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21.
MAR 2026
THE INSTITUTE OF SLEEPLESS NIGHTS
Beyond Sleep
Albrecht Dürer, Kissenstudien, Kupferstich
With contributions by Bilāla, Black Power Naps,
Eleonora Charlotte Crola, Francesca Gavin, Tonica Hunter, Anna Jermolaewa,
Hanne Lippard, Jannis Neumann, Dalma Sarnyai, Astrid Seme, Karen Werner, and DJ Lucy Bakanal (after Soft Collapse). Curated by Francesca Romana Audretsch
and Michikazu Matsune.
The Institute of Sleepless Nights is dedicated to insomnia and its socio-cultural and political facets. The symposium on the occasion of the performance Soft Collapse (Insomnia for Beginners) conceives a collective siesta between wakefulness and rest, between thinking and letting go.
Approaching sleeplessness not as a private matter, but as a shared, fragile, and politically charged condition – shaped by labor, architectures, desire, and the pressure to stay “on” – the symposium unfolds as gentle activations, constellations, and interruptions. Embedded in the snug stage setting of the performance Soft Collapse, the artistic and theoretical contributions explore multifaceted perspectives on the politics of (un)resting.
Time
14:00–18:00
Location
TQW Studios
Duration
240 Min
Price
Free admission
Additional Information
In English.
No chairs; the audience will be seated on a carpet. If you need a fixed seat, please book in advance at tanzquartier@tqw.at, and we will be happy to accommodate your request.
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Artist Bio
The Institute of Sleepless Nights
Initiated by Michikazu Matsune in 2022, The Institute of Sleepless Nights is a study group and practice-based research project, devoted to the art of sleeplessness and a wide range of troubles related to the nightly act of (un)resting. The institute’s research is motivated by the recognition that every night we are practitioners of bad sleep, committed to being awake at night for various reasons – acknowledging that what seems to appear as personal and private matters are indeed part of a global syndrome. Through organizing a series of events, lectures, and artistic contributions, its activities explore the phenomenon of “sleepless nights” in relation to our sociocultural, economic, environmental, political, and historical contexts.
instituteofsleeplessnights.org
Francesca Romana Audretsch
is a Vienna-based art researcher, exhibition designer, and curator working at the intersection of curatorial studies, dramaturgical practice, scenography, and public engagement, with a strong focus on anti-discriminatory education. She understands her projects as “Möglichkeitsräume”, where knowledge is shared spatially, bodily, and psychologically through seeing, sensing, listening, and participation. She curated the exhibition Sleepy Politics: How to learn about conviviality and alternative life forms through sleep? I & II (2023) and held the seminar Bodies of Sleep at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. With her long-term research, exhibition, and publicationproject DORMIVEGLIA (since 2024), she continues to examine exhaustion as an impulse for resistance and political tactics.
Michikazu Matsune
comes from the seaside town of Kobe (Japan) and has been based in Vienna since the 1990s. Matsune is an artist whose practice explores various formats, ranging from stage performances to participatory projects and publications. His approach – simultaneously playful and critical – examines tensions surrounding cultural ascriptions and social identifications. His long-term troubled relationship with insomnia led him to found The Institute of Sleepless Nights in 2022. He is also the initiator and organizer of Homesick Festival (since 2017) and Margot Pilz Fanclub (since 2025). Michikazu teaches performance art at the University of Arts Linz, where he serves as Senior Artist in the Department of Experimental Art.
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Credits
A project by Studio Matsune / Verein Violet Lake With kind support from the Municipal Department of Cultural Affairs, Vienna, and the Austrian Federal Ministry for Housing, Art, Culture, Media and Sport (BMWKMS) Production management Franziska Zaida Schrammel
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Events
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MAR
21
14:00 – 18:00
The Institute of Sleepless Nights
Beyond Sleep
Time
14:00 – 18:00
Location
TQW Studios
Duration
240 Min
Price
Free admission
Additional Information
In English.
No chairs; the audience will be seated on a carpet. If you need a fixed seat, please book in advance at tanzquartier@tqw.at, and we will be happy to accommodate your request.
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