swiss Confederation was launched.
In an initiative to relocate the experience of citizens into the field of the sensual, the BMFB initiates the first Universal Database of Favourite Movements and dance steps.
Movement Affairs (INAM) belongs to the first initiatives supported in the framework of the ‚Plan for the International Promotion and Distribution of the Activities and Principles‘ of the BMfB with the objective of creating an International Network of Movement Development Administrations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In the last 5 years the Austrian Ministry for movement Affairs has been present in numerous events focusing on cultural policies in Europe and abroad, lobbying for the existence of an updated discourse on body and perception in the political field.
