S4 E40: On Assignment in Austria

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[00:00:00] Yulia: Well, this is the problem. In many places around the world are dealing with, you know, standardization. They say, 

[00:00:07] Joseph Bonwit Gerger: Of course, I think we should be one world. This, this is good. We should be all friends. And, but there could be special things which, which. Like, if there's too much fluctuation, then of course it will disappear.

[00:00:22] Yulia: Welcome to the Genius Womxn podcast. I am your host, Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel photographer and writer with work in some incredible publications like National Geographic, AFAR Magazine and more. This year, you will see my name in places like Condé Nast Traveler. I am on a mission to help other women who want to grow their travel storytelling careers go after their dreams while feeling supported, worthy, and bold. If you are ready to ditch your fear and doubts to the side, step into your brilliance, and take action on your dreams, you are in the right place. Let’s go!

[00:01:01] I am very excited to share with you a behind-the-scenes episode today of my recent assignment in Austria, we are still experimenting with this format. We started back in season three when I shared with you the process of going to California for National Geographic Traveler, many of you shared with me that you really enjoyed this format.

[00:01:24] So here we are again. And if you enjoy this episode too, please do let me know in a podcast, a review or via Instagram, so that I know if I should continue recording episodes like this in the future. For this episode, we're traveling to Austria where I recently went on assignment to document the craftsmanship process of indigo blueprint, making a traditional Austrian method.

[00:01:52] Only two families in Austria work on today. You're going to hear the voices of the two families that work in blueprint making as well as the designers they collaborate with and the wonderful guides that showed me around the city of Vienna. I hope you enjoyed this episode. All right, let's get started. 

[00:02:13] Yulia: In a few days, I'm headed out to Austria to work on an assignment. That's been an absolute dream to put together. It's a story about the traditional Austrian Artism craft, and it's slated to be published in a big travel publication a first time I'm working with this magazine. So I'm really. I'm recording this in Barcelona with my bags, ready to go, itinerary, all sorted and tickets purchased.

[00:02:38] And as I'm thinking about this upcoming assignment, I am full of gratitude that I get to do this and do it in the middle of the pandemic. No less. Let this episode be a Testament to you that if I could do it, you can do it too. There's absolutely nothing that I have that you don't. All it is is time, effort, consistency, and building relationships.

[00:03:00] That's the secret limit. Tell you a little bit of a backstory for this assignment. It might not look like it often, but there are a lot of resources available to people interested in the travel media world. I teach about these resources among many other things in my travel journalism masterclass. One of these resources is of trouble conference.

[00:03:20] That happens once a year called IM. International Media Marketplace. This is the place to be. If you want to get connected to various tourism boards from across the world and importantly, practice your pitches on this podcast and in our class and our membership, I often talk about the importance of knowing yourself, knowing what kind of work you want to do.

[00:03:44] What types of stories, interest you that is the foundation upon which everything else builds. That's knowledge also comes with experience, right? So you, you might not know it at the beginning, but that's how you hone your craft. And that's how you hone your own knowledge about your work by doing the work.

[00:04:01] So at the beginning of this year, I attended the IMM conference. Virtually and God connected to many different tourism boards. We talked about what types of stories in me and what these destinations have going on. If there was a fit, we continue the conversation forward. And now about six months later here, I am about to go on this assignment to Austria, ready to join me. 

[00:04:28] We kick off this trip with a very early rise at a beautiful calm lake Nucel in Eastern Austria, followed by a visit to the draw KU family workshop, a few hours away on the safe. You'll hear the voice of Mr. Joseph qu one of the last indigo printmaking producers in Europe. We discussed the recipe. Pop a special resist base that is used in blueprint making.

[00:04:52] And I asked Mr. Koo unsuccessfully for the rest.

[00:04:57] Raising with the roosters today, 6:00 AM call time means forty four, four forty five. Wake up time. The beauty of this job.

[00:05:26] Mr. Koo: this is the, this is one of the bottom of the base. This is,uh, Uh, if you mix it with it, liar, didn't you have a face, but every family and reduction savior, I'm going to sleep. So you have a 

[00:05:42] Yulia: special recipe. Yeah. You can tell me the recipe I wrote. I will copy if I list that doing it. No, right. Yes. I know I ran secret.

[00:05:58] And why? Um,why every family has a special recipe. What is so special 

[00:06:07] Mr. Koo: is ground material that they say, everybody like the same, but then in a hundred years, and then you have to drive this one, this one, and then you'll decide for, for

[00:06:24] shop, did make his, his special like cooking. Yeah. It's still, you have the same cake, but every, cooker, if another receipt, but it's the same, same cake, but

[00:06:43] Corrine.

[00:06:44] Mr. Koo: So you don't make these yourself. You have a special person,

[00:06:49] not every, you can make sense of his instrument. Yes. Oh, I see. I understand. Yeah. That's a very good way to put it. Yeah.

[00:07:00] Do you have to learn this business? 

[00:07:02] And from, from the, from the beginning, what is the call inside? Somebody with a little copper inside there's it's, it's special. It's from every, every, because from all the 

[00:07:14] Yulia: years of

[00:07:18] Mr. Koo: Yeah, but if you your find many receipt in the internet. Yeah. But you don't have believe everything you read. 

[00:07:27] Yulia: Of course. But it's so funny. Cause I, I was, trying to ask you, what is the green? It's the secrets? I understand. 

[00:07:39] Mr. Koo: Well, somebody, somebody put another, it's not probably somebody put Copa inside.

[00:07:43] Somebody put inside every and the receive chain. It's about the years that the ground come on, ABIC and lime is ticking around every, every year, every other year. But then you have to, try for your own self. 

[00:07:59] Yulia: I understand. Okay. Okay. But it's very beautiful color. We didn't even started with the indigo yet.

[00:08:07] Yulia: You said you're not a museum 

[00:08:12] Mr. Koo: because it's, it's old, it's a museum because all that will be not the museum we were living in and living workshop. Yeah. We like to be like the roots where they come the blueprints and the hundred, hundred years ago. But , I've worked with this one, but you always liked the new one.

[00:08:31] It's chorus together to keep this alive. Yeah. And what did the names here did they used before genes? now it only is more, it's more, workshop dive with indigo. Yeah. And then, we like the indigo until the roots and keep it alive. 

[00:08:48] Yulia: I just got done. I'm shooting my first shoot of this, assignment today.

[00:08:55] sitting on a rooftop terrace, of this lovely hotel in Vienna. And, figured I'll catch up with you. 

[00:09:02] Once I was back in Vienna, I met a wonderful city guide, Alexa browner with whom we discussed the lineup of European Queens. As she introduced me to the city's seventh district that has a rich history of artisanship and creates.

[00:09:17] Alexa Brauner: The seventh district in which we are now is the district for textile in.

[00:09:23] It wasn't the 18th century. So second half 18th century. When, and for Joseph, the second two was the son of Maria Theresa. She was a very important, let's say ruler here, female ruler in Austria. Maria. Theresa. Yes. Well, you, you come from originally or not from this state where you live in the states. I saw that you have such a background in your young life.

[00:09:47] and, if you're such a travel expert already, let's say from, I don't know when you're. To go from a to B wet way originally, where were you born on a Stony and rushed Russia summary. It's not the same. She was the Empress who had all her children married with everybody in Europe. She was born 17, 17.

[00:10:08] Alexa Brauner: She died 1780. no, Maria Maria Theresa. She was the Empress of Austin. Oh, she was Empress of the holy Roman empire of German nation. She was never crowned because a woman was not crammed in those days. her husband was crowned a friend, Steven of Lorraine, but she had the power, let's say clearly she was of the family Habsburg and her father guaranteed and purchased a six that she has the power in Austria.

[00:10:33] So it was possible that a woman. Candidates say, take the power over here in Austria, but not in the empire because there were other people as well, let's say involved in some, in some regulations.

[00:10:44] Maria Theresa. She, also did an economy with textiles. So there were a lot of Mulberry trees planted and they were lit a little all over where they were today. This is part of the city. So there will be some silk and yeah. And there was soup production in Vienna. Oh yes. And, and, so. So much in the textile business here in Vienna.

[00:11:05] And they got very wealthy because the emperor and the Imperial family, and also the aristocrats, they bought a lot of oldest, very exquisite textile. And then those people that were in the textile business could invest in real estate. And it got to the very wealthy and the nickname of this district has become them, their diamond ground.

[00:11:30] So is the synonym for the seventh district for the wealth because of the textile industry. And, there are, also people . That, that's what I said before at Vienna. It's not the place where everybody was born, who made Vienna important? Yeah. Vienna is important because so many creative people came over then unfortunately.

[00:11:53] But still the creativity is something which was always found here because it was always a mix of so many cultures coming here to Vienna. Yeah. So what you live in New York Vienna in small-scale it's the same. Yeah. and just, if we went the up here, there is Mrs. . She left from Berlin when the. W when the iron curtain fell and she is weaving, she has a original, she has an old loo, not old.

[00:12:19] She has a loom and she's making only handmade. well, what carpets and all kinds of wonderful texts and there's a place for art. So yes, yes, yes, yes. And for so many years, we do have also the Vienna design week to show so much is going on here. And not only with the products, let's say old fashion, but everything is really what's needed now.

[00:12:46] And just around the corner from your hotel is also yellow. She's getting a gum. So, the family will go out. They, they have been here for, I think it's more than 250 years or something like this and yeah. You all find silver, where it's still today, but they are also working with young designers.

[00:13:06] And, so the seventh is, is really a cradle of creativity. Yeah. And this is just an example of how old it is. This was a little expense, number five. This was, this is one of the immediately . Days. So that's from the 12th century changed later. So. It's different from the other ability and decoration is then a discography doors . From the 16th century.

[00:13:30]  this building over there, that's 19th century, but behind there's a quarter from the 16th century. 

[00:13:34] Alexa Brauner: what Vietnam. We call it it's a coziness. Yeah. Cause it's different. So it's something which makes you, let's say gives you some ease and comfort and it's so much important to be great. You have to feel safe and uhYeah. To be open and get some inspiration. I think that's very important and Vienna is not a stressful city. well it depends what you make of your life, but, let's say the possibilities really to, to be calm and it's needed to be creative. Yeah. Because if you're stressed, you cannot be creative. Your 

[00:14:18] Yulia: well has to be full, not empty.

[00:14:20] Alexa Brauner: Yes. Yes. 

[00:14:22] Yes. 

[00:14:22] How did you become a guide? well, I wanted to become opportunity a teacher in English and Italian.

[00:14:28] This was my idea at school because I gave lessons to others and love to help. And the identified. Practical administration, but I think I'd like it. Then if somebody asks me, would you guide an Italian school group from Vienna to Romania? And it was still in the school. And I thought, oh yeah, cool. And the.

[00:14:54] Oh, like a short straining for vets, a guiding, and I really enjoyed it. Then I made the professional guide school here in Vienna while I guide here in the city. So I'd love to be with people. I like to walk. I like to learn. I like to say, give something. So that's how I became a guide and Vienna. Isn't perfect.

[00:15:17] So there's always something I read in. I'm curious. I've always been curious. Ecological counselor. I mean, mindfulness teacher. So it's all about human beings connection. And then let's say having a look and beauty. So that's for me and Vienna offers me all of these. Yes.

[00:15:35]  It's not about money. It's about happiness. And, you know, sometimes you find out earlier or later, but it's good if you find out any day, every day's a good day to get friend up. Yes I can. 

[00:15:48] Yulia: After my morning with Alexa, I went to meet Suzanne Wysocki, a fashion designer in Vienna who works with the craftsman. I visited earlier for my story. Here we talk with Suzanne's partner and fellow designer, Joseph Bonwit Garger about how they experiment with the indigo textile.

[00:16:06] 

[00:16:06] Joseph Bonwit Gerger: I printed myself because he has traditional models and I just. Some sponges and cut them or some potatoes, whatever.

[00:16:15] And that do it more 

[00:16:17] Yulia: wildly. I was just going to ask you, how did you come up with those designs? Because yes. Yeah, he 

[00:16:22] Joseph Bonwit Gerger: has. Yeah, he has a lot of traditional besides which are fine with a little, just a little flowers, a little wonderful. He has a problem to get new models because nobody does the models and the.

[00:16:37] He doesn't have, um, let's say, what do you called it? customized designs. If we want, if we want to justify here, then we can just take, can all over, decide a fuse, but we want a special designed just for, let's say that part. And so I designed it for instance, I have a table tennis up there and the next floor and, uh, we have a lot of space and.

[00:17:02] Yulia: You actually did the whole bat, the patterns, the pace, 

[00:17:06] Joseph Bonwit Gerger: he gave me the piece, this isn't the secret piece of the fridge in the fridge. We have it throat upper Austria, and his two kids take the tool and. Give it to a chemist. 

[00:17:18] Yulia: We also discussed the challenges that artists and producers face in today's globalized world.

[00:17:25] Joseph Bonwit Gerger: the city is full of, all the big, big firms, which have flagship stores. So the small, like we, I mean, we survive because we are very, very special and some very brave young people opened some stores and then the store closes, but, 

[00:17:43] Yulia: Yeah. 

[00:17:46] Joseph Bonwit Gerger: Yeah. Why should a tourist come to Vienna?

[00:17:48] If everything is the same, like in other cities? 

[00:17:51] Yulia: Well, this is the problem. In many places around the world are dealing with, you know, standardization. They say, 

[00:17:59] Joseph Bonwit Gerger: of course, I think we should be one world. This, this is good. We should be all friends. And, but there could be special things which, which. Like, if there's too much fluctuation, then of course it will disappear.

[00:18:13] So then it should disappear. But when you have something very interesting that you can do it and reduce it and, and show it, but where it's too expensive for the little ones to be out there. So now we have, actually, for us, it works fine because the people are looking for us, even if we don't have. Yeah, we call it Vietnamese chic and

[00:18:50] painful

[00:18:51] Yulia: After my time in Vienna, I continued on to upper Austria to meet with the other family producer, working on indigo in Austria today, the wagon, their family, Mr. Carl Wagner and Mrs. Maria wagon. There were out that they, but I got to meet their sons, Max and Sebastian who are going to take over the family business one. 

[00:19:12] Maximillian: so here is where they do the. Yeah, the applicant, apply the pace is this word, this is a table. So at first we take the Lena, go ahead, over the table. And then we started on this side. So we had to make your fixed line so we can, handle that it's always in the same direction. So. Yeah, of course, this is the place that we always call them up the oldest, the oldest method, because, after this, models, you also had this, are turning, I don't know.

[00:19:51] Yeah, this is like the next step,

[00:19:54] Sebastian: but we don't, this is just a. Maybe some more bought them anyway, but, this is, yeah, it's a faster way. Roll it over and that's it. it wasn't, in this area we don't use it. So since the state of art stuff and just, this is the traditional way. And so we. Cause we have right now, since 1878 in our family and our grand grand grandfather, he always worked with this and learned only with.

[00:20:33] So originally before 18 in 78? Yeah, he was, he was from Czech Republic, just a few. They might just like the next city, but over the border now. But I don't know if there was the border already in former days. I think so. But he comes to, to because their parents are dying.

[00:21:00] He learned this, this work here and, uh, and he also was. Yeah, of course. And then he was very long. You go on a journey and go to Germany and Berlin and learn this practice. We also got one map in behind there where we can show you the way he made.

[00:21:23] by the way, you can tell me this, the recipe for your pace, right? Yeah. The Rosette

[00:21:31] Maximillian: And as you can see the map I was talking about, kind of like not the first, who did this, way around, which are pretty lot of stations. And all of these stations are where he was learning about all of these places. He was also working. It took nine years. And after this nine years, she had enough money to buy this house here.

[00:21:51] Also, these are not all. It's just his journey. It's his journey, but he was

[00:22:00] a decor devout. Maybe you heard this word before? the boats, the boats. Oh, the wallets. So it's also at the same burden English writing. Okay. Got it. So it used to be pretty, pretty spread out.

[00:22:19] Okay, cool. In this journey and we have it also knowing the family. So everybody goes 

[00:22:31] if I think back to the days when my mom started up this, it was just, uh, some job she could do at home because we were doing up there and she could do it at home without going anywhere.

[00:22:45] It was convenient. Take care about the kids that it was not because of the money or something, because it was just my mom. A lot of the businesses. So you said, oh, sorry. No, no. You said the young people don't buy it because it's expensive. So how do you see, how do you see this going into the future then if young people don't buy it.

[00:23:11] Yeah. Young people don't fight because, so right now it's, it's no, I think it starts to get more and more for the young people because now the old stuff getting more interesting. And so, whoa. Knife thing and it looks great. You're friends with people, your age that I have a friend right now, he made, he's also very interested in cars, but he lives in lanes, but you know, he wants to see this and what's happened to this and that's the old tradition, but it lifts it or people are already, already getting interested in.

[00:23:54] There's a little thing. If you're young, you don't pay yourself address for maybe 500 years or more. but I think, um, there are a lot of these, parties where you, dress like, data holes and yeah, the tradition of the vase and the people they just know to. The things they can buy in the show in the shop are not the actual traditional way, because this is not this way.

[00:24:23] But as we were talking,

[00:24:30] that's what we started the last years. We made some off this, more modern looking things and maybe this is a one, one way it could go. Exactly. Yeah, because I mean, at least in, in, the research that I did so far, I see a lot of the floral patterns that you were showing me earlier, but I didn't see these patterns.

[00:24:52] it's very interesting to know that it's traditional, but it looks modern.

[00:24:59] Maximillian: Maybe four, but the coolest was with the last one we did with the model from India. Looks really fancy. When you go on, you can go that you can wear it in a club or something. It's the shirts not, but I can show you the, the printing 

[00:25:20] do you mind if I

[00:25:33] this one? Cause we have to, before we went to make the color, it's always saying some, a little bit down to.

[00:25:47] Oh, I see. So you have to like,

[00:25:54] oh yes. That's, that's very, very beautiful.

[00:26:13] How long does it take? Like how many times do you have, um, most of the time we just do it three times, three times, three times, and then we can see how a doctor did

[00:26:35] make pretty much, things in one. So after

[00:26:45] know we had to meet it again and then get out of it again, staring, but hold it because I want the reflection to be live within there and just let it settle. So there, he wants to see different or something.

[00:27:07] Yeah, the green, if you put it out the first time it's looks yellow and the process was the air. Oh yeah. It makes it doesn't come up at first. It's yellow, yellow, green, and then it's green and then it gets the blue color. So there's a little.

[00:27:39] Yeah, just let us settle so that they're, their reflection is very nice.

[00:27:58] Second, if you look at the.

[00:28:06] And maybe you earlier, you were holding it with two hands like this. Yeah. You don't have to pose.

[00:28:19] That's very nice.

[00:28:25] So you have these, these two, actually now you can look at me. Do you want to look at me a little? Yeah. Thank you. I'll do one more here. Yes. You were like a model.

[00:28:49] Do you have a lot of people coming to stories about this?

[00:28:57] It's getting more and more. Oh yeah, that's good.

[00:29:05] Yeah, definitely. 

[00:29:09] Yulia: After we wrapped up this part of the shoot, max Sebastian, and I got to talking more and we had a really beautiful conversation about the passion of this. The battery on the recorder died at that point. And I was so sad. I couldn't share it with you, but what Sebastian said really stuck with me. He said that when he's out there applying resist based on the linen or mixing the indigo paint in the big VAT, he has an opportunity to be so lost in his craft that the outside world disappears.

[00:29:42] And he feels like he's more in touch with himself. I love that so much. And it definitely resonated with me as a photographer and writer. Isn't that why we create in the first place to be in touch with ourselves. 

[00:29:55] And just like that the trip was over now. I'm backstage side editing the images I made on this trip, going over my notes and preparing the story for publication.

[00:30:06] I hope that this episode inspires you to go out. Discover what lights you up, create the stories and the are that you've always wanted to create and get in touch with yourself. And I will continue bringing behind the scenes episode like this one to you. I've got a few other exciting trips coming up, including a trip to Saudi Arabia for a story very soon.

[00:30:27] So if this format peaks your interest, stay tuned for that. And finally, if you're ready to commit to this path and start figuring out how you concern some of the dreams and stories and aspirations you have into your reality, stay tuned for next week's episode, it's going to be a very special episode and something that I've never done before.

[00:30:49] And that is hopefully going to help you in a very tangible way. That's all I'm going to say for now. Thank you so much for listening and I'll see you next.