permanently under construction...

The story of Blind Date Collaboration (BDC) began in 2014, in a kitchen in Vienna. Marie-Christin Rissinger and Frida Robles had just finished their studies at the University of Applied Arts and were eager to find partners to continue their artistic practice. They met Gerardo Montes de Oca Valadez, David Palme, and Konstantin Wolf on a late summer day in a Viennese Café. None of the people present knew everyone at the table, and one of them remarked, "It feels like a blind date." And so, the name of the group was born.

The - in the beginning collective - practice of Blind Date Collaboration were marked by a spirit of experimentation and skype meetings, as the group rarely met in person - it was before the pandemic and zoom didn’t exist yet. Konstantin soon relocated to Berlin, and Frida traveled from residency to residency. Meanwhile, Marie-Christin became deeply involved in the political struggle to prevent the eviction of the artist-run space mo.ë, where they met Alisa Beck. Alisa would go on to play a pivotal role in shaping BDC’s future. From 2019 to 2025 Alisa (together with Marie-Christin) not only provided organizational leadership but also took on key responsibilities in strategic planning and was responsible for public relations. The two co-founded Olympionik*innen Productions, a production office (based in Vienna and Berlin) that managed BDC's projects and those of other collectives for several years. In 2022, Alisa transitioned into the artistic direction team of echoraum, a venue and production space in Vienna’s 15th district, focusing on contemporary and experimental music.

In 2018, the work Hobby Horse Ltd. developed originally as part of the transeuropa festival in Hildesheim, was showcased at the Donaufestival in Krems and at the same time, the idea of the Union of Global Artificial Intelligence (U.G.A.I.) emerged. In this context the collective approach of BDC evolved into a more collaborative model, where specific expertise relevant to thematic discussions became central to the projects.

For the machine-theater piece U.G.A.I., Frida, Marie-Christin and Konstantin (who was already living in Luxembourg by then and shortly after became father of two kids), approached new partners. Klemens Kohlweis, Andreas Zißler, Anna Lerchbaumer, and later Fabian Lanzmaier joined the U.G.A.I. Project, a collaboration which continued over four years. During this period, Anna Hirschmann contributed significantly to U.G.A.I., shaping two of its productions with her writing and becoming part of BDC core team from 2019 to 2022.

As the group evolved, so did its artistic direction. In 2019 Marie-Christin enjoyed experimenting with large-scale, satirical theater productions, while Frida shifted towards more discursive and curatorial formats within Blind Date’s projects.

In 2020, Johann Brigitte Schima joined BDC initially as a maternity leave replacement for Anna Lerchbaumer, for the second part of the U.G.A.I. cycle showcased at steirischer herbst’20 in Graz. Over the next years, Johann Brigitte became one of BDC's most influential artistic minds, not only in stage and costume design but also in the development of new artistic concepts as well as dramaturgical input in the theater projects.

Through these years, the group worked with various venues across Austria and Germany, however WUK Performing Arts became the most important institutional partner in Vienna, supporting BDC’s growing body of work.

In later projects such as the drag king musical Wirecard: Last Exit Bad Vöslau and the interview based multigenerational project Love Me Tender, Love Me Queer, BDC started to place greater emphasis on queer-feminist topics.

Filmmaker Rajarshi Sarkar became a key creative partner, bringing his cinematic vision into BDC’s projects. Ulli Koch also joined, initially handling social media, and lately expanding their role to manage communication and public relations.

Today, Blind Date Collaboration, under the artistic management of Marie-Christin Rissinger, remains a fluid, ever-evolving group, “permanently under construction.” Each new encounter and collaboration brings different perspectives, keeping the group dynamic and opens new ideas and directions.