The collaboration between AIR – ARTIST IN RESIDENCE Niederösterreich and STEIN*STEIN expands the scope of the AIR programme by creating a space for artistic practice, experimentation, and public exchange. As a platform for dialogue, the format enables direct encounters between invited AIR artists, local communities, and regional art associations. In this way, artistic processes are embedded within broader social contexts, opening up new perspectives on art and everyday life.

The collaboration begins with a presentation by visual artist and architect Jelena Pejković. In the age of algorithms and machine learning, what happens if you rely on your most valuable resource: your attention? What can be uncovered, for example, from rigorously paying attention to the seemingly conventional, traditional, earnest architecture? In “Underneath: Krems beyond the visible“, artist and architect Jelena Pejković presents a selection of mixed-media pieces created during her residency at AIR Niederösterreich / ORTE Architekturnetzwerk Niederösterreich in Krems. 

Krems is a part of the Wachau World Heritage Site, a place rich with strikingly beautiful historic buildings that vary in typology, function, form and age. Some periods of this town’s past, however, are undeniably dark. In her drawings Jelena relies on figurative representation of the town’s architecture to establish a sense of place, and on the more abstract use of ink, paint and water to hint at the complexities lurking underneath the attractive city scenes. She predominantly works on found paper – sourced at the local flea market – to further spark the viewers’ curiosity about what lies beneath the visible. Through this work, she invites the observer to look beyond the surface of the architectural fabric of Krems, and to revel at the paradoxical coexistence of its beauty and complex past.

Jelena Pejković is an architect and visual artist based in Belgrade. She graduated from Harvard University and received her Master of Architecture degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to her return to Belgrade she worked for Renzo Piano Building Workshop on projects that include Whitney Museum of American Art and Harvard Art Museums. Jelena has researched and drawn urban and rural sites across the globe, from the Balkans to Bhutan. Her work has been exhibited in China, Iran, Italy, Finland, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand and the United States.

As a special occasion, the exhibition opens with a prelude of new compositions by composer/sound artist Lamtharn Hantrakul in conversation with Jelena's new body of work, both created during their residency at AIR Niederösterreich in Krems. The performance weaves together the two artists' parallel discovery of the Wachau valley through their own artistic practises. A piece of driftwood found on the banks of the Danube is both a drawing tool for Jelena and a sound synthesis source for Hanoi. This site-specific collaboration invites audiences into an experience layered with materials, images and sounds.

ลำธารหาญตระกูล Lamtharn "Hanoi" Hantrakul is a composer, coder and director born-and-based in Bangkok, Thailand. He creates music and mixed-media pieces which reimagine culture and place. His solo and collaborative works have been showcased at Bangkok Arts Bienalle (2022), Taiwan International Festival for the Arts (2024), INTUR (2024), Holland Festival (2025), Goethe Institute Thailand (2025, 2026) and the London Royal Opera House (2026). Prior to his artistic career, he worked for 7 years as an AI researcher at Google and TikTok. Lamtharn holds a B.S in Applied Physics and a B.A in Music from Yale University and an MS in Music Technology from Georgia Institute of Technology. 

A collaborative exhibition by STEIN*STEIN and AIR – ARTIST IN RESIDENCE Niederösterreich

Exhibition opening: Fri, July 24, 2026, 6.00 p.m.

Organizer: 
Kunst & Kulturverein STEIN*STEIN
Steiner Landstraße 72,
3500 Krems-Stein

Free admission