Hans Winkler
Die Flucht des Ötzi
Hans HS Winkler in collaboration with the EURAC- Institute for Mummies and the Iceman and the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology
opening: 23.10.2008, 6.30 pm
exhibition: 24.10. - 12.12.2008
monday to friday from 2 to 6 pm
Curators: Annelie Bortolotti and Letizia Ragaglia
Photos by Ivo Corrà
Curatorial text in german and italian
Both the life and the death of ‘Ötzi the Iceman’ have given rise to sensational myths. One of these tales is the so far unproven flight of Ötzi from his persecutors across the crest of the Alps. The Neolithic man is believed to have been the victim of an attack, as evidenced by various injuries on his body. He was probably fatally wounded by an arrow.
These speculations, partly encouraged by the media, are the starting point from which the writer HS Winkler develops an archaeological thriller around the mysterious escape of the avalanche mummy from the Bozen/Bolzano Museum of Archaeology. And since any disappearance is bound to leave a few traces, we suddenly discover footprints underneath the Talfer/Talvera Bridge in Bozen/Bolzano as well in the asphalt on the road between the Nigerpass/Passo Nigra and the Karerpass/Passo di Costalunga – Ötzi’s footprints!
In this way, Hans Winkler uses his skill to turn fiction into reality and fakes into archaeological facts – facts which in turn can be made tangible for the public through photographs and displays in glass cases.