Biography

Miriam Schmid studied education and educational sciences and was trained in theater pedagogy. She is active as a freelance performer, director and theater maker in Graz and Vienna. In 2014 she won the cabaret competition Grazer Kleinkunstvogel and co-founded the performance collective Das Planetenparty Prinzip in 2015. She was awarded the startup fellowship for performing arts of Bundeskanzleramt Österreich in 2020. After curating the performance section, she has been leading the cross-disciplinary art association Forum Stadtpark together with Robin Klengel and Markus Gönitzer, since 2021. She received the Günther Rühle Prize for acting in 2023 in the performance Aufmarschieren. In 2024, she got the Artist in Residence Scholarship of the Province of Styria and worked in Tirana for two months. Her artistic focus is on developing concepts for performances (live or video) that explore the boundaries of reality and fiction.

Artistic project

Welcome to MONEYBEE - MAIN POSTCARD SHOP, a tribute to Austria's impressive achievements and its contribution to the development of the regions surrounding Europe. 

From roads built by Austrian companies and iconic hydroelectric power plants on unique rivers to a decommissioned bus that has found a new purpose: Every motif on our postcards tells a success story. Austria is proud of its role as a pioneer, innovator and supporter. Let’s celebrate together, send your greetings around the world and tell everyone about Austria’s dedication to a better future

Austria has long influenced the Balkans, yet its role is rarely seen as colonial. Still today, it frames its investments as partnerships, though they often secure Austrian influence. The Project challenges this narrative. Its mascot, a bee, symbolises profit returning to its “hive.” The MONEYBEE – MAIN POSTCARD SHOP, set in a vacant building, offers postcards showing the bee in front of places gifted, financed or shaped by Austria, each with contextual information. Visitors can send them or join a mascot-led city tour. Behind the shop’s vibrant façade, Lost and Fond serves as a “lost and found office” for forgotten narratives. In intimate encounters, visitors share “loss notices” or seek answers, fostering counter-hegemonic perspectives.

Format: installation, one on one performance, city tour

Size of audience: two different settings - one to one and 20 people maximum

Specific location: crowded square, shopping street, bus terminal

Timing / duration: permanent installation, one on one performance for 20min, city tour for one hour