Austrian town gets its lederhosen in a twist over modern art

Bad Ischl is the first alpine town to be awarded European capital of culture status, bringing nudity and surreal sculptures to a rural area more in tune with classical music and mountain pursuits

I’m walking through the town of Bad Aussee, in Austria’s alpine Salzkammergut region, where I’m expecting a vision of depravity to emerge through the drizzle. The artists Wolfgang Müllegger and Georg Holzmann gleefully tell me how their big pink sculpture, which was recently placed in the town’s cafe-flanked park, caused shock among locals. Many want it removed, they explain, as we arrive at the artwork. It’s a rather pleasant pastel-pink wooden piece that could depict a pig in a mildly psychedelic kids’ TV show.

I say that the sculpture is completely inoffensive. “It’s just ‘different’,” says Georg, wearing a hoodie and yellow waterproof dungarees, like a hipster fisher. He points to a traditional stone statue of a historic figure in the park. “This is what they’re used to.”