Theseus Temple
The Theseus Temple was built between 1819 and 1823 by court architect Peter von Nobile. It was designed to house a single work of contemporary art: Antonio Canova’s white marble masterpiece Theseus Slaying the Centaur. For almost seventy years this artwork stood alone inside the building, until in 1890 it was moved to the newlycompleted Kunsthistorisches Museum, where it remains today on the museum’s monumental staircase.
The installation There May Exist by the artist Zeinab Alhashemi, who was born in Dubai in 1986, can be seen in the Theseuestempel this year. The in situ work is dedicated to the cultural significance of camels on the Arabian Peninsula. The artist creates sculptural landscapes with camel skins on changing surfaces. She examines the effects of the oil boom in the Gulf region on the cultural significance of camels and coexistence with these animals, which once played a central role in securing livelihoods, as a means of transportation and as a cultural reference point.
